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The Set-up

How does one begin a journal of community abandonment? This is a rundown of events incurred and hardships encountered to a family from “small town USA”. In the big picture it’s really quite trivial considering that we have enjoyed good health as a family and economic survival during tough times here in SE Michigan. The reason for the later could possibly be explained because we are common people raised by common people.

We do not enjoy over and above comforts i.e.. luxury cars, boats, antiques, or second homes. We are also not “worldly” or “educated” people and we lack the social savvy that would be inherent of these traits, although we are committed to providing our children with those opportunities. As a result we are not noteworthy occupants of our community and we’re fine with that. We are known however because of simple exposure with local programs like Little League, Boys and Girls Scouts and countless fundraisers from blood drives to active participation in the United Fund and the like. We are alumni of our local public school as are all three of our children.

The Resume

This is a story of high school athletics, more importantly football because that is the pinnacle of most athletic programs.

After (2) years of Little League baseball our youngest son wanted no more. He was going to play football and only football. When I mentioned to him that our football program wouldn’t start for (2) more years he offered no disappointment, he would need the time for preparation.

He started a physical program that began with countless hours on his bicycle. He made bike paths throughout our lot that included twist and turns and jumps. He then started competing with other SE Michigan kids in this pastime joining (2) sanctions. His commitment to this “preparation” earned him a “2005” sanctioned Michigan State Championship in BMX Racing and he still proudly displays his (3) foot high trophy in his room along with possibly (20) others in this sport. But make no mistake, this was preparation for football.

When seventh grade finally came his way and sign-up for football was here, I asked, “what position would you like to play”? He simply stated that he wanted to “tackle”. And tackle he did as he and his classmates achieved an undefeated season.

About midway through his eighth grade season, he made a defensive play that could only be achieved in pre-high school sports (our older son had an unassisted triple play in Little League). It was a swing pass to their left side wide receiver, who had broken a tackle and was sprinting down the sideline. He was being trailed by (2) of our players that did not seem to be gaining ground on the ball carrier. What seemed like out of nowhere, here comes another defensive player who broke through his teammates and caught the ball carrier and dropped him at the (6) yard line. It was unexpected and the receiver had the wind knocked out of him…thank God, he was OK.

From the right side defensive end position, our son had gone through the pocket and was trailing the play. No one had any idea of how fast and determined this kid was and as they say, the rest is history.

The very next practice found him with the offense as the tailback as well as playing on the defensive side and they proudly won the remainder of their 8th grade games.

Off to JV and this group of young men were gaining confidence and experience. In playing both sides of the ball, including tailback, our son shuttled in the play called, with a teammate. He would be in there often; every other play and they would slap a “five” as they passed. Both of these young men were carrying an offensive workload for their JV squad with a passion that was indeed heartwarming.

After a successful season they moved on to their senior JV year (Sophomore). It was more of the same except that this group had grown another year in size and experience. Keep in mind that this team possessed an outstanding tandem of quarterback and receivers that made the running game formidable. One of the receivers scored (21) touchdowns, an impressive number when you consider that JV football traditionally is a run based offense. Our son contributed 13 touchdowns and a thousand yard season.

These young men achieved their ultimate goal of a JV conference championship and an undefeated season. They were indeed tracking to become one of the most successful varsity classes that this town had seen in several years. One of the come-from-behind victories witnessed by our varsity coach, who often scouts the JV teams, proclaimed it to be the “greatest JV game that he had ever seen.” He has been varsity coach here for (22) years so that’s a lot of games.

At the conclusion of this season, my wife and I “pinched” each other with the knowledge that this team was about to enter into the world of “Friday Night Lights”. Our son was called up from JV, along with many of the starting JV squad, to varsity for our state playoff run that unfortunately ended in a road loss in the opening round. The exposure however to a Friday night full house was electric to say the least.

Little did this group know, most of who had started together in the hot August sun before their seventh grade, that the “rules” were about to change. The innocence was about to wave goodbye and they and their parents were about to learn just how naïve they were. My wife and I had previously never had a child involved in high school athletics.

The Transfers

There were three. They were all in the same grade and came from the same, out of conference, school system. And they were all good, darn good. My understanding was that they came on the “buddy plan”. One of them later turned in a “forty” time of 4.33. For only being 16 years old, I would guess that to be world-class speed.

My first exposure to this group was not with the kids. It was with the dads. It was at the spring “lift-a-thon” where the off-season weight training turns into a competition among teammates. My son wanted me to come down and watch him “smoke” the rest of his (same sized) competitors.

Our weight room has windows to the adjacent hallway not unlike the infant nursery would be at a hospital. I was in a chair outside the windows when (2) gentlemen came up and stood at the window in observance. One of them said to the other “which one is (our last name)?”

Wow did that get my attention. I didn’t have a clue as to who these guys were, but their interest in my son had me puzzled. Keep in mind that I had been exposed to all of the parents for (4) years and these guys weren’t any of them. I got it…they must be scouts! Who else could they be?

“That’s (last name) over there”, I told them pointing him out. I received a look of wonderment without reply when I announced, “he’s my son.” Little did I know, that these guys were looking for the kid that they had intended to rip his heart out. “Let’s see, who is that kid that’s in the way of my sons great fortune,” they must have thought.

That night I learned for the first time that there was new competition in town and that they were looking to play in all of the skilled positions. We had not a clue at that point where they had come from, their motivations, or what brought them to our small town. Did their dads recently transfer from another prison to work at the prison here in our town, or maybe the car plant? Our son would just have to show them why he has been the local tailback of choice, but football practice was still (3) months away.

