Some Apt to Throw in Towel Over Bad Element in Sports

OK readers, your time has come. Take it away.

Dear Ms. Ludovise:

Your article “Sideline Behavior Has Been Anything But Sporting” (Oct. 22) was right on! All the talk this year about broken rules, fights, profanity, disrespect for coaches and private schools being able to compete with public schools has me concerned.

I have a freshman at Dana Hills who is becoming active in high school sports. If these concerns are to continue, I’m worried about supporting him in his endeavors.

BEVERLY E. RESH

Laguna Niguel

Dear Ms. Resh: I understand your concern. Keep in mind, though, that there are sports in which these problems don’t exist. Does your son have an interest in backgammon, for instance? How about kite-flying?

Ms. Ludovise:

I’m a CIF football official in the Long Beach unit. I’m also concerned about behavior at football games.

Last Friday (Oct. 19), I attended the Marina football game and the students in the bleachers blew up condoms and were playing volleyball with them. The administrators were not concerned at all.

CLARENCE A. PRUDEN

Huntington Beach

Dear Mr. Pruden:

I understand your concern. Safe sex is not a game.

Dear Ms. Ludovise:

After reading your article on the subject of scholarships (“Earning a Scholarship the Old-Fashioned Way Is the Best Way,” Sept. 26), I would guess that you have not had a child in high school sports, (and) that you can afford to send your child to college.

In girls’ sports, most of the Orange County schools have walk-on coaches, and these coaches do nothing to help the borderline athletes get exposed to colleges. They do not have the time or expertise to be of any help.

Incidentally, putting college money in a cookie jar to get your kid an education worked about 20 years ago. Today, you have to sell the family home, and it is only going to get worse.

MRS. J. CIOLLONE

Los Alamitos

Dear Mrs. Ciollone:

No, I have not had a child in high school sports--I haven’t even had a child. The closest I’ve come to realizing the cost of education is by sending my 19-year-old dog, Pucci, through many years of obedience training.

As for those walk-on coaches who do “absolutely nothing” to promote their athletes to colleges for scholarships, well isn’t that a pity. Imagine, a high school coach who doesn’t put publicity before sportsmanship or strategy. Last time I checked, this wasn’t a requirement for being a coach, and I hope it never is.

Paula Ziegler, a teacher at Ethel Dwyer Middle School in Huntington Beach, asked her seventh- and eighth-grade language arts pupils to respond to the Oct. 17 column “If Girls Are Game for Boys’ Teams, They Deserve a Shot,” regarding whether girls should be allowed to compete on boys’ teams.

“After they wrote out their responses, we had a debate,” Ziegler said. “It nearly got violent.”

A few excerpts from the next generation:

I think that girls should be allowed on the boys’ team. I’m not just saying this because I am a girl. I feel like this because there are so many good girl players that never even have a chance to make it big.

Boys want us to just stay home and make their dinner and have their children. We can do so much more than that.

SOPHIA

Girls should not be able to play boys’ sports because a lot of girls are not physical enough. They also have personal problems such as PMS. That wouldn’t be fair to the guys.

COREY BURTON

Girls should be able to play sports if they’re willing to try out for them. (But) most girls want to spend money and get their hair done.

DAVID SHAFT

Last week, we played German dodge ball (co-ed). The guys let us play, but only two guys tried to aim at girls. They thought that if they hit us we would be crushed. But that was almost like not playing at all.

Is this not called discrimination?!! This is not just in athletics, but academic skills, fixing a car, fishing, etc., and it has gone too far!

ERIN ARCILLA

They say (boys are) being sexist pigs if we don’t let them play. What are they going to want to do next? Join the Elks Lodge or be able to go in boys’ bathrooms or drive race cars?

JOSH FRIEND

Who do guys think they are? Some kind of god? They think women should stay at home and drop babies and wash their socks while they become lawyers and expect their wives to worship them. It would teach them a good lesson if girls were playing on boys’ teams.

KARA TORRENCE

Girls should do their things, such as cheerleading.

ROBBIE C.

Until next time, rah-rah siss boom bah!