2009's wildest moments in high school sports (article)

[nolandw]

From The Washington Post.

By Preston Williams
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Burying a snake under the pitcher's mound? Team baptisms? Urine-soaked tennis courts?

Why, it must be time for the annual spin around the country to ponder the wild and the wacky from the world of high school sports in 2009.

Portland, Ore. -- A father, allegedly unhappy with his son's playing time, hired a private investigator to tail the basketball coach, instructing her to call authorities if the coach was drinking and driving.

Needham, Mass. -- State athletic officials dispatched to observe fans' rowdy and unsportsmanlike behavior were greeted with student section chants of "Put your clipboards away."

Brewer, Maine -- A softball coach claimed she was fired because she is a lesbian; the school district said she was dismissed because of hazing allegations that included forcing team members to walk barefoot through sheep feces at a 2005 team picnic.

Kirkland, Ill. -- After only one person confessed, school officials canceled the remainder of a boys' basketball season because of urine the players had left on floors and toilet seats in another school's locker room.

Harned, Ky. -- A football coach, using a school bus, took about 20 of his players to his church to be baptized. One team member's mother said that the coach had told the players they were going to see a motivational speaker and eat a free steak dinner.

Poultney, Vt. -- A junior varsity basketball coach -- who had told referees they needed to take command of the game or he would take action -- received a life ban from coaching in Vermont after tripping an opposing player.

Orangevale, Calif. -- A cheerleading coach was fired after school officials learned she had posed for semi-nude photos and had been named Playboy's Cyber Girl of the Week.

Valparaiso, Ind. -- An upset fan who attacked a basketball referee after a game was arrested by the ref himself, a moonlighting Indiana State Police officer. "You can't arrest me; you're a referee!" the fan said in between shoves of the trooper-referee.

Fort Worth -- A volleyball player filed a Title IX complaint against her school, claiming she was benched for being pregnant.

Auburn, Mass. -- A player who had just thrown the final pitch of his team's state championship win survived a celebratory pileup but broke his leg when he landed awkwardly after a leaping chest-bump with his catcher. The pitcher held the trophy on the stretcher before the ambulance hauled him away.

Shawnee, Kan. -- A gymnastics team posted the best score at the state meet but dropped to third after officials deducted a point because the coach had asked about her team's balance beam scores after the window in which she was allowed to inquire.

Greenwich, Conn. -- A golf team, fearful of missing a tournament because of major gridlock on Interstate 95, hopped a six-passenger plane to the event -- a 10-minute flight -- and won the invitational.

Palm Harbor, Fla. -- A baseball coach was suspended after his team killed a snake with a shovel and buried it under the pitcher's mound. One player said the team got the idea for the ritual after the coach had referred to the squad being "snake-bitten" after recent losses.

Seymour, Conn. -- A swim coach was fired for his involvement in the production of distasteful team T-shirts. One mocked a boy who had left the team: "The Mascot is a quitter." Another was: "Smashing the Competition, One Tree . . . One Team at a Time," a reference to a team member who had crashed his car into a tree and briefly was in a coma.

Tunkhannock, Pa. -- Administrators at a football game were rankled when players from the opposing team urinated on the school tennis courts because of what the visitors said were unhealthy locker room conditions.

Bessemer, Ala. -- A football game ended with more than eight minutes left in the first quarter after a kicker's successful extra point struck a transformer, killing power at the field and for nearby traffic lights.

Van Nuys, Calif. -- School administrators were disciplined after allowing uniformed athletes to pose in a GQ magazine photo shoot with actor Sacha Baron Cohen, who was scantily clad in character for his movie "Bruno."

West Burlington, Iowa -- A baseball umpire ejected the crowd, about 100 fans, for what he considered unruly behavior. "If I got the control to ask one person to leave, I feel like I can ask them all to leave," the ump said.

Lakeland, Fla. -- An assistant football coach was arrested after he allegedly threatened a player with an open pocket knife during practice, poking and tapping the player on the chest. "Don't try me today," the coach told the players.

Allentown, Pa. -- A girls' basketball coach, angered by the heckling of a player's father, was found not guilty of disorderly conduct after he went into the crowd during a game and allegedly placed his hands around the man's neck. "As long as you're yelling, your daughter doesn't play," the coach told the dad.

Litchfield, Ill. -- Two boys' basketball players, suspected of stealing cash and iPods from players from another school while sharing a locker room at a tournament site, were arrested for the crimes while their game was going on.

Bandera, Tex. -- A school superintendent reversed a principal's decision to suspend three cheerleaders suspected of breaking into a classmate's locker and placing a feces-filled sock in her shoe. !@%? Wack.

Cut Bank, Mont. -- A boys' basketball team was forced to forfeit its game after a player, dunking during warmups, shattered the glass backboard, violating a state postseason rule.

Lake Wales, Fla. -- A junior varsity football coach, who also was a police officer, was arrested for biting a player's nose at halftime as a motivational technique.

Fair Oaks, Calif. -- An athletic league appeals committee reversed the result of a boys' basketball game after one team was awarded 18 technical free throws -- the shooter made 17 of them -- with 12.3 seconds left in the game. The team should have shot six free throws.

Varsity Letter is a weekly column about high school sports in the Washington area. E-mail Preston Williams at [email protected].

 

[dland24]

These are ridiculous/crazy. Thanks for posting OP.

 

[clevelandsprince23]

Originally Posted by dland24

These are ridiculous/crazy. Thanks for posting OP.

Word. Good look bro.

 

[megatron187em]

at the baptism/steak dinner one

 

[HIM]

An assistant football coach was arrested after he allegedly threatened a player with an open pocket knife during practice, poking and tapping the player on the chest. "Don't try me today," the coach told the players.

 

[diew its james]

Originally Posted by NolanDW

From The Washington Post.

Fair Oaks, Calif. -- An athletic league appeals committee reversed the result of a boys' basketball game after one team was awarded 18 technical free throws -- the shooter made 17 of them -- with 12.3 seconds left in the game. The team should have shot six free throws.

thats more technical's than the piston-pacers brawl would've got

 

[downtown43]

Lakeland, Fla. -- An assistant football coach was arrested after he allegedly threatened a player with an open pocket knife during practice, poking and tapping the player on the chest. "Don't try me today," the coach told the players.

damn

 

[vanillagorilladx]

Valparaiso, Ind. -- An upset fan who attacked a basketball referee after a game was arrested by the ref himself, a moonlighting Indiana State Police officer. "You can't arrest me; you're a referee!" the fan said in between shoves of the trooper-referee.

 

[physicx]

these are hilarious

 

[freshsince1982]

great read