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Thu, Oct 15, 2009
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Coach suspends 10 after Midway fight
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Four players off the gridiron indefinitely
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Cape Coach Tom Ott ordered his team into five straight lines in August, down at a Stephen Decatur scrimmage, and he talked to them about the difference between being aggressive and going hard, and losing cool and resorting to swinging fists or helmets. The advice coming from this young father, a mountainous man and first-year head coach, was dead on the money, so much so that the parents began to clap.
Last Thursday night, Oct. 8, an ongoing conflict of lifestyles, featuring certain football players vs. a disaffected group of youths who call themselves Juggalos, escalated into a fight behind the Midway theater complex. One Juggalo had to be taken to the hospital. As a further result, Ott suspended 10 players from his team, six for one game and four indefinitely.
Juggalos are defined by Wikipedia as: “a name given to fans of Insane Clown Posse or any other Psychopathic Records hip-hop group. Juggalos have developed their own idioms, slang and characteristics.
“They are known to taunt individuals, considering it a victory to inspire others to violently attack them. Other common characteristics include drinking the inexpensive soft drink Faygo, wearing face paint and displaying the running hatchet man logo. They view the lyrics of Psychopathic Records artists, which are often violent in nature, as a catharsis and/or inspiration for aggression.”
A group of these individuals with faces painted taunted the Cape football players outside the locker room after their loss at Sussex Tech. “They were Cape kids taunting their own team,” Ott said.
Last Thursday, before the Columbus Day weekend - students were off Friday - Cape Vice Principal Mike Dmiterchik and Ott lined the team up in five rows and spoke to the players. They told them to stay away from Midway; it would only lead to trouble and a possible fight.
A carload of four players arrived at Midway that same night and a serious fight began. Six other Cape players reportedly arrived but did not participate. A few of them reportedly began to break up the fight.
“They are all suspended for the Laurel game this Friday [Oct. 16], and the four who did the actual fighting are suspended indefinitely,” Ott said. “I talked to those four the Friday after it happened and they all denied being involved. Then the police showed me the videotape, and there they were fighting, and it wasn’t pretty.”
Ott made the decision on his own to discipline his football players. He was not directed to do so, and as the case is being unraveled by the police, no student on either side has been suspended from school or disciplined by the school administration.
Asked if the Juggalo clique was a problem at the high school, Cape Principal John Yore said, “It is one of the situations we are keeping a close eye on.”
The Friday, Oct. 16 game is homecoming for the 4-1 Laurel Bulldogs, who host Cape minus 10 of its frontline players.
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