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If only we could claim that this is just a plot for an upcoming drama on the fictional field of television's Dillon High, we would. Unfortunately though, it appears as if a serious breach is brewing between District of Columbia high school football teams and some Maryland counterparts over ugly allegations made earlier this fall during a game at Fort Hill High in Cumberland, Maryland.
On September 19, Dunbar High traveled west to the Maryland panhandle to play Fort Hill. In the third quarter, with the visitors leading 14-8, Dunbar coach Craig Jefferies abruptly pulled his team off the field in order to prevent, in his words, "a fight, which was inevitable at that point." The reason? The Dunbar players claimed that their opponents were using racial epithets - including the n-word - to taunt them, and that the game officials did nothing to stop the behavior. Both the Fort Hill coaching staff and the officials deny that any racial epithets were used; there's an ongoing investigation by the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association into the matter.
But the alleged taunts have had wide-ranging consequences, regardless of whether or not they actually happened. D.C.'s McKinley Tech, who had been scheduled to play at Fort Hill on October 3rd, canceled their game based on orders from Troy Mathieu, the District of Columbia Public Schools director of athletics. Efforts to reschedule the game at McKinley's field in the District have apparently been completely rebuffed. Fort Hill was finally able to play a scheduled home game against Prince George's County's Frederick Douglass High School on Friday night. Fort Hill won, 14-12, pushing their record to either 3-1 or 4-1, depending on which side of the Maryland-D.C. border you're on.
Fort Hill, who has been to the Maryland Class 1A state championship game as recently as 2006 and won the title in 1997, had scheduled two District teams this season for the first time in years. The District's hard-line stance of prohibiting teams from playing at Fort Hill not only costs young people chances to play, but could form a damaging ripple effect causing other non-Metro area Maryland teams to stop scheduling District opponents. While the accusations are serious and certainly merit investigation, we're not sure if blacklisting teams from playing at Fort Hill - or anywhere - is necessarily the most even-headed response from DCPS.
So, what do you think? Should the District ban teams from competing at Fort Hill until it's and other organization's investigations have been completed?
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I can't see why this would be a false accusation on Dunbar's part. They are an extremely competitive team, and seemed to lose their focus only when the unsportsmanlike conduct calls were being made. So I think an investigation is necessary.
That being said, I think it's also unsportsmanlike to not play the other scheduled games. If it's true or not, play the games and bring in different officials. Fort Hill's opponents will certainly be fired up, and perhaps close supervision during those games will reveal Fort Hill's true behavior. If the allegations prove true, the most lenient punishment should include expulsion of the involved students and disqualification of Fort Hill's season.
I think dunbar's actions are totally justififed. They are extremely competitive, and common sense would lead me to say, if you were goin to drive all the way up to cumberland to play some team, why would you just walk off the field? something must have been happening. I think the dunbar coach did Fort Hill a favor, cause they would have gotten their asses KICKED in a fight. As for rescheduling games, have fort hill come down here and see if they still say what they allegedly said.
regardless of what happens, the investigation needs to go through, and needs to be resolved swiftly. if the allegations are true, fort hill deserves to be ostracized.
Maybe that game should have been called, but the others? It's not professional to let personal passions get in the way of getting the job done.
There was an article in the Post a few months ago about how Cumberland was experiencing racial tension and the blacks wanted to leave because they felt harassed.
"It's not professional to let personal passions get in the way of getting the job done."
This is not professional sports; it's youth athletics. It's also not personal: schools function in loco parentis at athletic events. Thus, the only "job" to be done is ensuring the safety of the children....yes, children. Most of the players are still under 18.
Kelly-
Yes, of course safety must be paramount. But these children will be 18 soon enough, and should be looking and preparing for their adult future. And the world being as it is, at some point they'll benefit from learning to overcome bias and ignorant adversity.
I don't think people grow unless challenged. Corny as it is, they can only take responsibility for their own actions, not those of others. And they need to do right by themselves. Are any of these kids looking to play college ball? How does not playing help them?
"Should the District ban teams from competing at Fort Hill until it's and other organization's investigations have been completed?"
Seems like a non-issue, as Dunbar was the first DCIAA team to play in Cumberland (Fort Hill or Allegany) for a long time, and McKinley just scheduled Fort Hill as a last-second thing when both teams happened to have an open date. It's not like they go up there regularly, and there's plenty of schools in West Virginia and Ohio that are happy to pay DCIAA teams a guarantee in exchange for what is usually an easy win.
I don't know what to make of the Dunbar-Fort Hill situation...it's hard to imagine Dunbar walking when they were winning unless they thought they had a good reason, but OTOH plenty of all or mostly black teams play in Cumberland and no one except Dunbar seems to have reported any racial problems.
Downtown rez, tell it to a judge. Everything may change once they turn 18, but until then, the law is the law. Some kid gets hurt or jumped at a game, and I don't think the parents, the police or the court will buy the "almost 18" rationale, nor the "hey, he needed to be challenged" defense.