The Tryout

There really wasn’t much of a contest. The transfer had world-class speed even if he didn’t have remarkable size. The punishment in practice doesn’t realistically mock in game conditions. If you just look at the numbers (speed), who could blame the coach.

Our son was delegated to number (2) tailback quicker than you can say “Barry Sanders”. It wasn’t much of a choice for our coach who would go with Barry over “John Riggins”. At 5’10” and 180 pounds and a junior, our son was designated starting defensive end certainly the smallest in the league. The reason? Tenacity!

Can you say bias? You can say it, spell it, or scream it but you’ll just have to take my word for it. He plays big if you know the expression. He didn’t win that BMX title from playing X-Box day and night.

Before the varsity season started, I had been getting information from around our town, the majority from people who didn’t know I had a vested interest. These kids had transferred here from another school to join the undefeated JV squad that had moved up to varsity. “No they didn’t move here, what’s your point”?

In the eyes of much of the community, this was a great windfall. It was like we had just signed (3) free agents. I mean, what team fan doesn’t want A-Rod. Especially when you get him for free!

It did however come at a price.

The Outrage

What must it be like to transfer into a new school your junior year? Leave behind your friends that you can remember when they were losing their baby teeth and that girl that you’ve had a crush on since second grade. To abandoned your classmates because you were too good for their school. I mean, after all, if you didn’t have this

God- given talent you would be right there with them on graduation day.

What makes it especially tough is that this was your parents idea, not yours. When you were less than half way through 10th grade how could you have possibly known the complicated Michigan High School Athletic Association rules for eligibility? I mean after all, your gift is sport, not law. The athletic department there wouldn’t have given you help to transfer to another school. How did you know how to tiptoe through the process without error? All MHSAA inquires must be directed through your Athletic Director. I tried it myself. The fox is guarding the hen house.

Oh and let me guess, you didn’t come here for sport at all. You came here for a college prep class that was not offered at the previous school. All three of you. Just in time to be eligible for varsity football.

And if all that wasn’t enough, you were thrust into a hostile environment. You can wiggle around the rules or you can use the rules to your advantage but the spirit of the rule cannot be avoided. Your ex-classmates know it, and your new classmates know it. You came here purely for sport and the possible media attention that this team and town could provide. Ok, so you don’t know the words to the fight song, big deal.

It is a big deal to your new classmates, not to mention your teammates. One thing that I have found raising three teenagers, they know the rules. They stretch them too far not to know the rules. Their whole life to this extent has been “the rules”. And your response of “your just jealous” to your teammates wasn’t really the best way to handle the moment was it?

The Show

Opening Night was the transfer show. And as if made for Hollywood it was a home non-conference game against their heretofore school. A team that would have been formidable indeed had these (3) stayed to represent them. We beat them 52 to 12 as I recall. The score may have been slightly different but you get the picture…a blowout!

It was just the ticket, feast upon the school that they had dropped like a bad habit. The kind of lop-sided game that would cement the decision of the coaching staff to make stars out of these out-of-towners and to make the locals forget that their home town boys would be set aside.

“Can you believe that kid, what’s his name ran for over 300 yards,” the talk in town must have been? “And (4) touchdowns, whew”.

After this game I authored a letter to our varsity football coach noting my concerns, not only as a parent, but also as an alum and a member of our community. I handed it to our coach directly in a sealed envelope at our local booster club meeting. It was met with no response. No, “I’m sorry Mr. (last name), this is a sign of the times” or “this is something that I’ll forward on to our athletic director for review or comment”. At the very least I expected a, “tough draw, I understand your pain” or “do you have any idea of how many sour grape letters I receive because their son is not getting any love from the coach”. Nope, none of that…. just apocalyptic silence.

That wasn’t the total sum of silence. Fewer and fewer parents that we had enjoyed their company over the years would be joining us at the games until we found ourselves generally alone. I believe in my heart that this was the result of them not knowing what to say to the parents most directly hurt by this campagne of greed. And remember, there were (3) transfers and, as a result, other kids in the program had been slighted however there has been no communication or correspondence. Perhaps they too were on the isolated island of emotions.

The remainder of the season wasn’t so pretty. The team just couldn’t seem to put together any kind of streak. The continuity of the team just wasn’t there from this dad’s bias observation.

Then about mid-season the new tailback suffered a hip pointer that would take (2) games to recover. In comes hometown boy with (3) touchdowns in a 28 to 6 win. Their six points were the result of a touchdown, the extra point blocked by…well, “you know who.”

As soon as health allowed the transfer student was back as the starter “carte blanche”, and our team prodded its way through a 4 and 5 season.

The final statistics showed the transfer tailback with an impressive 6.5 yards per carry which is very impressive indeed when you consider that he had to have lead the conference with carries for loss (percentage per carry). Not unlike Barry Sanders this kid was a risk for a touchdown on every play, I mean, how do you tackle a water bug? “ Uh oh, nothing here on the right, I’ll just reverse field back through the pocket (8) yards behind the line of scrimmage and run for a touchdown the other way”. He pulled it off often enough to keep the coaching staff from using the “D” word (discipline). Most coaches would instruct their ball carriers to put their heads down and surge forward in those instances. It’s common knowledge that broken plays are often when players get hurt.

Our son averaged an unnoticed 5.5 per carry with a style so different that everyone in the house knew that another tailback was in the game. Often between the tackles that said “You know I’m coming, but don’t send a boy” and “Oh, by the way, it’s gonna hurt”. Keep in mind; this 5.5 per touch came from a kid that played full time defensive end and all special teams except the punt and extra points on offense. Our transfer tailback was to “never” play defense. We wouldn’t want to waste his energy on that now would we?

