According to Aberdeen Head Coach Todd Bridge, “The administration, coaches and I believe playing Kelso would be detrimental to our team. Kelso isn’t just a good football squad, they’re a physical team and I promised our parents at the beginning of the season that my primary responsibilities is the safety and well being of their sons. Because we are in the foundational building stages here at Aberdeen football, playing Kelso tonight would damage our growth. Not only would we lose a handful of players prior to our league opener next week, I would lose the fragile trust of our parents.”
ht/ jd hasty
There isn’t much information in this article. If you play a team that on average weights twice what you do you can literally get crushed in a bad way and it just would be stupid to play them.
The article doesn’t say but you got to be reasonable.
If kelso is full of 300 pounders and Aberdeen is 180 pounders wet, I say good call.
Kelso goes up 28, puts in their 3rd stringers. C’mon. I live in Washington. Kelso is not dumping out D-1 talent like Mater Dei or something. What a joke.
Everybody gets a trophy and live to flake another day.
Coach: “I would lose the fragile trust of our parents.”
Res ipsa loquitur.
I think the coaches statement that Kelso isn’t a good football squad is very telling. Kelso won all three pre-season games by blowouts and either the Aberdeen coach doesn’t know is ass from second base or Kelso left a lot of bodies out on the field primarily because they don’t really know how to play football but they do know how to take someone out of a game. The story is pretty weak on the facts and the reader can’t really judge who is likely correct. Also might help to explain the difference between a 3A and a 2A ranked team.
The obvious question is why did they schedule the game to begin with?
Congratulations Coach, you have single handedly renamed your team the Aberdeen pussies. Good job. Now those kids understand how to deal with difficult situations for the rest of their lives by running away from them. Turn in your man card and start taking your Lupron you pussy!
We have lots of small rural schools near my area where they don’t have either enough players to field a team large enough to cover both offense and defense so many if not all players play both ways. They often get the crap kicked out of them by bigger teams. They’re out there again the next week and I wouldn’t dare tell them they weren’t playing the next week because the opposition was to good. I think most of them would probably quit. Heck, some can’t even field 11 players so they play on 9 man squads, both ways.
When I was ten, our neighborhood team was challenged by another neighborhood team to a game of tackle, no equipment. Some of the kids on the other team were twice our size. We went. We were concerned. We played.
Thankfully no one was killed.
Ban contact football. Replace it with Flag Football. Better still, have the teams duke it out on their respective PlayStations. /s
Last player around here that got hurt got stabbed and died, at a McD’s, after a game. But that’s another story.
Non league game, it’s a tough call. Just don’t like the lesson he’s teaching his players nor the reputation he’s saddled them with.
Was the schedule not published before the first game? Did the coach think he was playing “Powder Puff” sports? Grow a pair or get the hell out. You are a disgrace to real coaches and football players everywhere.
Isn’t that what “soccer’s” all about. Quit football and play soccer you girly man.
Sophomore year in H.S. we played a team (little rural HS with a team of 45 players) from (late 60’s) inner-city Baltimore. They kicked our asses so bad, I broke my ankle and 2 others had broken bones, but we rescheduled them for next year and beat them! IT’s a friggin game.
The school is now a powerhouse football team and program with a tradition that believes it can play with anybody.
I have to go with the coach on this one, not because of his mealy-mouthed reason, but because of:
a. In today’s litigious society, if a kid were hurt, the school, the coach, and staff are being sued to ruination.
b. everyone at the game will post a video on social media and blame the coach and his life is ruined, (see a.)
This guy his just trying to keep his job and not get destroyed financially. I can’t blame him.
Full disclosure- My son is a high school football coach.
Facing that team with heart would have been the greatest experience of their lives.
Would not have happened when I was in high school and I remember playing an undermanned or much weaker team that hurt pretty bad to the point we actually felt sorry for them and was using third string in the second half.
Jr. College we had a bunch of “Regional and All State” players that didn’t have the grades/smarts to get into a 4-year school. Not the brightest people, but they could play football. Put together a team and challenged all the other local Jr. Colleges as we weren’t sanctioned by our school.
