SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums Girls Varsity Soccer Does West Ashley have to forfeit?

Cola Fan --

With friends like you, who needs enemies? In random order here are answers to you questions. Keep in mind I am a lowly hotdog salesman and may not be privy to the complete inside scoop.

1) Legal action didn't have a thing to do with this year's championship. The trophy was won on the field.

2) Three of the current Super 18 players will be back next year and a good case can be made for placing WA's rising junior goalie, Alechia Brothers, on this same level.

3) Don't know nothing 'bout no soccer moms. Never went there, never will. No 8th graders were ever on the varsity team. Just ask the SCHSL -- they heard all the facts and came to that decision. Both the coaching staff and the AD should have known better than to walk about in a thunderstorm carrying a long iron rod, but what can be said further about that? I'm already on record regarding this decision.

4) Coach McNeely is a man of many words but has chosen to say nothing on this bulletin board and little in the papers. This probably shows good judgement on his part. He answered every question put to him by the Executive Committee of the SCHSL and what he said was good enough for them. Go easy on the word "cheat" pardner. Ain't never been no allegations of "cheating" against WA by anybody with an IQ higher than their oral temperature in degrees farenheit, as far as I'm concerned. Don't join this less than illustrious group if you can help it. What you choose to infer for inflamatory purposes from what Coach McNeely chose not to say is a fascinating playground for the legally inclined mind, to say the least.

5) I was there for the cold war and remember the duck and cover exercises. WA didn't duck and cover. They met their opponents on the field and in the inner sanctum of the SCHSL and emerged as state champs for the second year in a row. Time will tell how they fare next year.

lpaf

ps: You still haven't told me which cola you are currently a fan of. I've asked this pithy question at least three times now.

lpaf- i normally greatly enjoy all of your comments (not just on this post). they usually are very well thought out, unbiased, and more often than not, quite humorous. but i think i recall (i might be wrong) that you have a daughter or step-daughter that play/played for west ashley. and i KNOW that just because you have a daughter that is on the team doesnt make your arguements invalid. and i do respect most of your comments on this issue as they are far less radical and much more reasonable than most that have posted thus far. i must also admit that my opinion on the issue has slightly changed as more accurate information became available. however... (and to finally get to the point) was any punishment placed on the west ashley coaches/soccer program for, quite frankly, their stupidity? what punishment do you think is appropriate?

alright, bring it on. i'm ready to read something witty.

In simple terms, you will always know that that state title is "tainted". If you can live with that, then so be it. Just the moral decay of our society anyways!

Soccerboy --

A very insightful man taught me that it's best to refrain from projecting my own thoughts and feelings into the heads of others. You might benefit from this advice. West Ashley's victory wasn't tainted in the least by what went on with the SCHSL. The victory took place on the field and even if the appeal had gone against them the victory would have stood intact in my mind. What the SCHSL avoided here was taking a rightfully deserved trophy from the hands of the girls who won it and presenting it to the runner ups who neither earned it or, I would bet, wanted it.

lpaf

ps: If you still can't get over what happened to the Irmo boy's team last year I can suggest the name of a good therapist in your area...

slm26 --

Thanks for your kind words. I don't know of any punishment meted out to West Ashley other than a $100 fine imposed after the initial decision of Mr. Matthews against WA. I could have dated information here and would welcome an update if anyone knows more.

I have both a daughter who plays for West Ashley and a step daughter who plays for the James Island girls team. (We watch a lot of lowcountry soccer around my house.) I've never made the claim of being unbiased in this matter, but I can truly tell you that if the shoe were on the other foot (ie. Mauldin had been discovered to have two JV uniformed 8th graders cheering from their bench) I think I would have supported the same logic that eventually prevailed within the SCHSL.

As to punishment for the coaches, I think the coaching staff and AD probably punished themselves enough in their two weeks of uncertainty leading up to the appeal hearing. It must have been a very difficult thing for good men and talented coaches to have had to anguish over whether or not their decisions off the field would take a state championship away from the girls they had worked so hard with. Not a very witty response, I know, but I think in life the worst punishments generally are self inflicted.

lpaf

Do you know what is fun? Watching you attempt to validify your responses. You have a biased opinion, but that is ok, we are all entitled to our own opinions. That is why I have expressed mine. As for Irmo losing last year, it rubbed me the wrong way, but it was not near as bad as when RV lost to Dorman. And I didn't even go to RV. At the levels that the kids are playing at, and the possible problems with reffing, there will always be at least one game each year that people will disagree on. Lets agree to disagree with our opinions and move on. This is the last I will post on this topic. Good luck to you next year.

Soccerboy --

Agreed. Have a great summer.

lpaf

ps: "validify" ???

lpaf

Boy, go away to Regionals and come back to find it is deja vu all over again.

Ah...parting shots have to be meditated upon, reviewed, edited, thrown away, and then completly rethought to make sure the enemy is quivering on his keyboard. Greetings all.