Would this ever happen in football?

[MEM]

I know this is a football forum but something happened last week that really got me to thinking...The Coldspring-Oakhurst Lady Trojan softball team made the playoffs for what I'm told is possibly only the 2nd time in school history...

 

They upset a very good Orangefield team in Jasper 12-5 to advance to the next round against Sweeney...Coldspring lost the toss and Sweeney opted for a 3 game series...Coldspring travels to Sweeney for game 1 and beats them 9-3 on their home field...

 

The next day 4 out of 5 Coldspring Senior starters (who had paid for a senior trip Cruise to Cozumel) choose to leave their team behind and go on the cruise...Also in the interest of fairness there was another senior player who left for the cruise but she played sparingly at best this season...

 

The next day Coldspring plays a double header at San Jacinto College against Sweeney without 4 starters (3 infielders and a outfielder) and loses twice...They got run ruled the 1st game and ended up losing the 2nd game by 9...Coldspring actually had the tying run on base or at the plate in the 4th and 6th innnings before the wheels fell off (for the last time) defensively.

 

The defensive issues caused by the departed infielders along with their offensive ability was just too much for Coldspring to overcome...

 

Not to take anything away from Sweeney because it's not their fault and they did what they needed to advance but It was very frustrating to watch the whole thing unfold..

 

Needless to say I don't think you'd ever see something like this happen in football...I can't imagine a scenario where over 40% of a teams starters would choose to leave their team behind to go on a cruise...

 

Also I don't think you'd ever hear a head football coach tell the players "to have a great time on the cruise and we'll just play with whoever we have the next game"...

 

I hear people complain about why other sports don't get the same type of attention, etc as football and here is another prime example as to why they don't...If the players, coaches (and parents of girls who left) don't care why would they expect anyone else outside the program to?

 

Btw, whatever happened to a parent telling a kid "No, you're not going to back out of your committment to your team and and school"?

[AthleticSupporter - Jock]

I know this is a football forum but something happened last week that really got me to thinking...The Coldspring-Oakhurst Lady Trojan softball team made the playoffs for what I'm told is possibly only the 2nd time in school history...

 

They upset a very good Orangefield team in Jasper 12-5 to advance to the next round against Sweeney...Coldspring lost the toss and Sweeney opted for a 3 game series...Coldspring travels to Sweeney for game 1 and beats them 9-3 on their home field...

 

The next day 4 out of 5 Coldspring Senior starters (who had paid for a senior trip Cruise to Cozumel) choose to leave their team behind and go on the cruise...Also in the interest of fairness there was another senior player who left for the cruise but she played sparingly at best this season...

 

The next day Coldspring plays a double header at San Jacinto College against Sweeney without 4 starters (3 infielders and a outfielder) and loses twice...They got run ruled the 1st game and ended up losing the 2nd game by 9...Coldspring actually had the tying run on base or at the plate in the 4th and 6th innnings before the wheels fell off (for the last time) defensively.

 

The defensive issues caused by the departed infielders along with their offensive ability was just too much for Coldspring to overcome...

 

Not to take anything away from Sweeney because it's not their fault and they did what they needed to advance but It was very frustrating to watch the whole thing unfold..

 

Needless to say I don't think you'd ever see something like this happen in football...I can't imagine a scenario where over 40% of a teams starters would choose to leave their team behind to go on a cruise...

 

Also I don't think you'd ever hear a head football coach tell the players "to have a great time on the cruise and we'll just play with whoever we have the next game"...

 

I hear people complain about why other sports don't get the same type of attention, etc as football and here is another prime example as to why they don't...If the players, coaches (and parents of girls who left) don't care why would they expect anyone else outside the program to?

 

Btw, whatever happened to a parent telling a kid "No, you're not going to back out of your committment to your team and and school"?

 

It would never happen in a football program that was worth participating in.  I hope it would never happen anywhere but with some parents today, nothing surprises me anymore.

 

There are so many things wrong with this situation and the life lessons that are being taught.  But in all of this, I don't blame the kids.  The parents of these kids should be ashamed.  The sad thing is, I bet not a one of them is or else they wouldn't have made that decision.

[AggiesAreWe]

I never understood why these "senior cruises" can't be scheduled in mid June.

 

BTW, in my day, the senior trip was a day at Crystal Beach. ;) :D

[eagleswoodville#1]

I never understood why these "senior cruises" can't be scheduled in mid June.

BTW, in my day, the senior trip was a day at Crystal Beach. ;) :D

Hell I went to Rayburn on a boat in 2012 ;) lol

But it wouldn't happen on a team I was coaching. They wouldn't have made it to Wednesday to start the series if I caught wind of it.

