[BktBallRef]

Well, he failed to delete some of his ramblings on other boards.

Originally posted by telegrahams:
So now that Good Morning America has contacted the Southwest Midget Football League, can we get back to football?

The assigner of the league has gotten the coach banned for the year because of the arrest that took place on October 7th. The coach came in willingly and posted bond. The arrest doesn't mean he's guilty but it does mean that the coach is in violation of the leauge's by-laws, thus he has been expelled from the league pending the outcome of the charges.

The assigner and his crew could have done this from the beginning, avoiding this whole mess. Their agenda was to oust this coach, not protect an official.

The witch-hunt is over, can we get back to the game now?

Thanks....

Originally posted by telegrahams:
Cecil,
I will give you the edited version. The coach got out of hand. The officials have stated that the coach attacked the official. I don't believe this to be true for many reasons. Regardless of whether he hit him or not the coach was out of line and should be reprimanded. The assigner for that league and many other officials chose to boycott the league's games until the coach was banned. The first week parents and coaches worked the games. The second week a number of officials went back to working the games. The coach has resigned his position and is not coaching pending the outcome of the assault charges that the official brought against him.

The other officials have stated that they still won't come back until he is banned from the league. The coach still remains AD of his program and continues to sit on the board. Everyone in this area knows how difficult it is to find officials to work games halfway into the season. The group that is not working is divided. Some won't come back because they think that the whole thing is just ugly, and others won't come back, in my opinion, because they have an agenda that goes beyond what they profess.

I have been in this particular league since I was 8 yrs old. I chose to put on the stripes just recently because I no longer had the time to spend during the week as a coach. I am really disgusted with some of those that are involved with this.

I was told that I would be blackballed if I worked the games. As a newer official, I took the threat serious. I made some phone calls though, and was assured that I would be able to work for others. Not everyone believes in this boycott.

There are many of us that feel this situation could have been handled more professionally. A boycott of this particular coach's games might have been more appropriate than boycotting the whole leauge.

What purpose has it served?

I have witnessed a lot of grown men act like children. It has been really enlightening.

I just want to make it clear that I have not chosen the side of the official nor have I chosen the side of the coach. I chose the side that will allow these thousands of children continue to play football for the rest of the season. The players, the cheerleaders, and the coaches that put in all that time during the season deserve at least that.

I don't always make the right call, but this time I got it right. It helps not to have rabbit ears.

I guess if this gets deleted, we'll know it wasn't Mr. Graham.