The Banquet

As I mentioned earlier, we had never been through a high school athletic program and I don’t know if they all do this but we have an annual dinner for our football team. It consists of the coach’s speeches, promises of a better year to come and a final word from our graduating seniors. The seniors, individually addressing the players and parents of the freshmen through seniors after the season has ended, generally speak of the great times and friends accumulated throughout their tenure in our football program. It is one of the most touching experiences of my lifetime. One or two come out with funny appraisals and a pun on a teammate or coach. A few others will have statements of intellectual acknowledgement. Many of them drop tears from the reminder that their high school football careers, and in most cases entire football careers, are over.

The freshmen players and parents are to arrive an hour and a half early to set-up the tables and chairs and the sophomores stay after for the clean up. The varsity players and parents simply come and enjoy the occasion and leave at the conclusion. This is the tradition for more years than I could name. This is also the greatest metaphor that I can relate to my disgust with transfers coming strictly for varsity sport. All they have to do is to show up! They don’t, metaphorically speaking, have to set-up or tear down to earn their keep or to pay their dues…just show up and enjoy the show. Their parents are not paying for the 50 million dollar high school that the community has burdened themselves with to accommodate our children. They just show up.

Another feature of our football banquet is the announcement of next year’s varsity team captains. It is determined by vote from the departing seniors and the current juniors. I would suggest that this is done without much political influence since the coaches and citizens of influence are not involved. It is based on who is seen as the hardest working and dedicated for leadership of the team through the eyes of the kids.

Our son was one of two captains selected. An honor that I’m literally unable to convey.

Off Season

After the acknowledgement of commitment (varsity captain) and the year to realize our sons’ misfortune we were prepared to move on with unequivocal support of our team. Our son, after all, is to be the emotional leader of this (his) team.

The spring brought the NCAA recruiters for letters to athletes. We have received more letters than most people could imagine, in fact, we had to designate a box for them to keep them together. The problem? The bulk of them have been Division III private schools that have expensive tuition and no athletic scholarship opportunities.

A little later in the spring brings the calling season. NCAA rules have defined windows for recruiting that are restrictive; I have no doubt for viable reasons. I have gone on line for an education on the NCAA rules to get a handle on this process. There was not a lot that I could do with what I found. I had plenty of questions and found very few answers. I did find the calendar for the above process but the rules are hard to come by and hard to interpret. Could I call a school and open dialog? When do most prospects commit? What can they say (or not say) when they do call? The athletic department at our school has sent no guidelines or cautions pertaining to the NCAA.

Our son went to a Mid-American Conference school during this time for a workout / try-out camp. He was not invited personally but was sent by our high school coach with (2) teammates that were less than blue-chip prospects. We have discussed in the past that this would be a school that would be an acknowledgement should scholarship opportunities present themselves here. I went as a spectator for support of my son. I was very curious if he was going to claim to be a defensive player or a running back. He knew that the backs would be athletic specimens however he did not hesitate when decision time arrived…he is a running back.

While I’ll admit my bias, I did not see anyone any better than our son in the countless running and foot drills encountered. On one of them he caught his foot on the last rung and must have slid (15) yards on his front side. He told me later of his disappointment and I told him that if you didn’t do that at least once during these drills, then you were not going at them hard enough.

There were several kids there with purple armbands on and another dad told me that they were the blue-chippers. The armbands meant hands off…don’t let them get hurt. I guess it was all right for my son to get hurt. Something told me that somewhere our least favorite transfer student was wearing an armband and it sure wasn’t going to be at some MAC school.

Pre-Season

Eventually it was time for football practice to begin for his senior year and our school was a favorite for a conference championship. The local press was making pre-season predictions of where the area schools would stack-up. We were ready to go and had put all of this transfer stuff behind us when the blind side hit us. Our area newspaper, the paper to our county seat spoke of only one kid in their prediction.

No it wasn’t the heralded transfer tailback or his transfer companions. It wasn’t our very credible quarterback or the wide receivers. It was our son that they mentioned. All along I had considered myself bias on this entire issue (transfer takes local kid’s position) and not getting much, if any, local support only solidified that mindset.

But here in the preseason analysis, the story began with our son’s name. “John Riggins (not his name) would be a star running back at almost any other school in the region but he’s not likely to get many carries behind a stacked backfield”

WHAT STACKED BACKFIELD! One kid that came here to showcase his talents, who couldn’t have told you our school colors a year ago, was his only competition. We were getting over all this until a county newspaper acknowledged that he would be a “star” running back at any other school but his own. The one that he has been at since kindergarten.

In another local paper, our team’s assessment was as follows: The Transfer. We had yet to snap the first ball and the praise was an over-hyped onslaught of stated greatness. Not much mention of the rest of the squad. These feature reporters print their e-mail addresses at the end of their stories.

In haste, I wrote a response to his article suggesting that the residents of this community (his readers) would probably prefer to read about kids that were actually from this town. I also mentioned that his paper had yet to report the fact that “Barry” was a transfer student, just in time for varsity sports. I was wrong.

I received a return e-mail that warmed my heart. We had had very little lovin from anyone on any of this however this transfer thing had not escaped this reporter’s eye. The problem was that local newspapers have to report soft generic versions of any story. They don’t stay in business by ruffling feathers in volume.

In explaining his understanding with our position, and I can quote this reporter here, “I did point out last year that ----- was a transfer from ------ and I caught some heat for that from school administrators who did not want his school-of-choice status highlighted. Perhaps I downplayed it thereafter. I will make sure to make it clear this year”.

Now why wouldn’t the school administrators want it reported that their number one media athletic star was a transfer. Could it be that they wanted the supporters to think that this was a homegrown talent? Ya think?

