RR1 : Your timing is impeccable. Not until 5Knots comment?
Unbelievable.

I love how all the accusations/allegatioins of the past 5 years get the silent treatment and people get threatended and sued, but now that your brother is no longer the coach, it's all open for discussion.

Priceless....and pathetic...and hypocritical.

And about my comments, I was asked to keep it quiet, so as not to add fuel to the fire. After 5knots comments, I'll assume that the rule no longer applies.

Redrider 1 : Our views maybe different,but at least im my own man. "I was asked to keep quiet". Who told you to keep quiet? Thats the problem that 5knots commented on. He wants to know. What are we keeping quiet about ? Im not a lawyer, but personal attacks on any forum will get you into trouble. Never sued anyone or threatended anyone . I tried to help, but some thought i was threatening. You can talk about who ever you want .Go at it ,but once you hit post reply it's out there for everyone to see.
Later

It was not kept quiet to protect anyone....merely until this was confirmed that it actually happened....sounds like we're well past that.

I respected the reasons for keeping it quiet, but also knew that it would only be another day or 2 until everyone else found out....and that's where we are now.

You wont find 1 person who will condone what happened, or will say that a slap on the hand is proper punishment....so at the end of the day, we all agree that this is a serious problem that needs serious answers.

Problem as I see it is that it is being kept quiet. I have a problem with that. All parents should have a problem with that. If there is a kid who is abusing substances then parents need to know. i am sure many will say mind your own business......I answer to that "I care to much to mind to mind my own business" by "minding our own business" we are perpetuating the problem. We don't mind our business to dump accolades on these kids when deserving...someone needs to get in these kid's faces and dump some criticism...maybe we all do! because whatever has been done isn't working. I was proposing a"One and done" attitude as many as 3 -4 years ago. i was told we can't be that harsh....these kids need sports....Bunk! 3 chances is too many! Proof is in the pudding. Sad thing is that word out there is one kid is taking the fall......are we really that stupid! or just scared? i don't know..but I know I don't like it!

Too much has been brushed under the rug....don't want controversy and negative attention. That's not just issues with kids either.

Probably best to deal in truth and allocate consequences by the letter of their own rulebook. That's the easiest way to go. If you're not interested in abiding by your own rules, you're simply an enabler....and you can't be amazed when rules are broken again in the future. Paper tiger.

Kids needs sports....I'll agree...but it's still a privilege, not a right. You can lose that privilege if you don't follow the rules.

Sounds like this time the police weren't involved....keeps kids' name out of the paper...but it also helps to hide the problem if that's the intent.

Agreed^^

Rr80- what words would I be eating? I have not commented on this until now. I did not know if this was a rumor or not and was not my place to talk about it until some answers to what happend were out there.

That said this would be a time for the most part I agree with you. I am tired of these kids making the same mistakes over and over. Nothing really has been done to them. Parents need to step up and be a parent! It has not been happening for some time. If you get in trouple the punishment at home used to be much worse. Now the parents are blaming everybody except their child.

We are a soft society. We want everybody to win and everything to be equal. Guess what it is not tht way in life. Some kids are smarter than others, some are athletes, some are both. Two that come to mind..Tim Hiller and Kyle Simmons. What is common about them...family backgrounds and they worked for what they got.

Today kids think they don't have to do the work...parents need to slap them in the head and get them on track.

On court this year was great. Short would not have gotten past Triway because he would have been out coached as usual IMO.

Rr80 it is funny you don't want to talk about all the crap your brother and Kent Smith seemed to make vanish. The difference there is that was for the coach not the good of the kids IMO.

RrFan: Be very careful of your posts in reference to your perception of family members. I will respond in kind.
Your post check. You may want to delete your last sentence. It's up to you.
Not that it matters ,but Orrville has had a winning record over Triway for some time.

Im sure the Coach is Sly not Short Nothing to talk about!!. Why the comments? Most have moved on.


You are right others come to mind TaNesha Winters, Erica Short. They also worked for what they got.

TaNesha and Erica are also good examples.

I know it is your family, but there was a lot of problems out there for a long time. There were a lot of "good kids" out there and plenty of talent to make some tourney runs. It never happend. The changes were made and I feel it was an excellent choice and over due.

Now back to what we wre talking about.

rrfan,
be sure to take those friendly suggestions to heart. They werent threats, nope, not at all.

He's just looking out for you.....

