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Monday, March 24, 2008
On football fights and suspensions
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I wrote a story for Sunday’s paper on sportsmanship in high school sports and the remarkable number of games that players and coaches lose to suspension each year - more than 1,100 during the 2006-07 and 20007-08 academic years.
Football is the sport with the most violence, as one might expect. Although considering the number of games played (more than 1,500) and the nature of the sport, the number of fights isn’t out of control.
Below is a list of schools that were hit with suspensions due to fighting, only about 27.
But first, a question: Is sportsmanship a big issue in high school football? Should suspensions for fighting be more severe? They’re usually one game.
A fight can turn into a brawl, where players are leaving the bench area, or it might last a matter of seconds, just long enough to lock up and throw somebody down, anything that sends officials running to break it up.
It’s hard to explain why some schools have 12 or more games lost to suspension while 60 percent of GHSA schools have zero.
In the professional ranks, coaches and managers getting thrown out of games is just part of the sport, but it’s harder to make that case in high school sports.
Here are the schools that had players suspended for incidents related to fighting:
Brooks County, fight
Buford, (punched opponent)
Central Gwinnett, fight
Coffee, fight
Dodge County, fight (two players)
Duluth, (taking a swing)
Forest Park, fight
Glenn Hills, fight
Henry County, punch
Houston County, fight
Jeff Davis, fight
Jonesboro, fight
Jones County, fight
Lithonia, fight
Luella, fight, leaving bench (six players)
Marietta, punch
Mays, fight (three players)
Monticello, kicking an opponent
Mundy’s Mill, punch
Mundy’s Mill fight
North Cobb fight
Northgate fight
Ola, (attempt to injure)
Shaw, fight (two players)
Towns County, fight
Union Grove, fight (five players)
Union Grove, fight (one player)
West Laurens, punch
Westover, fight
One other issue: Coaching changes The number of schools with head football coaching openings this off-season hit 90 last week as Wheeler’s Paul Lombardo resigned and Gilmer’s Bradley Warren (formerly of Central Gwinnett) went to Dade County. Of those openings, 25 are still unfilled, if our numbers are correct. Here is the list. Let us know what you’re hearing on these jobs:
Archer (new school)
Brunswick
Campbell
Douglass
East Coweta
Fellowship Christian
Gilmer
Hancock Central
Harrison
Kendrick
Lamar County
Lambert (new school)
Lithonia
Mount Paran (new program)
Mountain View (new school)
North Atlanta
North Cobb Christian (new program)
Pebblebrook
Savannah Country Day
Shiloh
South Cobb
South Forsyth
Spalding
Wheeler
Winder-Barrow
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