Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

I have noticed a disturbing trend that seems to be getting worse with the passing days.

A few years back, probably around the time we were all locked down due to COVID-19, it became fashionable for people to belittle and criticize any and everything. It started with politics, but has filtered its way down to local sports.

To be honest with you right off the bat, I am not fine with any of this, but I am particularly worked up about grown adults belittling and attacking young male and female athletes no matter how they justify it.

I have thought about writing this column for more than a year, but a couple of events this fall have finally pushed me to the brink and have inspired me to get this off my chest.

Most of the rude comments have been directed at several of our football teams, but the other athletes in any one of the five other sports offered in the fall have been targeted to various degrees. I truly do not understand someone’s need to bully on social media teeanagers who are giving it their all day in and day out.

A couple of comments that particularly set me off have been about the Niles football team, which is having one of the best seasons in the history of its program. Niles has already established a new record for games scoring over 50 points in a single season. They are on pace to crush the school record for points scored in a single season, which was set last season when Niles scored 321 points.

Instead of congratulating the Vikings on their wins, some people have chosen to belittle the team by saying they are not beating Class A schools.

First of all, there hasn’t been a Class A, B, C or D for more than two decades. Secondly, Niles has not been Class A for quite some time. It is beating teams that are approximately it own sixe with a few that are somewhat larger.

So, what is your point anyway? You beat the teams on your schedule and in your conference. Conferences continue to shift because the Michigan High School Athletic Association and the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association have yet to come up with an agreement that would get everyone into the postseason.

I do not know if these people are just trying to make themselves feel better by trashing this team because they were not as successful. Or are they just that mean-spirited that it makes them happy to make others miserable?

Whatever the case may be, it needs to stop and it needs to stop now! This is not Republicans against Democrats. These are youngsters who work hard to try to be the best they can be so that they can entertain you Monday through Friday. Yes, they are tyring to win championships. No, they are not losing on purpose. 

I grew up in a world that saw entire communities get behind each and every one of their athletic teams. It was a big deal to get dressed up in their school colors and go to a game. It was even more special for the alumni who can to the games.

Apparently those days are long gone. The newest sport in town in bashing their alma mater and telling these kids that their achievements are not as great as theirs were.

That makes me not only mad, but very sad for those individuals.

 

Scott Novak is sports editor for Leader Publications. He can be reached at scott.novak@leaderpub.com