Hello everyone, for those of you following what happened the past few days we had our silent protest tonight and it went well, other than a comment made in the second inning by the Newton Falls coach "at least we bring our whole team" in which I agreed with the comment however I did not say anything, I went and watched the game quietly as planned with the rest of the supporters and still cheered on our LaBrae club. Just to make everything clear, although this is the LaBrae Athletic Club (LAC) they are not associated with LaBrae schools, in which I still believe is a great school system having graduated there and liked all the teachers and coaches who always included me (we butted heads sometimes but they always made me feel better and never left me out), and Sandy's Tire Sales was the sponsor however that is all Sandy's Tire does is sponsors a team, they pay the money to sponsor a team and the sponsor gets assigned to a team they do nothing else with the system which means they do not choose the team or coaches. Also this is nothing against the LaBrae Athletic Club, however just a single coach (who happens to be the vice president) that decided he could take it upon himself to commit this act in order to try to win. So with that said I have nothing against the LAC for they had no control over that coach's actions nor LaBrae, nor Sandy's Tire because it is not their fault on what happened but solely the actions of one man, Shawn Phillips.
At this point I would love to thank all of the supporters who attended from LaBrae, Newton Falls and Southington, also my wonderful friends who helped with this campaign, John Vargo of the Tribune Chronicle for taking on this story and understanding the situation (and for taking the time to read my blog, as much as you described you must have read quite a bit and that means so much to have a reporter reading my writings), Tony Stephens who is an official of the LaBrae Athletic Club with his sincere apologies to my entire family (and even non family that was sitting with us) and for ensuring David was as most comfortable as possible during the game, Brandon Scott and Ross McCartney for coaching a great game in the replacement of Shawn Phillips, Tony Hufford for taking a little time and speaking with the Tribune, and finally to Judy of the Lucky Inn in Leavittsburg who took the time away from her business to go to the game in support. If I forgot to mention anyone I am greatly sorry but I tried to mention everyone that I could think of at this time.
Now I am going to detail the events of the day as far as the coach and presidents call along with the reporters, silent protest and after game at Dairy Queen. First the day started off around 12:30 PM when coach Shawn Phillips called me on the phone. He told me that he was sorry and he handled the situation wrong and that the game for tonight was set to be at Burbank Park at 6PM however he will not be there because he was suspended. I was surprised that he was suspended since he and the president are "besties" until I received a message later on from the Sponsor stating "...Jeremy,
On behalf of Sandy’s Tire
Sales I would like to say how sorry we are for the way your son was
treated. We only sponsor the teams, we do not get to pick the coaches. I
myself just read your blog and the whole situation was handled
inappropriately by the coach. These leagues are for players to learn,
grow, and be treated equal. The competitive stages for ball come in
later years when they have try outs and cuts. For any player to be
treated like this in unfair, it is not high school ball or the minors
for goodness sakes. As a parent I can imagine how it feels, this is a
game where your child is supposed to learn and grow and not be singled
out in order to win. Sure everyone wants to win, but what are we
teaching our children if they don’t learn how to lose? As a parent my
son would be at the tournament in uniform ready to play(if I’m not
mistaken any player on team has to play) show the coach he will not
bring your sons spirit down, and he has been a part of the team all year
and will continue to do so now. WIN or LOSE……. With that said I wish
the best of luck to you all." Thank you very much Brooke. Anyhow after I got off of the phone from the coach and thought a little bit I then sent the coach a text message and those went as follows:
Me - You could still go and watch your son play you just can't be in the dugout or coach. David would really like a face to face heartfelt personal apology from you.
Shawn- I will come after game is over.
Shawn- The 10 boys in the dug out will be upset, but the situation must be defused.
Me-There should be 12 boys in the dug out and you're right, the situation should be defused. There is no reason you can't watch your son play though. And thanks for trying to turn the situation on our son.
At around 1:30 I received a phone call from George Kaschac, the president of the LAC. He informed me that he was stunned that Shawn had not called and resolved the issue as stated the day before but said that I should have received a call from him today in which I stated that I did. He also informed me that the game was at 6 PM at Burbank Field and would love for David to be a part of it. I explained to him the situation and the discussions and decision that David made about how he wants to go to the game but he does not want to play in it because he wouldn't want to be the reason that they lose. He told me that there are more factors than just one player whether a team wins and loses and would love for him to play in the game, the coach has been suspended. I then asked David if he wanted to play and he told me no, he just wants to watch. At that time George said that as a board they were hoping that he would play and be a part of the team because he deserved it for being with them all season long. I then stated that I will try to convince him to but as a parent I understand that my son knows what he is talking about and can make an educated decision so I as a parent will do what is in the best interest of my son. He understood that I wanted to do what was in the best interest of my son however he really urged him to play, he also informed me that a member of the board will be present at the game to ensure nothing arose.