Senior Year

This was to be, by our head coach’s definition, his “dream team”. He had a senior quarterback, a very good offensive line, (2) senior receivers, a good junior class of defensive players and a “stud” running back.

The opening night was a home game against a formidable school with a history of state playoff success. I didn’t have the “pleasure” of visiting Vietnam in my youth, however my brother had described the monsoon season to me. He could have had a “flashback” on this Friday night in August.

Our transfer running back showed his talents even on the muddiest of fields. We won this game going away. Our son had (1) carry for (15) yards in the first half, to give the starter a breather, and not another touch until the game was comfortably “tucked away”. I could not understand, and still can’t, why the starter had (30) carries and our son (1).

Into the fourth quarter our son replaced the starter and if it were not for the weather conditions I would have never picked up on what was about to occur. It was one of the saddest moments of observing my son’s career. I should have been prepared for this but my positive attitude would not let my pea-brain go there.

I knew in my heart that he would be going in to keep our all world athlete from getting hurt late in the game. But to acknowledge that our son had been reduced to keeping his “adversary” from getting hurt provided a pain in my heart that words cannot define. “This team will be fine without (our son) the varsity captain, but Lord have mercy, don’t let the “stud” get hurt” the coaches must have thought. I know you (the reader) may be thinking, “that’s how it works when your number (2)”, but I haven’t finished with what happened on that rain soaked evening.

The entire offensive line and the fullback (the lead blocker) had clean uniforms, top to bottom. Not only were they non-starters, but also they were deemed not good enough to get any time on the field for defense or even special teams up to this point in the game.

Let’s see if I’m getting this right. They’re putting our son in the game to keep “Barry” from getting hurt and they’re also setting up our son to have as little protection (from getting hurt himself) as possible. This was early in the fourth quarter and the opposition still had their starting defense in the game because, to them, this game wasn’t over…stranger things have happened and a head coach doesn’t become real popular with their town when he throws in the towel with (12) minutes on the clock.

From my bias point of view this decision was three-fold. The coach could also justify his decision of making a local star of the out-of-towner if the local kid showed poor performance in stats such as yards per carry. He could also win support from the parents of the kids who would receive little playing time. The political ball continues to bounce. Unlike a football, its projection is predictable in the hands of the experienced.

The Booster Club

I suppose every town has them. They are the lifeblood for support of the team. They cook the pre-game meals, they man the concessions for food and “hometown gear”. They run the 50/50 raffles, solicit local business for sponsorship and they make the deposits. Big deposits. They have a president, a treasure, secretary and several trustees. Most are ladies, often the mom’s. The funny thing is, I never did hear when they hold their elections, not that I was interested.

I had a list of reasons why I believed that allowing transfers to move into our sports programs was a real bad idea and I was convinced that positive conclusions would be outweigh their reasoning. Keep in mind I don’t mean students that transfer for obvious reasons like a new job in the household that brings people into new communities. Or one who moves in with their grandparents because of a divorce or conviction. These and several other reasons are why students transfer for economic and social concerns at a constant pace.

Those students should not be handicapped from their athletic programs and lets face it, most high school sports are not media spotlighted and the raw numbers will speak for themselves. If a student plays golf for the team, colleges will notice them if they are averaging (3) under par regardless of how well the team is or who they play for. The same can be said for tennis. In baseball everyone gets to bat and field. If a pitcher has a 90 mph fastball or a curve that falls off the table, it matters little where he displays his talents. In basketball height and shooting percentage will often speak for itself.

Football however requires teammates. The true unsung heroes are the offensive line whose name is rarely called by the public address system. Each team generally has one quarterback and the number (2) gets very little action. The quarterback will often have less than stellar stats if he doesn’t have a) an offensive line to protect him; and

b) decent receivers who can catch what he throws.

The running back needs those same components. A good quarterback makes any running back better because the defense doesn’t know what play will be called. They also need a good offensive line to open holes for their personal well-being.

Our son was committed to our schools program regardless of the success that was being enjoyed. These were, after all, his classmates and lifelong buddies. If they were to be a bad team, they would be a bad team together.

Unlike the transfer’s point of view, leaving behind his classmates because he was too good for them, it was decided that my son’s team was too good for him. It wasn’t however the point of view of his teammates. It came from the head coach, the athletic department and yes…those sweet ladies of the booster club.

I was warned about approaching the booster club with my son’s hardship of being pushed aside to accommodate a media circus for the benefit of God knows what. I wasn’t told exactly why because that would have revealed that there was venom involved. Certainly these “moms” would have an understanding of the injustice served here in our hometown. After all, their sons were in the program and they could put themselves in our shoes.

Once again, I will at this time acknowledge my lack of savvy and understanding of the small town athletic mind set.

My address to the booster club was asking for their policy on athletic transfers. I made it clear that this was not about my son, who was already in his senior year. His story was written. My concern was with upcoming athletes. The truth be told, they didn’t have a policy and no one here was interested in putting their name on one that promoted out of town kids playing on teams sponsored by local business and facilities paid for by tax burdens of this school district.

I let them know that they need to get busy and establish documented policy so that people know. We were blindsided by this and I was not about to stand by and let them do this again and again. Their days of breaking hearts were over. We need to let the parents know their policy so that they can consider other sports with their kids and consider other schools, and yes, consider not funding the athletic department in general.

Reasons for not allowing students to transfer purely for sport in small town USA.

(Please note that some of these concerns may not apply to suburban schools.)

Community Spirit. Someone who isn’t even from our town, has not lived in our town, nor are the parents socially active in our town, now owns our town’s single season rushing record, erasing records from generations back that hometown people acknowledged with pride.

