I am amazed by this comment by the Eastside coach. What a difference 24 hours makes when he was congratulating Mann, their season and their effort. His next note accuses the Mann defense of playing dirty and fouling Miguel Teos leading to Miguel's getting a red card.
Miguel is a good kid. He is a good player and he plays very hard. Mann has man marked him every one of the six games they have played against Eastside over the last two years with the same kid and he has scored one goal in those 6 games. Coach, did the Mann defense foul Miguel in those games too? What of your players who knocked Benny Puetter all over the field holding him scoreless? What should the referee have done there? While certainly unintentional, Miguel went into the Mann player cleats up which is an automatic red. You are very concerned about Miguel's safety.. what about the Mann player? Why did one of your bench players get a red card also in the overtime when the Mann kid was trying to throw it in? What control do you have over your bench? Those referees were not perfect but you did not win nor did Mann lose because of them.
I have a problem with the Eastside coach calling out kids on the Mann defense and implying they were dirty and overly physical. It is a cheap shot and unfairly impugns their reputations. Does the coach know that Mann had two players on their defense who were first team all state defenders including that "dirty" player who manned Miguel for the game. Perhaps those players are just as good at their positions as Miguel is at his.
Good luck in your game Saturday Coach. You have a good team even without Miguel and you are deserving of playing for the State Championship and I hope you show more sportsmanship than you showed in this letter on a public forum
