WA private HS school team has 3 forfeit wins this season

[BobDigital]

This isn't elementary school v. NFL here. This is conference play on the same general level. If there's a team that doesn't belong in the conference (too big, too small, too large/small talent pool), get them out of the conference. But, if they're in the conference, you play them.

Lets assumed had a team full of NFL players decide to go to some super low level college school and play against other super low level college schools. If they were in the same conference and on the same level technically would that make it okay if they played? If a student who is 180 saw a 300 lb athletic monster across from him and he said he didn't want to play would he need to quit all together cause he was worried about getting injured?

Now if all these NFL players stayed on their NFL team one no would ever let that small college team play them cause it is obviously unfair an dangerous. If we however make it so they are allowed to play due to being in the same conference does that change the reality the player across from you is just as dangerous as he was before you did this?

You see the issue is you mention a technically of them being in the same conference when i think the focus should be on the reality they are badly over matched physically regardless of what conference both are in.

 

[pazrul72]

I have been contemplating this for a couple hours now and still don't know exactly where I stand. On one hand fear of injury is a very real thing and HS sports are just not worth a life long injury that lowers your standard of living, say multiple concussions. At least in the NFL you can point to the paycheck and say yeah, it's worth it. On the other hand you can learn so much about character building from sports and this is a prime example. Not everything in life is easy, sometimes the deck is going to be stacked against you and how you handle it....well that says a lot about who you are as a person.

Personally I would never forfeit. I don't care if you line Prime Vince Wilfork across from me who can and will drive me 5 yards backwards every play. I am still gonna do my best and keep getting killed until I wear him out cuz I am a stubborn SOB. Maybe that is overly prideful and I would get hurt doing it but damn it I just can't see not giving it my very best. Now ask the same question for my 8 year old....and I come back to the Uncertainty. I want him to learn about overcoming adversity and at the same time I would rather not see him in the hospital to do it.

Freshman year I had yet to hit my growth spurt and had not really played any sports so was fat and out of shape. Playing two hand touch with a couple of seniors one of them, MUCH larger and stronger then me, ran right thru my "tackle" blasting me 3 yards in the air til I landed in a heap. Got up and kept playing cuz that's just what you do. Sophomore year 5'10 240 lbs still just a dough boy with no man muscle I went up against our star 300lb LT in practice. The WR's across the field watching thought I was dead after he picked me up and tossed me like a rag doll. Got up and kept playing cuz that's just what you do. Junior year I started swimming, hit the weight room, and really started to watch what I ate and by the end of the year I had grown 5 inches and converted at least 40 lbs of fat to muscle while going thru puberty. A large part of the fuel that motivated me was not to get tossed around anymore. I was still unathletic AF but now I was big and didn't get utterly dominated. Senior year we had a scrimmage against the freshmen team and I got to play NT. Their starting center thought he was hot **** and was talking some serious smack....until the game started and he got NO push what so ever even with a double team. Almost singlehandedly shut down their running game because 90% of it was running behind him. Talked to him a couple of years later and he said after that he hit the wieght room hard because he hated how badly I , a third string nobody on the varsity, kicked his ass.

I guess my point in all of that is sometimes you need to lose, sometimes you need to try your best in a no win situation cuz it will in the end make you stronger.

 

[A Defiant Goose]

Lets assumed had a team full of NFL players decide to go to some super low level college school and play against other super low level college schools. If they were in the same conference and on the same level technically would that make it okay if they played? If a student who is 180 saw a 300 lb athletic monster across from him and he said he didn't want to play would he need to quit all together cause he was worried about getting injured?

Now if all these NFL players stayed on their NFL team one no would ever let that small college team play them cause it is obviously unfair an dangerous. If we however make it so they are allowed to play due to being in the same conference does that change the reality the player across from you is just as dangerous as he was before you did this?

Yes, period. End it right there, because I think this is the point where we're disconnecting. You play whoever is on your schedule. If you're worried about safety, find another sport entirely. Don't just forfeit each game you're scared of getting hurt in

 

[Deus Irae]

You see the issue is you mention a technically of them being in the same conference when i think the focus should be on the reality they are badly over matched physically regardless of what conference both are in.

