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The biggest losers are civility and reason

When an editorial commentary in the Hillsboro Free Press takes an unfair, inflammatory pot-shot at Marion sports fans, it deserves a retort, and I'm more than happy to provide it.

In an editorial last week titled "The biggest loser is sportsmanship," Free Press commentator Bob Woelk used examples of the isolated actions of two overzealous Marion students following the Marion-Hillsboro basketball game Jan. 26 as an excuse to brand the entire Marion crowd as "unsportsmanlike."

Here are Woelk's words:

"It was the indisputably unsportsmanlike behavior of the Marion crowd, particularly the student body, after the final horn that got most of the Hillsboro fans fired up."

I was there, and it is just plain wrong of Woelk to say the Marion crowd was unsportsmanlike. W-R-O-N-G, wrong.

Was there some inappropriate behavior by some Marion kids?

Yes, there was. Marion High School principal Ken Arnhold reviewed the tape of the game, and the students in question have been reprimanded for their behavior.

But don't waste your time looking for an editorial in the Free Press praising Arnhold for addressing the situation.

Should Hillsboro fans be upset about being taunted after the loss?

You bet. I agree with Woelk — taunting opponents and opposition fans has no place in high school sports. None.

Trojan fans were our guests, and deserved to be treated as such.

But Woelk is wrong to use such a broad brush to tarnish the Marion crowd. The vast, vast majority of the home fans behaved as they should.

They cheered on their Warriors, and when the final buzzer sounded, all except a misguided handful were joyously congratulating the home team, not trashing Trojan fans.

Woelk is guilty of the same old, tired rhetoric that characterizes too much of the exchange between Marion and Hillsboro — slandering a whole community for the actions of a few.

People in both towns are guilty of this, and all should be ashamed. We can do better. Our kids and our communities deserve it.

Woelk also went to the trouble of pointing out that one of the offending students was a child of a Marion faculty member.

What was his reason for doing that? He didn't point out the occupations of any other students' parents.

It looks like he's implying Marion schools condone this sort of behavior, that they're negligent in their responsibilities.

Any recent reader of this newspaper knows that's absolutely not true. I've detailed how USD 408 athletic director Tod Gordon and Arnhold have been diligent and thorough in promoting good sportsmanship.

Even the Kansas State High School Activities Association has taken notice, as its executive director sent a letter to the district in January praising their efforts in this area.

As a faculty member at Hillsboro High School, surely Woelk is himself acquainted with KSHSAA Rule 52 regarding sportsmanship.

"Be a role model by being positive in every manner possible," the rule says. "Support those playing, coaching, and officiating."

In addition to the rest of his ridiculous comments, I'm wondering how he missed the part about supporting and not being critical of officials.

Instead of being a good role model for his students, Woelk is right out front in criticizing the officiating, and suggesting all too obviously that officiating cost the Trojans the game. Two weeks after the game, no less.

Rule 52 also provides specific procedures for schools to address grievances they have regarding sportsmanship.

None of them include school representatives lambasting opponents' fans in the local press.

It's worth pointing out that, to this point, Marion school officials have received no phone calls or letters of grievance from either Hillsboro schools or KSHSAA.

One can assume calmer heads than Woelk's prevail among USD 410 administrators, and that they are confident their USD 408 counterparts have addressed the issue.

I can't fathom what would possess an educator, charged with being a role model for sportsmanship, to publicly call out students in the media, unjustly slander an entire fan base, and whine about officiating two weeks after the fact.

And I can't fathom why the Free Press would run a piece so disrespectful of their Marion readers.

A self-serving, overblown, mean-spirited, ill-conceived commentary such as Woelk's is worth exactly what you pay for the Free Press.

Nothing.

— DAVID COLBURN

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