the same problem. I've been thinking about this a long time. The members of the sports teams in the school — and the cheerleaders — are treated like gods. That kind of thing goes to people's heads. It's like, one set of rules for us, and another for everyone else. It's not fair, and I don't want to be a part of it."
The coach chuckled in disbelief. "Robert, come on. What kid doesn't want to be treated
special? You guys deserve it. You're the best thing to happen to this school in twenty years."
Robert shook his head. "Maybe that's the way you feel, but I don't."
"Well, suit yourself, Robert. I've got plenty of quality players on the bench who'll be thrilled by this news."
Robert didn't answer. He and I turned and walked out the door.
Chapter 15.
SMS NEWS & VIEWS EDITORIAL
There is a spirit in SMS these days. It's not the school spirit we usually feel. It's not our incredible pride for the greatest sports team in recent memory, perhaps in school history. No, it's the spirit of negativity. The spirit that wants to tear us down, and for what?
Favoritism? Unfair treatment? So says a certain former mediocre player who quit the team. Well; I would like to ask him, where does he think he is? The NBA?
Maybe it was "unfair" that he missed sixty-three percent of his baskets in the last game. Maybe it
was "unfair" that he had to spend part of the second half on the bench. Maybe Coach Halvorsen was showing "favoritism" to the other players, who just happened to be scoring more!
But it wasn't enough to bring down his own team. This same mediocre former player decided to bring down the cheerleaders. All because his girlfriend wasn't good enough to make the squad. "Unfair" again?
This is not the kind of spirit the rest of us feel at SMS. This is called bad attitude. And it's one thing we just don't need around here.
Nice article, huh? It came out on Wednesday, five days after Robert quit.
Lots happened over that time. Robert's quitting really shook up the school. Some kids were furious. Jason Fox refused to talk to Robert.
The good news was that many others approved of what Robert had done. Wherever Robert or I went, kids swamped us with questions. Apparently a lot of kids had thought the sports teams got away with murder. They'd
just been too afraid to speak up.
Robert was brave. I still had the BSC, but he had a lot to lose, like his best friends. He was prepared to face angry teachers, too.
But you know what happened? The teachers and administrators called a meeting that Tuesday night to "re-evaluate the sports program." Robert and I were invited, and a committee was set up to "investigate academic abuses" and "institute a non-biased minimal grade-point standard for athletic participation." (In plain English, that means if your grades are too low, you don't play sports.)
The next day, Robert was asked to rejoin the team — first by Coach Halvorsen, then by the players themselves. To them, it was embarrassing that a star player had quit.
Robert said no.
Then, on Wednesday morning, as I was walking to homeroom, I heard someone shout, "Stacey, wait!"
It was Sheila. I had not spoken to her since the tryouts. I'd felt so betrayed by her.
"What?" I said flatly.
She looked as if she were about to cry. "Don't be mad. It wasn't my fault. I kept sticking up for you until the final vote. I know how unfair it was."
Some of my anger melted away. I believed her. "Well, thanks for telling me," I said.
"Urn, Stace? I don't know if you heard — you know, about Kathleen."
"No, what?"
"Well, when she found out what had happened, she was really upset. Last night she quit."
"Really?"
"Uh-huh. So you know what that means, Stacey. That spot has opened up again. And the girls have agreed — you're the one. No tryouts necessary."
For a moment I felt a shiver of joy. But it went away quickly.
Funny. Just a few days before, I'd wanted to be on that squad so badly. Getting cut had devastated me.
Now the idea of being a
The coach chuckled in disbelief. "Robert, come on. What kid doesn't want to be treated
special? You guys deserve it. You're the best thing to happen to this school in twenty years."
Robert shook his head. "Maybe that's the way you feel, but I don't."
"Well, suit yourself, Robert. I've got plenty of quality players on the bench who'll be thrilled by this news."
Robert didn't answer. He and I turned and walked out the door.
Chapter 15.
SMS NEWS & VIEWS EDITORIAL
There is a spirit in SMS these days. It's not the school spirit we usually feel. It's not our incredible pride for the greatest sports team in recent memory, perhaps in school history. No, it's the spirit of negativity. The spirit that wants to tear us down, and for what?
Favoritism? Unfair treatment? So says a certain former mediocre player who quit the team. Well; I would like to ask him, where does he think he is? The NBA?
Maybe it was "unfair" that he missed sixty-three percent of his baskets in the last game. Maybe it
was "unfair" that he had to spend part of the second half on the bench. Maybe Coach Halvorsen was showing "favoritism" to the other players, who just happened to be scoring more!
But it wasn't enough to bring down his own team. This same mediocre former player decided to bring down the cheerleaders. All because his girlfriend wasn't good enough to make the squad. "Unfair" again?
This is not the kind of spirit the rest of us feel at SMS. This is called bad attitude. And it's one thing we just don't need around here.
Nice article, huh? It came out on Wednesday, five days after Robert quit.
Lots happened over that time. Robert's quitting really shook up the school. Some kids were furious. Jason Fox refused to talk to Robert.
The good news was that many others approved of what Robert had done. Wherever Robert or I went, kids swamped us with questions. Apparently a lot of kids had thought the sports teams got away with murder. They'd
just been too afraid to speak up.
Robert was brave. I still had the BSC, but he had a lot to lose, like his best friends. He was prepared to face angry teachers, too.
But you know what happened? The teachers and administrators called a meeting that Tuesday night to "re-evaluate the sports program." Robert and I were invited, and a committee was set up to "investigate academic abuses" and "institute a non-biased minimal grade-point standard for athletic participation." (In plain English, that means if your grades are too low, you don't play sports.)
The next day, Robert was asked to rejoin the team — first by Coach Halvorsen, then by the players themselves. To them, it was embarrassing that a star player had quit.
Robert said no.
Then, on Wednesday morning, as I was walking to homeroom, I heard someone shout, "Stacey, wait!"
It was Sheila. I had not spoken to her since the tryouts. I'd felt so betrayed by her.
"What?" I said flatly.
She looked as if she were about to cry. "Don't be mad. It wasn't my fault. I kept sticking up for you until the final vote. I know how unfair it was."
Some of my anger melted away. I believed her. "Well, thanks for telling me," I said.
"Urn, Stace? I don't know if you heard — you know, about Kathleen."
"No, what?"
"Well, when she found out what had happened, she was really upset. Last night she quit."
"Really?"
"Uh-huh. So you know what that means, Stacey. That spot has opened up again. And the girls have agreed — you're the one. No tryouts necessary."
For a moment I felt a shiver of joy. But it went away quickly.
Funny. Just a few days before, I'd wanted to be on that squad so badly. Getting cut had devastated me.
Now the idea of being a
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