Back in the spring of 2008 when the realignment came out and Clairton was placed in the Blackhills Conference I was extremely excited for many reasons. One reason was I got to see the High School I graduated from, Clairton, take on schools that are very close to where I live.
I live in Houston, and in fact when i'm when I go to Chartiers-Houston games I find myself rooting for the Buccaneers. Its only natural, because I live here and have some friends in the area. I'm not going to go to the away bleachers and root for the away team in spite. I have family that graduated from Chartiers-Houston; including my cousin who played for the 2000 edition that beat Clairton in the first round of the playoffs.
My girlfriend at the time was a graduate of Fort Cherry and I attended some of their games as well. So I also rooted for the Rangers. Again it was natural and made sense.
But something has changed between now and then and it has become a bit hideous to say the least. Not saying Clairton is entirely innocent in all of this, but the rivalries between these 3 schools have turned a bit ugly. It all goes back to the 2008 game between Clairton and Char-Houston where Clairton did some push ups after the game. Then in the 2009 game against Fort Cherry there was a minor pregame innocent and a plethora of personal fouls during the game. And that game also ended with Clairton doing push ups on Fort Cherry's sideline. The 2009 game between Clairton and Chartiers-Houston featured a bench clearing brawl.
When it came for post season awards for the Blackhills Conference, Fort Cherry and Chartiers-Houston made sure that no Clairton player would receive an All Conference Award. Remember the Clairton Bears won the State Title and featured 2 Pitt recruits in WR/DB Kevin Weatherspoon and QB/DE Desimon Green. LB Eddie Ball was the AP Class A Defensive Player of the Year and RB Deonte Howard was the AP Class A Player of the Year. Personal grudges shouldn't have gotten in the way when it came to honoring the best players in the conference but it did and its wrong.
Fast forward to last Friday evening. Clairton beat Chartiers-Houston 48-0 in Clairton. Clairton used its backup QB and threw a touchdown pass late in the 4th Q. Clairton then lines up like its going to go for 2 and takes a knee. I call that perfect sportsmanship, but HC Terry Fetsko obviously disagrees with me in his post game intereview.
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/dailynewsmckeesport/sports/s_701317.html
I completely understand his frustrations to a point. His teams has been completely overwhelmed by Clairton the past 3 seasons and had some extracurricular involved in the prior 2 meetings. But to claim that the team that just beat his isn't that good and will get beaten by Rochester is a little over the top. Maybe he's right and Clairton isn't as good as past years, only time will tell. But a comment like that seems to be more or less sour grapes than him being honest with himself and the rest of Western PA.
I'll find it really hard to root for Chartiers-Houston and Fort Cherry in the future, when they're not playing Clairton of course. Has these games reached a boiling point, I might have to say yes. I mean there isn't any respect involved here. You got coach's that isn't humbled when they lose, not voting for players of a Clairton due to grudges, post game push ups, etc. At least when Clairton and Duquesne had their rivalry there was some form of mutual respect, even though those games was much more heated than the current series.
This isn't even fun anymore. I was anticipating these games with all of the enthusiasm in the world. Now I just wished these series would end.
If the coach doesn't want to play Clairton, just don't show up and forfeit the game. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that one out. Sore losers don't play good football because the anger holds them back from following through with their plays. Sorry about your luck coaches....Clairton just has a good football team and you don't.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the feedback Barb.
ReplyDeleteI think these programs have too much pride and isn't used to lose like this. Up until 2006 Chartiers Houston and Fort Cherry was the top dogs in this conference. Withing the past decade Fort Cherry made it to 3 Rivers and Heinz Field with the Mike Vernillo and then Perry Ivery teams. Chartiers Houston had a quality team in 2000 that pushed eventual state champ Rochester to the limit in a 15-13 loss. Couple these 2 teams with a down cycle plus Clairton and Serra entering the Blackhills this is what you get. This would be similar to if Clairton has a down cycle 5 years from now and Jeannette would blow us out time and time again. I don't think it would happen like that, just an example. I think our coach's would act with much more class than Fort Cherry and Serra are showing.