Video: High School Player Gets Flagrant
In one of the most disgusting displays of officiating I have ever seen, a recent high school basketball game has gone viral. The internet is enraged over a seemingly unknown person by the name of Cole Vanderbilt. He is now the most hated person in Washington and one of the more despised people in the country.
Yahoo sports reports, “Vanderbilt turned into public enemy number one when Michael Christenson decided to film a game between Connell and Highland (Wash.) High to prove to parents at Highland that the basketball league needed better officials. As it turns out, the clip did more than just spotlight an officiating problem; it also made seniors Cole Vanderbilt and teammate Kennan VanHollebeke look like the dirtiest players on the court.”
By the time the game ended, the video had gone viral, and Vanderbilt was being hailed as “the dirtiest basketball player in America.”
The national attention and negativity of this situation has drawn a statement from the high school basketball coach of Cole Vanderbilt.
“[Cole Vanderbilt] a tough kid, but those that know him know he’s a teddy bear,” Connell coach Oscar Garza told the Tri-City Herald. “My 7-year-old son loves him and lights up when he’s around. But on (YouTube) he’s the world’s meanest, ugliest kid. It’s not fair, but I just want him to know his teammates and coaches are behind him.”
The biggest question I have is, where were the officials? What were they watching? They have just one job and that is to officiate the game at hand so that it is safe for the kids to play. If there is one or two youngsters not playing basketball the proper way, they should be kicked off the floor and suspended from their respective teams. Basketball is a physical sport, but that is only half the battle, not the whole battle as Vanderbilt indicated. Cole Vanderbilt not only has abused the nature of the game, but he comes across as a hockey enforcer or bully. That behavior will not be tolerated on a basketball court where there are no penalty boxes.
Follow Tony Piraro on Twitter @TonyPiraro
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