“We had adults acting like children.”
That was how Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association executive director Bernard Childress described what he saw on tape of Saturday’s brawl involving players and fans from Brainerd High School and Austin-East High School during the basketball game at Brainerd.
And how can anyone argue that assessment? However wrong, it’s one thing to see opposing players leave their benches when they see a teammate scuffling with the opposition after the two young men went diving for a loose ball near the Austin-East bench. Emotions overflow among competitors at times. Worst-case scenario for either side would have been a two-game suspension for any player who participated.
But it’s quite another to see adults pour out of the stands to become part of the problem rather than the solution. Whether they be parents, school employees or mere prep basketball fans, such lack of judgment is totally unacceptable.
Especially when, as Childress noted during a Tuesday phone interview, “Our number-one priority is to make sure our kids are safe. In our bylaws it states that the school principal is in charge of making sure his school has proper security. I’ve been here 23 years and I won’t say this is the worst situation like this I’ve ever seen, but I will say I can’t remember one that’s been worse.”