Beech Tree News Network

Unfortunately poor sportsmanship and even physical altercations are becoming more common across the sports world and that includes high school sports in Kentucky.  Just this past week an incident took place at a boys' basketball game between Butler County and Ohio County.  Two players were ejected after a melee at half-court.  Both players are looking at two-game suspensions, which doesn't appear to be quite fair based on the video we watched.  From our perspective, the Ohio County player seemed to be the one who initiated the altercation.  However, that's another story for a different time. 

Several years ago these two schools had similar sports-related issues.  In a massive over-reaction, Ohio County decided to cancel all athletic contests with Butler County over a few isolated incidents.  Wow, talk about throwing the baby out with the bath water. The ban stayed that way for a few years until time passed and more reasonable thought prevailed.  We hope officials from both school districts will refrain from a knee-jerk reaction like that this time around - one that institutes a blanket ban on all sports contests between the two schools.  Going that route is the easy approach that may satisfy the lawyers but it does a disservice to players, coaches, fans, and other athletic programs from the two schools that play each other year in and year out without incident.  

Having said that, we are not blind to the safety issue of student-athletes.  To be honest, the sport that seems to generate the bulk of the controversy is basketball.  That's expected given the emotional nature of the game.  Therefore, we think it would be prudent to cancel the Butler-Ohio boys' game later this season.  Also, since it's basketball, we can even understand if school officials decide to ax the Butler-Ohio girls game.  Let this season play out and then resume the rivalry next year amid heightened security.  Use the opportunity at both schools to stress the importance of greater sportsmanship, maybe even a little training on the subject.  In other words, use this incident as a teaching moment to work through.  Teams will have a different make up next season and emotions will have subsided.  

The Butler-Ohio rivalry (both teams in the same region and just a few miles apart) has a long history in both communities and the overwhelming majority of contests between the two schools has exemplified the best in athletic competition - just like the Butler-Edmonson rivalry that has produced its share of tense moments.  And what about in Muhlenberg County when all those high schools competed against each other?  You can bet these contests were always intense and sometimes physical.  

So, what's the reasonable approach?  Cancel the remaining basketball contests this season.  Allow a cooling down period.  Start anew next season.  Let other Butler-Ohio teams that never have any problems  (baseball, softball, volleyball, soccer, etc.) continue playing each other.  For example, it would be silly to cancel a Butler-Ohio girls volleyball game scheduled for September of 2014 due to a conflict at a boys' basketball in December of 2013.  All sides should keep this incident in the proper perspective to avoid a knee-jerk reaction like the one that took place last time.  In short, let common sense prevail.