I get saddened by the bickering and jabbing....many of you agree on more than you want to admit, and maybe that makes you uncomfortable being on the same side so you poke something else in there. Nothing is ever for sure and always. Take nothing away from Coach Slaughter and the team, great job. Did we benefit from being in DIII....Duh! Much like football we were able to rid ourselves of a few giants. Still had to deal with some for sure. Coach Short had it tough from the beginning with his own kids in the program...right away he would have that always in the background to deal with, unfortunate but that is a fact. A coach can never please all but add in the fact that two of your own are in the mix and it was an uphill battle from the start. I don't know, but that may have had some to do with kids not wanting to go out for bbaLL? I don't know. Coach Short had some big wins...just not in tourney time and that is a biggie. i am sure had we been in DIII he would have. Stepping down was the right move for whatever reason and I respect that. Let's just let that go......

5knots - I completely agree with everything that you have said. From the days on JJ Huddle to here - a lot of the "posters" tend to agree with one another but they just do not want to admit it.

And, because they can not stop the pointless, immature bickering with another - things will never progress. They ALL seem to have to find a way to get a "dig" on each other. EVERYTHING that has happened these last few years has been unfortunate and things should no longer be swept under the rug. If it was the intention to "clean up" the basketball program once Coach Slaughter was hired then that is what they need to do. Quit trying to sweep things under the rug.

And, as far FORMER Coach Short is concerned, that is now in the hands of the court system.

Not one or two families in Orrville are better than the others. I do not think (or, at least don't want to think) that parents want their children to be out drinking and/or abusing drugs, having children out of wedlock, having other students do their schoolwork, and I could go with the information that I know - so we shouldn't post on here specific families because NO ONE is perfect.

We ALL know the speculation of what has been going on with these kids and I for one do hope that they are dealt with appropriately bc otherwise this sends a message to the younger ones that you can do these things and get away with it as long as you are a halfway decent athlete. And, hopefully that is not the message that the CURRENT coach, athletic director or the administration wants to pass along.

I will continue to fully support Coach Slaughter and hope that he will continue to talk about character and personal responsibility to these young men. And, if they are not hearing this message at home, hopefully they will start to listen to him.

5Knots:My same thoughts. Agree 100%

Couldn't fins a correct spelling anywhere but.....Kumbayah!...everybody, Kumbayah! haha

LOL

I think the point of some is that is DOES take away from this season and how we all now have egg on our face for supporting these kids.

If that's not the case, then my bad, but that's sure how it reads from my end.

On the court, with what I saw with my own eyes....it was refreshing from a player & coach standpoint. Can I say that without being threatened or saying it's a personal attack?

15-5 regular season was nothing imparticularly special, but as I and Rrfan and others said, it's in March where we'd see if improvement has been made. 6 wins and a championship game appearance is all that needs to be said about that.

Fan interest was way up....community pride was way up....are those bad things? If we all call ourselves Red Riders first it shouldn't be.

And I'd call having to follow Smitty more of an issue that having 2 kids in the program.

Yeah! how could I forget that addition to the equation! Talk about uphill battle. Anyway, on the court/playing field stuff is great....coaching staffs are great....community support is great....kids being held accountable for their actions...I think is suspect..but in all fairness in those situations I am on the outside looking in...and not complaining too much about that! I guess I just have to have faith in those in charge.

OrrPride wrote: ...He was out for making better men out of the kids who played for him. He was out for restoring pride in this community again. These kids respect him because he respects them...

We keep reading the comments that community pride was restored. When was it lost? Is Orrville community pride built on a foundation of high school athletics?

If so, then did the "pride" (basketball program and/or community), begin to diminish with Coach Smith after the 1996 season when they failed to get past regionals? Did it begin to diminish when Coach McMillan had the not so great years in football?

The comments of making "better men" of these athletes must then apply to every coach they played for, football, basketball, track and any other sport that applies. I am assuming that this discussion includes part and parcel of some if not all of the "usual suspects".

The activity that happened prior to the previous football season some of the athletes had at least 3 years exposure to the strong moral character of Davault and Slaughter, yet they still messed up, more than once for some, and some of you accused Short of destroying their morals.

He's not the coach now, so who will you blame?

I agree with your comments, 5knots!

I also believe that moving to DIII was a definite benefit and advantage to Orrville's success in football and basketball!

^^why I am not a fan of the multiple offense rule......give a kid three days to get his homework done...he will do it on the eve of the third day....give a kid three chances to drink/drugs he will use 2 before he even thinks about the third. jmo. Make the punishment harsh enough to make him/her think before the first offense....in other words....Make the homework due tomorrow!

Hi 5, 5knots!

Nice to see you again......after another negative incident....and amazingly, you have more than 1 sentence for us to read this time.

So quiet all year...and now plenty to say.

We were Div 4 in football last year and this year....just changed regions in football.

But you knew that right?

Our rules are very similar to other communities...it's where we got them. But hey! We are Orrville! We are the Orrville Red Riders! We don't consider ourselves "just like other communities". Let's raise our standard, raise the bar a bit. We are Orrville! A community that cares and supports. No better way to show a kid you care. Rigid rules, caring to go along with it. Sounds like a recipe for success!