[Campee]

Stay and play or go on the trip???

 

Trip is paid for.  If they stay and play they lose the $$ for the trip and there is no guarantee that Coldspring would advance in the playoffs, so the season ends and they lose their $$ and trip.

 

I'm thinking that the girls didn't think that they would even get into the playoffs when they booked the trip.  I'm sure that are plenty of people that are upset with them because they opted to go on the cruise. 

 

If I would have put up the money for my daughter to take a trip like this, I'm not sure I would have required her to stay and play ball either.  Having said that, I can assure you that I would have never permitted my daughter to go on a trip like that in the first place.

 

Like someone else posted, this trip should have been scheduled in the summer.  Also, how many days of school did they miss?

[MEM]

There's never a guarantee come playoff time, however, as mentioned earlier they had already played Sweeney on their home field and beat them handily in game one of the series...

 

So it wasn't a case of them not knowing what was in front of them and what their chances were of winning one of the next two games and advancing...

 

It was pretty clear which team was the better of the two and it's not like baseball where there was going to be a different starting pitcher the next time out...I doubt anyone that's being honest would dispute the fact that Coldsprings chances of advancing with their full complement of players were really high...

 

I don't understand the argument of the girls not expecting to make the playoffs...If you're not going to play and give your best come playoff time what's the point of practicing and playing games all year..It's a honor to make the playoffs and represent your school, district, etc..

 

Also if the players had of wanted to sell their tickets and get their money back there were options to do so...The player that did stay behind and play sold hers and from what I hear had several offers for her ticket almost immediately.

 

There was a line of folks ready to step in and buy the other 4-5 tickets so losing money wasn't really the issue..It just came down to a decision of whether they wanted to put the team before themselves and unfortuntately for the other players, parents, and fans that have supported them all season they chose themselves over their teammates...

 

Btw, what's a deep run into the playoffs worth? I know there are probably hundreds of girls in the state of Texas that would gladly pay a couple hundred dollars to go a few rounds deep...Especially girls who haven't ever got to experience it...

[One4All]

We all have Choices to make...

[87JAG]

I blame the kids for not keeping their commitment to the team and the parents for letting them do.

 

If it happened on my team, they would not be allowed to come back.

[Ty Cobb]

Very selfish by the players. In my day, they would all take a good old butt kicking when they got back. Actually, this would not happen in my day.

[understand]

Well I don't think I would have this problem because my girls (4 of them) would not be on a trip. But on the girls side of this, maybe the girls are taught  God , Family and community softball is not there life. It was the parents choice and not the girls so with this being a football site I don't know in TEXAS is it God, Family and Community.   WHATS FIRST -------- how many of them will play softball after high school ? But there or always class reunions.

Then I guest the topic is or the girls there for sports or is the sport there for them?

[jv_coach]

Female dogs in heat.

[mustang]

This is total selfishness on those girls/parents part. A "me first" mentality. Great leadership for them to exhibit to the younger players.... Not! They could have booked the trip at a later date. If I were the coach I would consider them quitters and not honor them at the athletic banquet nor put any of them up for all district.

[AHUDDLESTON]

All district has probably already been picked

[AHUDDLESTON]

All district has probably already been picked

[Ty Cobb]

This is total selfishness on those girls/parents part. A "me first" mentality. Great leadership for them to exhibit to the younger players.... Not! They could have booked the trip at a later date. If I were the coach I would consider them quitters and not honor them at the athletic banquet nor put any of them up for all district.

I agree 100%

[Guest ECBucFan]

This is total selfishness on those girls/parents part. A "me first" mentality. Great leadership for them to exhibit to the younger players.... Not! They could have booked the trip at a later date. If I were the coach I would consider them quitters and not honor them at the athletic banquet nor put any of them up for all district.

I totally agree! I believe in 100% COMMITTMENT. Why honor those who let their teammates down, or who don't have 100% dedication to their team? I doubt this would happen much on a football team though. This seems to be worse in girls sports, IMO.

[PhatMack19]

Something similar happened my senior year in baseball. We played LC-M in the Regional Finals for a trip to state. Griff won the toss and made us play in Houston, since we had beat them the year before at Lamar for a trip to Austin.

We graduated Thursday night, beat LCM game 1 Friday night and had a double header Saturday at the Astrodome. My flight for Cancun left at 5am Sunday morning.

I packed my bag for my senior trip. Win go to Austin, lose go to Cancun. There was never any other discussion between any of the seniors. We wanted to win a state title. Cancun will always be there, but that was my last chance to play in Austin. We did all lose our $600 we spent on the trip though.