Around 4:00 PM I received a phone call from John Vargo, sports reporter for the Warren-Tribune Chronicle to field questions on the story that he received. I spent about 25 minutes on the phone with him and fielded all the questions he asked, he then asked if he could speak with David so I tried to get David to speak with him but David refused a couple times, the reporter said he understood and just asked if I could speak on his behalf. At the end of the conversation he informed me that he will be at Burbank Field at 5:45 for an interview. We arrived at the baseball field around 5:40 and I felt nervous at first because I felt that everyone was looking at us when we arrived so I procrastinated a little bit before heading over to our section because the other supporters weren't there yet. Once I got the courage to finally go over I was immediately greeted by Tony Stephens who is a member of the board and he was so friendly to David and offered his warmest apologies to David. We took David's uniform just in case he changed his mind about playing or in case the team wanted or needed him however he still refused to dress. Tony left it up to David however and did not push the issue, he did tell David that he wished he could play but he push it, he then asked if David would at least want to watch the game from dug out in which David also told him no, that's okay. At this moment I started to feel sad because I could see the heartbreak on Tony's face after he spoke with David. Shortly after that the Tribune reporter started the interview and the photographer took a picture of David along the fence with the field in the background and he was also able to get David to talk to him a little bit about his thoughts of the situation. David is not really a boy who shows emotion or his feelings until days after the fact when he starts thinking about it. Our interview lasted a while then he left because he was supposed to meet the president at Perkins Park. I then joined the rest of the supporters and answered some of their questions, then I met Judy and thanked her and made my way over to the Newton Falls side where there were more supporters from Newton Falls and Southington and talked with one of David's former coaches for Lordstown. We both left the district around the same time, him to Newton Falls and us to LaBrae but he said David will always be accepted and his son and David are still good friends. A little while later the reporter returned with a few more questions and to see the end of the game, he also interviewed David's former coach at Lordstown and a couple other parents. The game ended with a final score of Newton Falls Zip Lube 7 to LaBrae Vikings Sandy's Tire- 4. We were hoping for the Vikings to win because they deserved it and it was nothing that the kids did however second place over all still received a trophy, but due to the loss it goes to show that not one player can win or lose a game. You win as a team, you lose as a team and hopefully all those children in the dug out understand that and hopefully it's a wake up call to all coaches. At the end of the game Tony Stephens said that David will still get a trophy and that he would make sure of that, he told David "come on, no one will say anything if you walk with me, you deserve it too." and it was so sweet. I highly commend Tony Stephens for his sportsmanship and hospitality, his heartfelt apologies and overall being a great man. The thing that I commend most is that his apologies were real, and my wife said she thought we was going to start to cry when he was apologizing to her but he held back. His apologies were real, not some fake apology over the phone that the coach gave me because he was told to.
After the game David handed out photo CDs of the season that my wife took (with exception of the games we weren't invited to) to all the children on the team, with the exception of two that left before he got to them and didn't go to Dairy Queen afterward. I was a little nervous about this but it broke the ice to addressing the rest of the team and parents that we have no hard feelings toward them because it was none of their faults that the coach cheated and lied to everyone. Ross McCartney, who was the one that filled in for the suspended Shawn Phillips, greatly appreciated the gesture and strongly encouraged David to meet them at Dairy Queen. He too was very sympathetic, and the rest of the kids thanked David for the disc and welcomed him. They did not know the situation either. We did go to Dairy Queen with the team because David saw that they were still his friends and team mates. While we went to Dairy Queen coach Shawn Phillips was there, as his wife was the score keeper, however he did not show up at the field after the game like he said he would. We placed David's order (red, white and blue star due to his milk allergy that's about all he can have from there) and encouraged him to give the coaches son a CD in which David did so in front of the coach. It seemed like David stood there and followed the coach for a few seconds waiting for an apology in which one was not given. The coaches wife thanked my wife for the CD however no apology from her either, as I'm not sure if she knew the situation before hand. If she was not informed then I feel sorry for dragging her into this as it's not her fault, however if she knew about it and let it happen she is as equally guilty, however at this point I can't say either way. The coach did not stay long and seemed like he was in a hurry to get out of there almost as soon as he seen me coming that way and rushed his son along so they could leave. They left without David getting the apology that he was promised. At this point I am willing to let that go, we explained to David that some people just can't say they're sorry and don't realize how wrong they are. However after the coach left a few of the other kids stuck around for at least 20 minutes afterward and they were playing freeze tag and included David. The one kid was the freezer and kept freezing David and the other coaches son kept unfreezing him. Coach Scott's son was a great team mate to David all season long even though David was a little different and I commend him for that as all the players were supportive of David. With this said I am a little more at ease about how David will go into the school year at his new school because they still accepted him.
After Dairy Queen I contacted John Vargo again to let him know of the situation at Dairy Queen about how the coach failed to apologize but the other kids accepted him. He also informed me that he seen at the end of the game what Tony did to ensure David got his trophy and thought that was really special. He also said that he started reading my blog and he seen that David was allergic to milk and eggs (which surprised me how much he read because that is toward the beginning of the blog) and he told me that his son has the same allergies but that is a discussion for later.
Right now I would like to share a poem with everyone that I wrote on Sunday, it has no title as I am not good making up titles but if you think of a good one let me know:
I just wanted to be
A part of your team
So why did you have to
Treat me so mean?
I have been with you
All season long
Then get thrown away
When tournaments come along.
You may not think
That it's a big deal
But how do you think
That makes me feel?
What would you do
If this happened to you
You showed such little class
And acted like an ass.
So let me ask you this
If we traded places for a day
And you see what I go through
Would you feel that same way?
Jeremy David Gut
written 7-1-2012
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