Last night the Boys Varsity Basketball team won its' first round playoff game against Nashua South. It was a good game, we were the number 8 seed and Nashua was the number 9 seed. It was a back and forth game just like it should have been and we came out on top. It was a great night.
A parent asked me on the way out, "Why won't you let students chant 'It's all over' at the end of the game?" My response was simple, 0-23. We heard that chant many times when our football team was struggling. We heard that chant last year when we lost in the playoff game for Boys Basketball at UNH and over my years here, I have heard many schools do it, but we won't. The question is still why not?
Do we have to make someone else feel bad to make ourselves feel good? If that is the case we are all in big trouble. Last night there were seniors from Nashua who were playing in their last game. With less than a minute left and down by nine, they knew it was over. With all that emotion of being your last game and having put your best effort out; do you think that chanting "It's all over" is the right thing to do? Any player who has given everything they have and comes out on the losing end of a competition of any kind deserves respect for their efforts. To chant negatively toward them is just wrong.
Fans from other schools behave poorly many times. Do we have to lower ourselves to their level? I don't think so. I want us to scream, yell and support our players as well as our school. I want us to do it with a sense of class and respect. If people think I am wrong, I can live with that. The next time we are on the losing end of a game and the other school starts chanting "warm up the bus", "it's all over" or something of the kind, think of how it makes you feel. Do you really want others to feel that way because of something you did? I hope not.
GREAT POST!!!
ReplyDeletesoo true!!
ReplyDeleteRight on the money! Too often the adults are part of the problem. This adult, Principal Lane, will not be part of the "just do it" culture. Bravo Mr. Lane for leading us on how to "just do it RIGHT"!
ReplyDeleteLast Friday's game at Trinity brought this point home. I was so proud of how our fans acted in the face of an extremely negative Trinity crowd, especially toward the end. Thank you for setting the example Mr. Lane!
ReplyDeleteMr. Lane, you once told me that educators will hear a lot of things, but the one thing that is very rarely said are just two simple words: "Thank you." It has been some time since I have had a chance to visit with you, but I wish to tell you that as I read about Alvirne, read your blog, and recall my own experiences at AHS, I still look up to you and the positive example you set for your fellow educators and your students. You are the example I hope to follow in my own career. Thank you.
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