Scholarship Opportunities. Skilled position athletics are often offered scholarship opportunities. Why would we as a community want to promote scholarship opportunities for people who are not an active part of our community over the kids who, in some cases, have been established here for generations? These local kids go on to earn degrees (with their scholarship help) move back to their hometowns, establish a family, and become an educated contributor into his community at large. Scholarships are not something that comes easily and around every corner. Transfer students are likely to take their scholarship and run, rarely to be heard from again.

Honor Fundraising Commitments. Countless fundraisers are conducted each year from golf outings, to community passbooks, to car washes and bottle drives all of which use the town’s name in their promotion for funding the athletic programs. People donate to promote their communities’ kids. Let me say this another way, try the same promotion (2) towns over and see how much participation you receive for funding athletics for our town. Also on this topic, much of the revenue generated for local sports come from local businesses. Do you think that they do this for parents who do not patronize their establishments? Do you think that they want to be called out for promoting an athletic agenda that welcomes transfer students to brush aside their patrons children?

Defuse Small-town Politics. We’ve all heard the stories. Some parents spend their every waking moment, metaphorically back scratching, the local people of interest so that their kid receives every opportunity. With transfer athletes involved, there is even more reason to stay on top of these political agendas. I want to make this point very clear because as a parent, and maybe more importantly a father, of a student that was cast aside, there was a hurt that I could not seem to come to grips with. It took a solitary walk in the woods, on a beautiful autumn afternoon, for me to make a psychosocial assessment. It hit me like a “ton of bricks”. The problem I was having in all of this was that I felt inadequate as a father. If I had made more of a contribution to my community then they would not have done this to my son. There is a line drawn somewhere and I, and as a result, my family was clearly below that line. I’ve had trouble conveying this mindset to my family and even my closest friends. Many simply say that I’ve over analyzed the situation. My son just got burned by the game being played by over-zealous parents and athletic departments. My minds-eye said no and once again I’ll make a comparison. There is a town near us that is the hometown of actor Jeff Daniels. He is active in his town, his parents operate the local lumberyard and the community observed his growth and rise to stardom with wonderment. He speaks on behalf of his community and his state. He is a personality that you have to admire. Do you think a transfer student would push aside his son (with a resume like our son) in his hometown with the blessing of the community? Doubtful. If this seems like an extreme it is. However it does illustrate that there is indeed a line. How about the town’s mayor, police chief or school superintendent’s son? Am I making my point that there is a line? Our family was below that line and it hurts the father who considers himself a “provider”.

Teach Your Children Well. Ok, I’m a child of the sixties but the phrase speaks for itself. What kind of lesson was this for not only our son but for every observant kid in our school? Schools are adamant about their student body supporting their peers. They organize pep rallies during school hours when some would suggest they should be working on academics. They insist on integrity, generosity and honesty to guide the human spirit to their vocation of choice. Need I say more?

The Inversion of Point e) Yes we want to teach our children well but do we have a role to play when we witness someone teaching their children incorrectly? When we see a parent teaching their child how to slip a candy bar up their sleeve in the store, most people will either suggest it inappropriate or ignore the situation in disgust. If you take a paperclip or a stamp from your place of work is it not stealing? People who change schools for media opportunities know that they’re taking those same opportunities from someone else who was in line for that opportunity. Is that not stealing? An opportunity is an opportunity!!! Do we not teach our children about standing in lines and waiting your turn? That is the social lesson of elementary school. Would we promote a child to the front of the drinking fountain line because we think he may someday be famous? Our town may never know about one of the greatest running backs that ever came from this town…because they stood there and watched someone steal the opportunity from him. Ask anyone famous about his or her rise to stardom and they will tell you that they were blessed with an opportunity. Without it they may have become a mechanic or a waitress.

These (7) points were to be my focus in the address to our local booster club whose presents of our coaches, are honored.

I got hammered. Little did I realize that most of this booster club consisted of parents who were transfers themselves…including the president. When I mentioned years of community service that we had committed it was suggested that the transfer parents were more generous than the locals based on their participation in working concessions and collecting entrance fees. I wondered what the local merchants would think about that statement from our booster club treasure. I made it clear that certainly she is not evaluating the generosity of our community based on activity in the “stinkin” football booster club. True community service minded residents don’t have time for the Booster Club. That went over well.

When I touched base on scholarship opportunities, I was asked how I could think that my son would be college material when he isn’t even the best tailback on our small town team. That one hurt but I didn’t have a prepared response. The upcoming season would answer that question but I should have been prepared for that stinger nonetheless.

When the verbal beating was over I did manage one final point. I have found that the final point is often the longest lasting. I told them that what I was hearing was consistent with what I’ve witnessed as a whole and that too most people (nearly all), it was a non-issue. I told them that what really hurts though, is the lack of consideration, the unacknowledged. How very few people said, whether they believe it’s fair or unfair, “what a tough break your kid got. Here he is trackin to be a hometown hero and “bam” the next Barry Sanders transfers right on top of him”. It’s one thing to get run over turning a corner in the supermarket, but it’s another thing not to here “excuse me”.

The Response

Our conference championship was between (3) teams of noted conference success and our first conference game was on the road at one of them. They were big kids and their enrollment qualified them to be in a division higher than our own as far as state rankings.

Once again our son had (1) first half carry. It was to give the “starter” a blow after several consecutive carries.

I believed our son was not getting carries to avoid a running back controversy and this was compounded by the transfer dilemma. It’s one thing to start a transfer over the local kid; it’s quite another when they appear to be of similar ability. So coaches’ mindset was to give the transfer all the carries and create a perception that there was little doubt from the staffs’ evaluations. They (the coaches) appeared to have a mantra; don’t give the local kid a play beyond the normal play package.