Yes, I see the issue appropriately, and you don't. Getting the question right is a huge part of the problem with today's society, and this is just another example of it.

 

[JarOfMayo51]

It's a reflection of how times have changed. Back in "the day", the team forfeiting would have been called out for being a bunch of ****ies. Today, their parents are cheering their decision.

You can apply that throughout a whole lot of U.S. society.

It's not them being ****ies, the parents have very legitimate concerns..

My son is 5'8" and weighs 117 pounds and just got out of middle school and just turned 14. They've got 18-year-old players that are 6'5" and weigh 330 pounds. I mean, that's like putting a Volkswagen bug against a mack truck," said Granite Falls mom Stacey McBride.

I wouldn't put my 14 year old son who weighs 117 pounds out against 300+lb full grown 18 year olds either.. they're kids playing the sport for FUN, not an nfl contract. That size difference could literally get someone killed, or put in a wheelchair for life.

Not worth it just to avoid being called a "****y" for not sending kids out there to be beaten on for 60 minutes with a high risk of serious injury, concussions or even death in extreme cases. Then you mix in some of the parents that encourage their sons to play dirty and it's not a good situation


We ran into a similar problem when I played where we had to go against a regional school that could pull talent from an entire region of the state rather than just a small town like i was in.. we played them in the playoff finals, the game before the State championship.. they beat the doors off of us, was a complete shutout.. they returned the opening kick for a TD and it just got worse and worse from there.. granted, there wasnt as big of a size difference as there is at the varsity level, but it was fundamentally unfair how they were able to build their team from a huge region and our team consisted of only kids from the small town we were in

I mean we still showed up and played them.. if you want to call it that.. but I wouldn't blame parents for not wanting to send their young sons or daughters who may play as a recreational activity into a suicide gauntlet just to prove some weird, senseless point

 

[Deus Irae]

It's not them being ****ies, the parents have very legitimate concerns..

No, the parents don't have legitimate concerns. Did you not read the story? This isn't an out of the blue situation.

In 2015, Granite Falls lost to Archbishop Murphy, 66-6. In 2014, they lost 56-7.

 

[Galeb]

Yes, period. End it right there, because I think this is the point where we're disconnecting. You play whoever is on your schedule. If you're worried about safety, find another sport entirely. Don't just forfeit each game you're scared of getting hurt in

You're on a roll today. Keep doin what yer doin.

 

[Galeb]

It's not them being ****ies, the parents have very legitimate concerns..



I wouldn't put my 14 year old son who weighs 117 pounds out against 300+lb full grown 18 year olds either.. they're kids playing the sport for FUN, not an nfl contract. That size difference could literally get someone killed, or put in a wheelchair for life.

Not worth it just to avoid being called a "*****" for not sending kids out there to be beaten on for 60 minutes with a high risk of serious injury, concussions or even death in extreme cases. Then you mix in some of the parents that encourage their sons to play dirty and it's not a good situation


We ran into a similar problem when I played where we had to go against a regional school that could pull talent from an entire region of the state rather than just a small town like i was in.. we played them in the playoff finals, the game before the State championship.. they beat the doors off of us, was a complete shutout.. they returned the opening kick for a TD and it just got worse and worse from there.. granted, there wasnt as big of a size difference as there is at the varsity level, but it was fundamentally unfair how they were able to build their team from a huge region and our team consisted of only kids from the small town we were in

I mean we still showed up and played them.. if you want to call it that.. but I wouldn't blame parents for not wanting to send their young sons or daughters who may play as a recreational activity into a suicide gauntlet just to prove some weird, senseless point

The reality is, if you enlist a child in HS tackle football, regardless of their own stature, they can potentially be playing against much larger competition. That's the nature of the game. If you don't want your child to take part in it, then choose another sport.

All this said, I agree with Drew Bees's opinion on having flag football until HS, and am receptive to the idea of Flag footbally being the only type through HS. Such an opinion wouldn't fly in the South for generations.

 

[Ring 6]

Put in a 225 pound limit and the game would be incredible. The speed would be everywhere.

