CPA is a classy program. If you didn’t already know that or don’t believe it, I suggest you do one of the following;
Take in a game.
Watch a practice.
Meet their AD Mike Ellson;
Talk with their coaches like Steve Lenger, Ingle Martin, Larry Nesbitt, Drew Maddox and many others.
And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the guys up in the booth like, Scott Huermann.
I’ve known how nice these folks are since covering their basketball team in Murfreesboro.
This past Friday, their “classiness” if you will, was on full display for TV Cameras and visiting fans.
It started with putting #90 stickers on the back of their helmets in honor of Giles County football player, Tison Marks, who was killed in a single-car crash over the summer.
I had the opportunity to talk to a few Giles Co fans later that night. They had nothing but good things to say about CPA and that the honoring of Tison, meant a lot to the Bobcat faithful.
That leads to the other half of this “Game Ball.” The Giles County fans.
They wanted this one…bad. The internet chatter started 6 days before and Giles County wanted to prove they were right there with their district 12 foe.
After the game turned into a blowout, I expected sour grapes. Excuses. Blaming the loss on an imperfect system of classification, etcetera.
It is a common reaction from almost every fan base, at every level, after a tough loss.
Yet, this is what we got.
Humble in victory.
Gracious in defeat.
These two fan bases have set the standard.
I had a son participating in the game and was there. We hear too many stories about the bad side of sports (i.e…Ray Rice). Thanks for covering a wonderful story about two programs with good kids, parents and fans!
Rip Johnson
Great sportsmanship is refreshing. Thanks for finding and sharing it Steve.