The (1) carry was one of the sweetest touchdown runs that I have ever seen. It was a (14)-yard run, inside the right side tackle, that skirted (2) would-be tacklers and then he met the middle linebacker head on at the (3)-yard line. It stood them both straight up and “John Riggings” slid off of the hit and lunged into the end zone. Hometown 7 Home Team 0.

He would not touch the ball again the remainder of the game in a 46 to 21 defeat. Our transfer running back had a off day along with his transfer friend, who by the way, excused our previous wide receiver from the starting position. These two kids, who have no doubt become convinced that they are soooo good, by transferring into a new school and receiving the key to the city, tried to score a touchdown on every play. As a result they turned their heads prematurely on passes and they carried the ball loosely. I mean you can’t run your fastest protecting the ball with both hands. They fumbled and they dropped passes on several plays and I never once seen a coach “get on their ass”.

These tough young men (high school football players) can convince you that they are a “mans man”, but after a bitter loss they can cry like a baby.

My son told me at home that night, “Do you know why they cry dad? It’s because they know that they could have done more”. Then he proceeded to tell how indifferent the transfer kids were to the loss. They showed very little remorse, when in reality; they had their hands in on the loss. I think more than anything, community pride was a non-issue and you can’t expect it to be.

Saturday is review day. They look at game film from the night (game) before. This is a mandatory meeting with players and coaches.

Our son was chastised in front of the whole team. Their (coaches) point? “John runs so much faster as a tailback than on defense. Obviously he must still be pouting about not being the number one tailback. Well you just lost your starting position as outside linebacker for being so selfish”.

He was shocked! He was voted team captain because of his team commitment and every player knew that no one out hustled this kid. I was at this game (like every game) and I heard nobody’s name called on defense more than him and I couldn’t recall a single missed tackle or missed assignment on pass protection. I was more shocked.

Oh my God! This is what happens when you go to the booster club in the presents of the coach and make a stand. They blamed our son for the loss in front of the team. He had one carry for a 14-yard touchdown and played nearly every down on defense.

No one felt worse than dear ole dad. Our head coach sure sent a message into our household…”don’t f--k with the coach”. I mean this with all my heart…I wanted to choke him. Certainly I don’t mean that literality however a father’s inherent protection instincts can be a very dangerous trait.

Conference Champions

Our son was moved to defensive end (starter). He has played this position in all six seasons; in fact it was the first position he ever played in seventh grade. It’s a position he knows well. It’s also a position that he has become undersized in high school varsity football. At 5’10” and 185 pounds he is the ideal size as running back but possibly the smallest defensive end in his conference. I’m not sure to this day if the move from linebacker to DE was not about discipline at all but a need that the coaches saw in the DE position that he had vacated to become a linebacker, a position more suitable to his size and speed. The move was noted nonetheless by the coach as one of discipline, without retraction.

From that day our team put on an admirable defensive performance including a 20-0 shutout over our other rival in our conference, who had beaten the team that defeated us. We swept the rest of the way through our conference with several lopsided victories and rarely a first team defensive touchdown allowed. Our son ended up with about 25% of the carries and most of them when the game was well in hand and behind the second team offensive line averaging about 5.5 yards per carry while once again playing nearly every down on defense and returning punts and kickoffs (23.5 yards per kickoff return). Most of the press however, and probably justifiably so, was going in another direction…the transfer. Except for a simple twist of fate.

Hollywood

I must admit to being a football fan. My Monday mood swings in the autumn can be directly linked to the results found in the college and pro-football box scores. Have you ever considered what it would be like to be the parents of someone like Brett Favre? Do you ever tire of the sports movies where the main character becomes the late season hero and leads his team to the ultimate victory? Let me bore you with one more. I’ll try to be brief.

A conference championship and a 7-2 season is a ticket to our state’s football championship playoffs. Any high school football fan will tell you “this is what it’s all about”. Our first round draw was with a team from the big city league that had endured a very credible schedule.

Our team had not advanced past the first round in several years but with the state’s leading rusher we were favored to win. We were blessed with a home field advantage and a healthy squad with only one starter (on defense) out.

Late in the first quarter the transfer star goes out with a bruised hip and in comes the hometown boy without fanfare in fact more attention to the sideline then the huddle in concern for our starting running back.

The first carry was an uneventful run between the tackles for 3 yards that only turned concern to alarm. The next carry was for another 3 but with a second effort that carried defenders to a 9-yard run and a first down. What a big one it was, as it refocused the hometown crowd back into game.

After another short gain and their defense geared now to stop the run, we ran an end around with our wide receiver (a trick play) for thirty yards to the fifteen-yard line. A few plays later and our son carries it in for a 3-yard touchdown.

I would hope that all parents, and most do, will experience as witness an achievement by their children under public scrutiny. I believe to witness your children’s achievements are the greatest thrill in life. It may be in little league, girl scouts, the class play or yes, Friday night-lights.

Our son was the center of attention after this game, a 35-0 victory in which he scored (3) touchdowns along with a stellar defensive game including a quarterback sack. The hometown fans spilled onto the field and he was hard to find in the chaos. When we made eye contact we weaved our way through the crowd and the hug that I received I will remember till my final breath.

At about that time, one of the coaches came up to him and told him that the three biggest newspapers in our area were waiting for him for personal interviews. What a moment.

The next day and in fact the entire weekend was magical with the sports pages telling the story and phone calls coming in from friends and family. His uncle, one of his biggest fans who would come to many games but couldn’t make it to this one, was up the next morning before dawn and off to get the county newspaper to see how our team had done. When he opened the sports page he nearly fell out of his seat when he read the headline that began with his nephew’s name and accomplishments.

