Sportsmanship Lost?

In consecutive nights, over the weekend, our Fairfield Mules lost to teams from Breese Mater Dei, a parochial school in Clinton county. What I have to say today should not be interpreted as sour grapes. The Breese teams were superior to the Mules on their given nights. They won, fair and square.

What I do want to address is style and attitude. I didn’t like the way the folks from Mater Dei went about their business.

On Friday night, the Lady Knights got out to an early lead and never looked back ending Coach Chet Snyder’s teams hopes of going to the Final Four. Towards the end of the second game, a chant went up from a spirited Mater Dei student section. In unison, they yelled “How’d you get here?”

It wasn’t necessary and it wasn’t classy. They had the match in hand. They were moving on and didn’t need to rub it in Fairfield’s face.

Saturday afternoon, at the Train Yard, there were a few other examples of what I would consider poor sportsmanship.  Mater Dei just kept getting flagged for personal fouls. The Mules got called a few times too, but mostly after provocation.

At least one Mater Dei fan was escorted off the property because of boorish behavior. At least two others were warned by Fairfield Police.

As the first half came to a close, one of the Mater Dei coaches followed the refereeing crew to the locker room berating them for their officiating. The tantrum cost the Knights 15 yards at the beginning of the second half.

I say this to point out something. I think I’m safe to say…. This conduct, none of it, would be tolerated by the administration at FCHS. Fairfield wouldn’t condone it.

I’d like to think a parochial school would hold itself to a higher standard