And what happens to the kids who are over 225?

 

[A Defiant Goose]

It's not them being ****ies, the parents have very legitimate concerns..



I wouldn't put my 14 year old son who weighs 117 pounds out against 300+lb full grown 18 year olds either.. they're kids playing the sport for FUN, not an nfl contract. That size difference could literally get someone killed, or put in a wheelchair for life.

Not worth it just to avoid being called a "*****" for not sending kids out there to be beaten on for 60 minutes with a high risk of serious injury, concussions or even death in extreme cases. Then you mix in some of the parents that encourage their sons to play dirty and it's not a good situation


We ran into a similar problem when I played where we had to go against a regional school that could pull talent from an entire region of the state rather than just a small town like i was in.. we played them in the playoff finals, the game before the State championship.. they beat the doors off of us, was a complete shutout.. they returned the opening kick for a TD and it just got worse and worse from there.. granted, there wasnt as big of a size difference as there is at the varsity level, but it was fundamentally unfair how they were able to build their team from a huge region and our team consisted of only kids from the small town we were in

I mean we still showed up and played them.. if you want to call it that.. but I wouldn't blame parents for not wanting to send their young sons or daughters who may play as a recreational activity into a suicide gauntlet just to prove some weird, senseless point

IMO it isn't a weird senseless pointIn life you're going to be put in of "unfair" circumstances. I don't agree that this is necessarily one of them, considering the team is in the same division and is also a high school team. But let's give them that and say that it's unfair due to being physically out of the team's league. I personally, 100% A Defiant Goose's opinion, do not want to raise a child to think that when things are unfair, it's ok to quit. I also understand that as a parent my #1 duty is to protect my child, so in that sense I may not have even let them play football to begin with. But if you're going to play, you play and you give it your all no matter who lines up across you. It isn't about trying to be a badass, it's a life lesson. Imagine if the colonists of the 1770s decided that Great Britain was way out of their league militarily and forfeited the fight for independence, where would we be today? I know it sounds silly comparing the independence of a nation to a high school football but it's the same principle. If you're going to get "bullied" metaphorically by another football team and take the loss without a fight, to me that's akin to being bullied in real life when you're an adult.

These kinds of lessons raise fighters and god only knows we could use more fighters and fewer victims. And again, not to sound like an internet tough guy, but if I'm in that locker room I tell them I'm lining up and fighting, and if you don't want to fight with me then GTFO my team. Sounds like these folks lack the warrior spirit, and that's ok we don't all have it and at the end of the day it is just a football game. But we already have enough quitters and victims. We could use a few more fighters these days.

Sorry I went on a tangent there lol

 

[A Defiant Goose]

You're on a roll today. Keep doin what yer doin.

I take these kinds of things (maybe too) seriously. It's like when I'm getting my ass beat by a team and they send in their third stringers to play against us. Ultimate sign of disrespect is telling the other team you're not worried about them beating you.

 

[Dr Pain]

And what happens to the kids who are over 225?

I am talking pros but I imagine the same thing as happens in college spirit leagues for those over 172 pounds. Find something else to do.

I was that massive player in high school who hurt other kids but also had to deal with I could not play pop Warner because I was too big for their guidelines of weight and age combo. It is just the way it is.

 

[JarOfMayo51]

You can frame it as a bunch of kids being ****ies, or as a private school recruiting from an N mile radius these 6'5" 300 pound monsters, versus these little schools with 14 year old 175 pound freshman who are going to have no chance and going to end up injured, and who would be the first to admit they really don't give much of a **** about the game, they just do it for fun and aren't all that competitive.

If you put a pee-wee team against a college team, the results are going to be ugly. The parents are looking out for their kids, which is more than Goodell ever did for the NFL players. I'm fine with it. That little pipsqeak 14 year old math genius is never gonna be good at football, he is programming in Python already making robots on weekends in his spare time. He will be hiring and firing that brain-damaged 300 pound lineman in 10 years. They've got their priorities straight.

But yes, it is a different time that's for sure. Both in the recruiting and concentration of talent aspect, and the parents not pressing their kids to go in there and fight no matter how many concussions they have.