Our team would go on to win the next week and our season and ours son’s high school career ended the following week in the third round of the playoffs against a perennial powerhouse on the road. Even though as the papers reported that our team didn’t even experience a “bump in the road” with the change in tailbacks, our son once again was inserted into the tailback position very rarely. Only when the star transfer was doubled over in exhaustion would the coach make a change and often it was for only one play and generally it would be a simple play between the tackles that was predictable for the opposing defense. In our season ending loss, our son had (5) carries for 60 yards (12 yards per carry) and those carries came only when the transfer went out with exhaustion or injury. He would nonetheless average over (7) yards per carry during the (3) games of the state playoffs against quality teams. This is what I could not seem to understand: why wasn’t he alternated more to mix-up the offensive play calling but as they say “it will all come out in the wash”.

The Acknowledgements

The transfer proved his great abilities by becoming the leading rusher in the state. He received first team status in every all-anything that I seen reported. Since our town sits on the border of (2) counties he made all county first team in both county newspapers. He now owns the records for our school, our town and community. I’ll repeat myself here in stating that he doesn’t live in our school district, isn’t from our town and has not been an active member of our community although our fan base is all of the above.

The all-conference selection was a no-brainer however the other all-conference candidates for the various positions were of great interest to us and I’m sure to the rest of the community. An all-conference selection is an impressive attachment to any athlete’s collegiate resume.

The head coaches’ barder the selections in what could only be observed as a political quagmire. “I’ll give you a vote for this kid if you give me one for that one”. It’s a popularity contest among them with not only the players but of lovin received from the parents. As you might have guessed, our son didn’t make first or second team all conference and to me that meant continued punishment for my booster club visit. How could your senior team captain on a conference championship team not make second team conference let alone first? Keep in mind he was number (3) in team tackles as an undersized defensive end often moving back into the linebacker position in a 3-4 defensive package with the stingiest defense in the conference, the primary kickoff return man averaging 23.5 per return, the number (2) tailback averaging 5.7 per carry with most of those carries behind the second string offensive line against their first string defense (the team trailing in a contest tends to keep their first team defense in the game longer to try to get back into the game and at least keeping their opponent from running up the score), and he was the kid most sacrificed in this whole transfer bonanza.

Our son went on to make first team “all county” (more teams than all-conference as a defensive end with some of those teams being from larger school districts) but our coach couldn’t find him on his conference selection agenda…sad.

Senior Banquet

I told my son going into the playoffs, “there are 256 teams going into the playoffs and all but the state champions will end their season with a loss”. The sudden end to the season and for the seniors, their career, can be crushing. I believe for our son it was the ultimate relief after the initial letdown. I know it was for me. After all, this team had made its mark going as far as our school had ever gone before in the playoffs including a state district championship. All that was left now was the recruiting process from colleges and the senior banquet.

We have a cardboard box that contains college correspondences most all from Division III schools that offer no athletic scholarship opportunities. These are wonderful schools generally sponsored by religious organizations. They are also very expensive.

One interested coach has called and told us that he wanted our son as running back and that he would play as a freshman. Impressive for a young man who, “isn’t even the best running back on his team” as was offered by those nice people in our booster club. One problem though: $38,000 per year…ouch. Were still paying student loans from our daughter’s business degree from Indiana University...and we’re in our 50’s. She is actively pursuing property here in our area and wants to teach at our local community college and will no doubt, with her professional status, be making a positive contribution to our community at large. Am I repeating myself again here…sorry.

We knew that there would be praise handed out like promises on Election Day. Our son would be the last to address the crowd as varsity captain and he worked diligently on his speech. Like most kids, addressing a crowd of 300 people can be a frightful task and preparation would be the key. We listened to his rehearsal and told him several times that he had it down although I thought all along that it was very mechanical.

Early in the program they have acknowledgements for the underclassmen on the freshmen and junior varsity teams and their coaches. This is where this biggest shocker of all landed. Of all the surprise attacks, of all the non-disclosers only to learn later, this was the shocker of all shockers.

One of the freshmen was the kid brother of our transfer star who transferred along with his brother. They were introduced (the freshmen) as a whole for their competitive season when the younger brother blurted out (and I quote this with all my heart) “I’m so glad that coach (our head coach) came to our house and talked my mamma into sending (transfer’s name) to (our hometown) school”.

I was frozen! When I regained my senses, I looked to our head coach that was seated, at the most, (3) feet away from the speaker. His eyes were focused straight ahead as though he was gazing over the horizon even though we were inside.

Earlier in the program our school’s superintendent and athletic director were introduced so I knew they were present. Also present were several video photographers including a friend from work that had offered the service as a courtesy.

The seniors one by one came to the podium for their farewells including the transfer who mentioned his school shopping (and I don’t mean clothes) but probably nothing that would declare his ineligibility like his brother’s statement.

While introducing our son, the last to the microphone, our coach noted that no one on the squad had “sacrificed” more for his team.

His speech came off without a hitch, better than anything he had rehearsed with us at home. It flowed as spoken from the heart and we were once again reminded of the blessing received on the day of his birth. He acknowledged his teammates that he had shared blood sweat and tears with since seventh grade football and beyond. I think that this was as close to a dig that he was to offer to the transfers that came here for media concerns their varsity years.

He spoke with pride of some of the coaches, even in the early years, who were inspirational and instructional in one package. His conclusion included a suggestion of naming our football field after our senior coach who was once varsity captain of this very team, and had played for the Buffalo Bills and Oakland Raiders on a championship team. No mention was made in reference to the head coach.

I could not have been prouder of the ovation received.

