Like it or not, you live in one of the nation's hotbeds for high school hoops intensity. High school ball in Southeast Missouri is like high school pigskin in Texas. We might not have the top Division One talent that jumps out of the east coast, but the rivalries are thick, the blood cold, and the competition fierce.
You need look no further than the recent blogs and responses on this very website to grasp that fact. As a website becoming known for it's freedom in exercising the right of the first amendment, with Mark driving the Steam Engine, it's obvious the local attention has centered almost entirely on high school basketball.
We're all partial to our alumni, that's normal. But as a young man removed from high school by five years and as a fan who has yet to see a local high school game this season, I'm going on record as an unbiased blogger. Take it as you will. Some of you will never buy that, some you of will know it to be true.
The question I raise now, at the crux of the Christmas tournament, is whether or not high school hoops in Southeast Missouri has reached an all-time high..or an all-time low?
If you compiled a list of some of the things said in response to Mark's blogs in the past few weeks, the verdict could go either way. To a weary onlooker, one might think the area is full of bloodsucking vultures as fans, and continuing with rivalries between schools that could get physical and nasty. It wouldn't be far-fetched to assume that Mark needs a bodyguard for his own safety following some of the hate mail he's received. I'd be willing to bet when Jamie Hall started this website, he never thought some of these things would be said about his staff.
Going so far as to make references towards body parts and sexual preferences is pretty much a giant leap over the invisible line in the sand. And for any high school athletes or students who have read these comments, you owe an apology. Seriously. Your comments are disgusting, immature, and so completely inappropriate that I'd be surprised if you're getting a good night's sleep.
I'm assuming that last paragraph makes me one of Mark's boyfriends, not just a concerned citizen who worries about the crap we're throwing in the ears of our younger generation. It seems boyfriend status would be the most logical assumption, considering most posts have chosen to ignore the positives within the website's blogs and have focused on the negatives.
In all reality, nothing has been decided and nothing has been accomplished. ND fans are sticking up for Mark, and the majority of non-ND fans are treating him like he's Satan. Between Charleston, Sikeston, and Notre Dame fans the banter is all the same: each school is saying the exact same thing about each of the other schools. According to the majority of the bloggers, we're all bad sports, all of our teams play dirty and all the coaches are ignorant.
I'd be willing to put my job at this website on the line with the outcome of a questionnaire polling the results of 100 local basketball players on their feelings towards opposing players. I'm betting that the majority of them would have nothing but good things to say. It's odd, wouldn't you say, that the players get along and the fans don't?
And whoever had the "yarbles" to even consider Coach Scott as not a "genuinely good guy" is completely off their rocker. I'd be willing to bet there isn't a high school coach in the country who isn't a good guy. Each one of them has the same resume: teaching youngsters the concept of team while surviving on short pay. Donating time and patience for very little money towards the good of future generations...we should all be so generous. So let's move on, any high school coach is a good person. Period. Get over it.
On the other side of the coin, the interest is high and the talent exciting. For the first time in what seems like decades, the competition is on a level field. From Class Five all the way down to Class one. It's not far-fetched to think that on any given night, Bell City could beat Charleston, Charleston could beat Sikeston, Sikeston could beat Notre Dame, Notre Dame could beat Jackson, Jackson could beat Scott County, Scott County could beat Cape Central, and Cape Central could turn the tide on Scott County the next week and the entire chain go in reverse. And that's just within the immediate circumference of Cape Girardeau.
As I type, Jackson is hoisting the Christmas tournament trophy. How easily could it be the other way around? How easily could Cape Central be playing Charleston? Or current (and soon-to-be former) semosportsweb.com #1 Bell City be taking on previous semosportsweb.com #1 Scott County for the championship? #1 Bell City fell this week to #16 Scott City and unranked Cape Central, #2 Charleston fell to #12 Notre Dame, and #7 Jackson won the Christmas tournament.