That brain is more important than that pride. I see this reshuffling of priorities as good.

If it were badminton (or some other non-contact sport, or math club, or chess team), and one team were just way way better, then of course it would be really stupid.

Obviously you want your kids to be fighters, to be competitive, etc.. If I thought this was simply indicative of the wussification of kids, helicopter parenting, etc.. That would suck. And maybe this is playing a role. But we are talking basically about brain injury, so F it, if there was a good time to step in and err on the side of caution, that would be it. But if it is Amesbury High School versus Exeter Academy chess club, go ahead Amesbury give 'em hell and try to win even if you get plastered every year.

Great post, you nailed it on the head and I'm glad you posted this early on because I started to read the comments and was like "oh boy, here we go!"

Not wanting your young son to get his brains turned into scrambled eggs is the SMART decision

 

[A Defiant Goose]

Great post, you nailed it on the head and I'm glad you posted this early on because I started to read the comments and was like "oh boy, here we go!"

Not wanting your young son to get his brains turned into scrambled eggs is the SMART decision

Sure but then why let them play football to begin with?

 

[Deus Irae]

Not wanting your young son to get his brains turned into scrambled eggs is the SMART decision

Then don't have him play the sport. This isn't rocket science. It's basic common sense.

 

[JarOfMayo51]

I don't even like the argument of how big the other players are. Are they high schoolers? That's the only qualification to me. One team is going out of its way to recruit better players, that's the reward for the effort they put into recruiting. If you don't want to compete then kick rocks.

Again, I say this at risk of sounding like an internet tough guy but it's just one of my core values

It has nothing to do with the extra effort by the school in recruiting better players.. they are a private school with a HUGE bank roll and millionaire alumni that will make sure they have every cent they need to ensure Joey and Susy have every advantage

A public school has absolutely NO CHANCE to compete with that. It literally has nothing to do with effort and everything to do with money

 

[JarOfMayo51]

Totally and completely disagree. You are dealing with brain health. My son went to school with a kid who got multiple concussions and it has basically trashed his life. He is now a brain damaged 22 year old because of high school sports glory.

If football is going to survive it will be in this form Sprint football - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In sprint football, players must maintain a weight of 172 lb (78 kg) or less and a minimum of 5% body fat to be eligible to play. The end result of these weight restrictions is that, unlike conventional collegiate football which places a premium on body weight and strength, sprint football emphasizes speed and agility.

Totally agree, a young 14 year old kid who has his whole life infront of him and probably has no plans or desire to play football beyond the Highschool level and is just doing it for the fun and competition shouldn't be thrown into a situation where he could have the life he hasn't even started yet ruined

There's being tough, and then there is being dumb. Knowing the difference is the key.

I'm sure some kid that has his head obliterated by someone 2-3x his size and suffers permanent brain damage wouldn't take any solace from an old timer being like "well, you aren't going to be able to function and live a normale life, but at least you're not a ****y, amirite!?"

 

[A Defiant Goose]

Totally agree, a young 14 year old kid who has his whole life infront of him and probably has no plans or desire to play football beyond the Highschool level and is just doing it for the fun and competition shouldn't be thrown into a situation where he could have the life he hasn't even started yet ruined

There's being tough, and then there is being dumb. Knowing the difference is the key.

I'm sure some kid that has his head obliterated by someone 2-3x his size and suffers permanent brain damage wouldn't take any solace from an old timer being like "well, you aren't going to be able to function and live a normale life, but at least you're not a *****, amirite!?"

Reminds me of a good old simpsons quote.

 

[s3antana5757]

As a HS coach, this issue is not just in WA or MA. I coach hoops in CT and we had a team that won the state championship by 60 points this year. IMO, any school that can get kids from another town/district should be in their own division against similar kids. I have no problem with schools doing it, but when you're a public school and you can only get kids from your town, how is that fair? It'd be like telling the Pats you can only select kids from BC, BU, UMass, etc. They'd get throttled every year as well.

 

[Dorito Dink]

Great example of how our society has gone so soft. Let's just make the football field a "safe zone" that way the kids will feel "welcomed and included."