Michigan High School Football Game Called Because Of One Racial Slur?

Last Friday a football game in southern Jackson County was called due to a racial slur used by one player.  The game was between Oakland Christian High School of Auburn Hills and Vandercook lake High School.

Reporting by MLive stated in the third quarter of the game a player for Oakland Christian High School used a racial slur against a Vandercook player according to the Jackson Country Sherriff’s office.  There was no investigation into the incident by the Sheriff’s office, the game was forfeited and the victory was recorded as a 2-0 Vandercook win.

My thought was why not throw the player who used the racial slur out of the game and continue on with the game.  Were they concerned a fight would break out because the players could not control themselves?  I would have warned players from both teams if a fight breaks out all who are found guilty for starting it and participating in it, except for defending themselves, would be thrown out for the rest of the season.

According to the Michigan High School Athletic Association rulebook, officials may remove teams from competition due to the use of profane language, including racist language.  In that rulebook they state:

Personal attacks come in three categories: Abusive, defamatory or derogatory words or phrases based on race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, religion or disability.

What I did not find in a quick search in the rulebook is anything stating that a game can be forfeited if a player uses one of the above personal attacks.

While we are on sports I might as well tell you how far ESPN has fallen in their “wokeyness”.  The Daily Caller informed us of one of their “wokey” football game analysts.  His name is Rod Gilmore and he was upset that a white football coach appeared to be yelling at a black player for a major screw-up the player committed.

The player drew a costly flag (foul) for his post-catch celebration that cost their team 15 yards and possible points.  Mr. Gilmore, who believe it or not did play college football tried to make this a racial incident.  He tweeted the following:

Moreover, the image of a 51 year old White man berating a young Black man so publicly rubs a lot of us the wrong way. Especially w/all the racial injustice. Bad optics. U can deliver the lesson w/o flexing your power & control. It did not make Black parents I know happy.

When I played sports I had coaches of all colors “berating” me when I screwed up.  Apparently, I did not know at the time those coaches who were a different color than me were all racist/bigots.  I thought they were just coaches who were upset with me and trying to get the best out of me.

Perhaps they should have sat me down in the middle of the game, made me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, with the crust cut off like my mama use to do and used nice words and a soft tone to express their feelings.