Also read
* Officials are staying quiet about Ooltewah basketball player rape case* Greeson: Outrage at Ooltewah now calls for action* District attorney to investigate more Ooltewah High assault allegations* Ooltewah High School’s basketball game canceled* Ooltewah grads urge school to have external investigation of 15-year-old student’s rape, assault* Attorney says Ooltewah coach being wrongly vilified in basketball player rape case* Experts say soul-searching needed in wake of Ooltewah athlete rape case* Ooltewah rape victim may have warned basketball coaches of abuse* Cooper: Nip hazing before it begins * Greeson: Ooltewah attack leaves pain, questions and prayers for the victim* Basketball players charged with rape of teammate won’t be coming back to school* Ooltewah students charged with rape, assault after teammate injured with pool cue* Ooltewah High School basketball player undergoes surgery after being allegedly hazed by three teammates in Gatlinburg cabin
In the wake of the reported aggravated rape incident involving Ooltewah High School’s basketball team, one cannot help but recall William Golding’s classic novel “Lord of the Flies.” Stranded on an island, a group of schoolboys form their own civilization that quickly falls apart when the boys sodomize a pig and kill one of their own. The dark story symbolizes the breakdown of civilization as a result of the savagery of man.
A disturbing connection can be made to the Ooltewah basketball team, not only in the heinous assault that occurred in a Gatlinburg cabin but also in a clear breakdown in their lives that allowed them to perform such an act. Chattanooga and the rest of the country wait to see how this will play out.
But who, besides these boys, will be held responsible? Who will be the scapegoat? Coaches, administrators or parents? An investigation will occur, someone may lose a job and the program may be suspended. However, perhaps the more appropriate question that each of us should ask is what part does each of us personally play in a sporting culture gone awry? Yes, these boys need to be held accountable and responsible, but if the buck stops there we are going to miss a guilty party.
We as individuals, parents, coaches, administrators, sports enthusiasts and schools have created a culture of sports that tolerates and even sometimes exalts intense and undisciplined rivalry and the glorification and excusing of immoral and self-centered athletes.