http://cnn.com/video/?/video/us/2010/12/16/dnt.teen.referee.attack.wink
I was happy to see the kid take SOME accountability and responsibility for his actions. Certainly some will nit-pick (and I would normally be among the first) and say he did not TOTALLY own the incident by saying "That's not me". Who was it then? Your evil twin?
I understand in part where he's going with that, but the self-deception and deflection of blame displayed here is a bit of a negative. The focus on his own loss or damage ("the game I worked at so hard is taken away from me") demonstrates a bit of the self-centered / entitlement mind-set that permeates youth sports and leads to incidents like this, IMO.
The most shocking quote was when the young man said "It just happened...to me it was part of the game." WOW!!!
That mind-set simply has to change, does it not?
Participation at this level is more of a privilege than a right. Although, I'm sure there will be some constitutional scholar, professor or activist judge somewhere in the country who will disagree with that statement.
But it's a decent start for the kid and personally, I thought the initial reaction might be in the other direction. We'll hope for the best for all parties.
Story from winknews.com
http://www.winknews.com/Local-Florida/2010-12-15/Desoto-County-High-basketball-player-apologizes-
DESOTO COUNTY, Fla--He was the player shown attacking a referee during a high school basketball game Now, he wants to apologize to his coach, his teammates, and most importantly the referee.
18 year old Mason Holland's sidelined from his favorite sport indefinitely because of the unsportsman-like choice he made on the basketball court.
"I worked at it harder than anything in my life and having it taken away from me is a hard feeling," said Holland describing how he felt after he was kicked off the Desoto County High School basketball team.
During a game, Holland received a technical foul. Then he pushed another player. The referee kicked Holland out of the game. Holland reacted by "clotheslining" the referee taking the 51 year old man completely to the ground.
The video was posted to YouTube.
"When I saw it I thought wow that's not me. It's shocking," said Holland describing seeing the video of his actions, "I didn't know at the time on the court. I didn't feel I knew what I was going to do. It just happened. I couldn't control it."
"You realize you could have really hurt this gentleman?" asked chief investigator Melissa Yeager.
"Right, right. Hopefully..I hope he's ok. I think he just needed ice for his wrist but my intention was not to hurt him," replied Holland, "I didn't do it to impress nobody. It just happened...to me it was part of the game."
Holland says he knows his game time decision hurt a lot of people.
"I feel like I let the team down and I let my coach down and the community down," said Holland.
Holland also wants to apologize to the referee.
"What happened on the court wasn't acceptable. Wasnt' me and I just want to apologize to everyone," said Holland.
Holland could also face criminal charges. The sheriff's department has turned the case over to the state attorney's office for review.
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