Are you kidding me? Who's the new #1? Who's the new #2? And 3? And 4? And 5? High school hoops has always been exciting, but this year could be something special. Maybe we should put down our hate faces and start talking about how good we have it. Considering the argument I just made, I don't see much of a reason to be angry right now.
These are teenage kids. And they're playing at an extremely high level of intense competition. This is the stuff they'll never forget, don't tarnish it with derogatory comments, cheap shots, and anger.
And if you can't help yourself, then at least quit cowering behind the name "anonymous." Nobody is going to remember you a year from now anyway, but at least with a name we'll know who's got the unreasonable chip on their shoulder for the time being.
As a self-admitting former trash talker, let me be the first to tell you that you'll look back on some of your posts five years from now and be completely embarrassed. And if you're older than me, and even further removed from the rush of high school competition, and you're STILL talking trash and taking part in some of the things said, then let me be embarrassed for you.
Let's all be adults and make this season an all-time high for high school basketball instead of all-time low.
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14 comments:
Best blog I have ever read on high school sports. It is so easy for people to sit behind their keyboards and anonymously attack others. Tonight we saw two great teams compete against each other in a great atmosphere. Just take it for what it is, a bunch of kids playing basketball. Great job by both teams tonight. Please, just leave it at that!!
Very well put.
I agree with everything you say. Now, tell Mark to read it!
No sexual connotations intended with the use of "boyfriends." Girls have girlfriends, i.e. girls who are friends, and boys have boyfriends, i.e. boys who are friends.
You guys get your minds out of the gutter!
This year is a pretty good year for high school basketball, the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament proved that. Also getting to watch Ryan Willen of ND, Nick Niemczyk of Bell City and Michael Porter of Sikeston who are without a doubt the best players in the area, along with several other good players. Unfortunatally every year some fans get worse and worse. I normally go to Sikeston games and I know who to sit by and who not to. But those type of fans are at every school.
David,
Tell your brother to quit inciting those types of remarks and they will probably decrease markedly. You, like Mark, are pointing your finger at the bloggers' comebacks, but, gosh, take off your rose colored glasses and read what your brother writes.
You can't claim to be an unbiased observer when it's your brother's articles that create the garbage. You've heard it before, "garbage in, garbage out!"
You make valid points but don't defend what your brother writes. It's filled with half-truths, innuendo, fabrications, embellishments, etc., etc.
That is not responsible journalism in any type of forum.
It's funny you have such a problem with what the Unterreiner boys write. If it weren't for them, would you read this site? Doubtful. They are doing exactly what they're supposed to do: keep people coming back to semosportsweb.com. These guys put their reputation on the line everytime they write something, and I'd probably guess that they even stretch things out a little bit just to get people riled up. That's what bloggers are supposed to do and I saw nowhere in David's article that suggested he was defending his brother.
Everytime you bash one of them, it's another hit. Keep up the support of semosportsweb. I'm sure they love it.
And if you hate what Mark writes so much, then go somewhere else. I doubt he'll miss you.
your reading comprehension is lacking; yes, they get people riled up; and, when they do, they need to be able to take what they dish out; yes, David came to the defense of his bro in saying that some bloggers crossed that invisible line in the sand; well, Mark has crossed it many times.
As long as Mark spews it, I will, too. Even with big bro watching his back.
Has either one of them ever NOT taken what people have come back at them with? I guarantee that those two boys are the last two who really care what you have to say. But as long as you "spew it," they get hits to their site and the beat marches on.
Isn't that what a blog is all about?
Blog on, Bro, Blog on!!
Exactly!!! Blog on, Unterreiners, Blog on!!!! Love the banter!!!!
Amen! Let the bloggers do their thing. Nobody said you had to read it. If you don't like it then don't read it! Why is that so complicated?
Dave, this is Jose speaking. Im sitting on pins and needles (hehe) in anticipation of more 'Two Minutes of Fun'. I have been without fun since Sunday, April 15, 2007, and I need a jolt of Fun, I'm running out of Surge.
Thank you,
Jose Canseco, HOF 2009
This article about high school sports is good and appreciable.
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