Had two offensive and two defensive squads and destroyed the first opponent who then called all the other schools, who then cancelled. Was no equipment tackle scrimmage and only allowed cleats. We then challenged a semi-pro team and found out what the other Jr. College experienced. First game with the semi-pros ended in a tie as they didn’t come prepared and figured we’d be nothing and some were shall we say “impaired.” They asked for a rematch which we foolishly accepted. They came back with blood in their eyes and crushed us. I hurt for over a week after that game and was probably lucky nothing got broke. Had a few concussions playing the game so better number one son never tried out for football.
And yes, things like “fore arm shivers” were in use at that time. Some of the animals would have what looked like arm “pads” that the refs would always check before the game to make sure they were pads/soft. After the plaster hardened they weren’t. Broken jaws were not upheld of and other technique was also used that would get you banned from the game today. Awards were given for hits that put the other players out. No we weren’t wearing leather helmets, but almost. Was almost street fighting as much as football…
Can’t second guess the coach without knowing what he was looking at in the other team, but the equipment and refereeing is a bunch better now…
True story: My son (the Army pilot) played defensive end and finally center in high school. 6′, 175 lbs. He routinely played against guys 100 lbs. heavier and MADE THEM CRY. Plus, he was like a spider, you couldn’t take him to the ground – and holy crap fast. (Go ahead and accuse me of fatherly pride!)
And the team will get No-Participation trophies!
Chess team anyone?
Institutional cowardice is perhaps the most damning part of our politically correct society.
… said Vince Lombardi NEVER. 🙄
HS football isnt like when i was in HS. Now if a poor school doesnt have a decent weight program and a bunch of gorillas on the team they can really get hurt. And whats the point? I love football almost as much as my buds, but risking serious injury for a frikkin football game?
Sometimes discretion is the better part of valor. AKA run away and live to fight another day.
Its a good call.
My high school was started with only a grade 9 class. As we graduated 10 was added, then 11 and twelve. We never had seniors as we were the first class in each grade.
We were Canon fodder for the older kids.
My HEROIC public school teachers sent out sports teams out routinely against 10’s & 11’s in our first years. It was not that bad for B-ball and other non-contact sports but DISASTOUS for ICE HOCKEY.
We routinely played our 14 year olds against 15 & 16 year olds in full contact.
2 years made a huge difference.
If it is that type of situation I fully understand.
I am still pissed off at what our “teachers” did.
I ended up with a broken arm which healed fine but…
Panem et Circenses!
Years ago the Aberdeen HS football team was made up of the sons of loggers. Then came the spotted owl. Now its made up of sons of Olympia bureaucrats.
I can only assume that we are discussing egg chucking, U.S.A. foozball as opposed to commie kickball “foozball”… Never cared much for the game. Had some friends who played in high skrewl and spent some time watching the ded skins just to spend time with my pops. Never cared much for the game.
“The first stage in the corruption of morals is the banishment of truth …”
Michel de Montaigne
I grew up around Aberdeen, years ago, and I can say, if the coach dropped a game for fear of the boys getting hurt the for sale signs would sprout in his yard. The boys, meanwhile would likely load up a few carloads and head for Kelso just to ‘tear things up’ a little. That was then, though.
Many of the smaller schools in the Montana of my youth played on fields in harvested wheat fields.
” A team, just like a man, has gotta know their limitations”, Det. Harry Callahan.
Gen. Eisenhower (June 5, 1944): Well, men, we have decided that we will not be hitting the beaches tomorrow, June 6. The Germans have some hard gun emplacements protected by concrete bunkers. The fact is they are just too strong and experienced for us. The general staff has concluded that the high cost in killed and wounded men will have an adverse affect of American mothers and wives. We will explore other options with the Germans.
At school, I usually do not have enough time for anything, especially for homework and other similar stuff. To reduce the load, I sometimes have to use essayexplorer.com and services like paperrater where anyone can order their essays and everything else. It is very convenient and practical when you are a student.