FEBRUARY 2, 2016, 11:09 AM LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2016, 11:12 AM
BY DARREN COOPER
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
The enterprise of North Jersey high school sports seemingly gets sicker by the day.
At this point, it’s almost a given that some coach, school, parent or athlete is cheating or acting inappropriately nearly every day.
There is no justification. There is no explanation. There is no excuse.
And it needs to stop.
Why do coaches use athletes who aren’t physically healthy? Why do coaches feel the need to berate kids publicly and privately? How in the world does a parent get into a physical confrontation with a coach during a football practice, as in what happened in October at St. Joseph? How does a coach allow eighth-graders to practice with a high school wrestling team, like the incident last month at Don Bosco?
The list of incidents goes on and on — just since the fall.
Why do schools allow kids to be athletic free agents and jump ship while sometimes using phony change of addresses as the pretense to transfer? What makes a parent reach out to an athlete, already in high school, and tell him he should play sports somewhere else so he can get noticed and attract that college scholarship?
Who would write “White girls are soft” on a dry-erase board before a girls basketball game, as, according to one coach, happened last weekend at the Bergen County tournament? Who would think “Blackensack,” the hashtag posted last week to the private Instagram account of Paramus wrestler Nick Ciambrone along with a photo of a Caucasian wrestler in a white Paramus singlet wrestling an African-American wrestler in a dark singlet, is clever or funny?
The thing that’s funny? The people who are cheating or acting inappropriately: You’re the loser. Really. You’re just the last one to know.
Your victories count, but they’re hollow. Your championships are glorious, but they’re tainted
https://www.northjersey.com/news/cooper-time-to-redefine-what-a-winner-is-1.1503940