Only one problem, we were sitting in the snake pit. All of these people cheering for the varsity captain and the year that he captained. The adversities and challenges made more intense because of the lack of support shown by many of these very people.

This was a team that had gone undefeated their junior varsity season. Two years later your basically playing the same kids and even with the transfers, one of them winning the state rushing title, our coach still could not do what the stinkin JV coach could do…an undefeated regular season. He even cheated to do it and couldn’t. He compromised the character of our townspeople who gave their unconditional support in the form of letting him cheat our sons. Our fans will apparently, if only subconsciously, sell out their neighbor for a winning season and our head coach brought them that very opportunity on a platter…and they feasted like Vikings.

Authors Note: All events described prior to Senior Banquet were transcribed before any knowledge of possible MHSAA rules violations. Some statistics may vary from actual documented accounts based on this author’s unavailable resources and opinion. This account is strictly the perspective or perception of the author.

Summary

Myself? After all these years in small town USA, I’m a man without a home. No, the boosters didn’t sneak over and burn our house down but I doubt I’ll be able to trust this community with the best interest of the community. My energies will be a focus of society as a whole if I don’t board myself inside our house and become a certified introvert.

I should apologize here to the many friends and family members that followed some of these hardships and either offered condolences or unplugged their phones. I appreciate the former and I understand the latter.

I should also acknowledge the inflated ego that I carried throughout my son’s football career. I’ll try harder to contain it should he play at the next level.

I have shown laps in character in all of this including communicating with my son some of the frustrations that we shared. I would have been wise to hold my tongue on several occasions but please keep in mind that I was his confidante and he needed that release. The problem is, I let him be mine. I was the one that he counted on for answers, and far too often, I had none and worse, I had more questions.

There was one parent (father) that transferred his son to our school who was very kind to us. His son came his freshman year and came for academic reasons as his 4 point something GPA would suggest. He will know who I mean should he read this account and I thank you for your understanding. He would be the first to wave or call my name at the game should my son make a good play and his support, in hindsight, was very special to me.

My son recently visited a marine recruiter and told me that it sounded like a great program with their college tuition incentives. You see, he is a marine waiting to happen. He is a young man who takes pride in his physique and unafraid of getting down and dirty. What marine recruiter wouldn’t want a high school varsity football captain? They probably get bonus points for that one!

My broken heart told me that he has concerns with driving us broke for an education that includes him playing a game…a silly game. The “great provider” has apparently fallen short. I believe he knows that we would mortgage our assets to the hilt in pursuit of our children’s education however he himself has a problem with that and he cannot see his parents scraping to get by into their sixties. He probably thinks that it’s time to give this silly game (football) a rest.

I told him how proud I was that he has considered serving his country in such a current turbulent world. He knows what we (his mother and I) think of the clowns in Washington using our boys in hostile environments unless all other avenues have been pursued. He also knows that our viewpoint is based on protecting our country’s young people from unnecessary harm but that we need a military for authentic defensive purposes like pursuing Osama Bin Laden.

Allow me to present a hypothetical scenario. Lets say based on scholarship opportunities lost in these occurrences, lead to his decision to join the military and he is later killed in action (heaven forbid), are they responsible for his death? If I’m suggesting that now, do you think I would feel that way then? I’ll use an expression here that I suggested earlier, “a simple twist of fate”.

Well, you know our story now of what I’ve titled “The journal of community abandonment”. The question is what now? Short of a Columbine mentality my idealistic mindset is to sue the bastards. They have all cheated my son for their own gain and have caused monetary loss…isn’t that what lawsuits are about?

I would start with the coach and this goes without explanation. Next in line would be the athletic director (personally), for supporting the coach without regard for the rules. The superintendent (personally) would be next in line for failing to do his job of monitoring the athletic department.

You see, they were all present at that banquet and as I type these very words (on New Years Eve) we are a month removed from that announcement that foul play was involved in all of this and they have sat on their hands. I have given them time to announce that our prized transfer was in fact ineligible due to recruiting violations and that every game that he had played in will in fact be forfeited.

This suit would also include the school system itself and the Michigan High School Athletic Association on several fronts. First, for not making themselves available to the concerns of the athlete’s or their parents. Their web site instructs its readers to contact them “through your local athletic director”. We seen what happens when you second-guess the coach, am I to think that the AD would be shelter from the storm? Please.

Second, for the MHSAA, for failure to enforce the rules that they have established. You would think that when a blue-chip recruit suddenly transfers for their varsity years that it would send up a red flag to at least take a peek at the occurrences leading to that transfer.

Third, for establishing rules that lead to such nightmarish stories in the first place, not just to us but also to countless other students and parents. This is high school sports were talking about here and hometown pride. Public schools are not and should not be the “minor leagues” of big money athletic programs. Somehow that word money is the undoing of so many events that were at one time kosher.

It would also be correct to include the parents who apparently willfully cheated in the recruitment process of their child. While contacting the MHSAA is protected, the rules for eligibility are not and they are readily available on line. They (apparent to me) had no problem breaking the rules in pursuit of monetary gain for their son knowing that they were stealing the opportunity that some other child had dutifully earned in fact they had personally recruited the young man that they would be doing this to.

But I won’t. I couldn’t see putting my son through it and reliving the nightmare. Also after reviewing “The Banquet” that we had recorded on DVD, I do not have the heart to disqualify the efforts of every one of my sons’ teammates that stood on the podium and wore their hearts on their sleeve although these are apparently non-issues with the decision makers of concern.

MHSAA rule states under the heading Undue Influence:

“The use of undue influence by any person directly associated with a school to secure or encourage the attendance of a student for athletic purposes shall cause the student to become ineligible for a minimum of one semester”.