A Valuable Lesson

A Valuable Lesson . . . Hopefully

   Over the Christmas holidays, I covered a game involving Frankford and made comments in my game report about what I considered to be inappropriate behavior by Frankford soph Kenny Spotwood.
   Through Frankford assistant Ben Dubin, and with his help, Kenny is responding.
   His comments follow, and we appreciate his effort. My original comments in the game report appear beneath Kenny's response.
   Hopefully, there's a valuable lesson in all of this.
   -- Ted Silary

Mr. Silary,
   I would like to take a moment to reply to your comments about me.
   Your description of the night was accurate and I am truly embarrassed. To be honest, this was not
the first time I have acted inappropriately; I would like to believe it will be my last. Realistically, I can
say that I am making an effort to improve my competitive attitude and maturity level.
   The morning after that night I had a long talk with a coach and understood my behavior was
unacceptable. I do appreciate you also trying to help me and other athletes with your message.
   I have to question the line "especially from guys who have truly done nothing yet." First, I work hard
in school and get good grades. Second, I spend many hours, 365 days a year, working on my game and
the fundamentals of ball. I do not believe that qualifies me as someone who has done "NOTHING yet."
Lastly on that line, it almost sounds as if it would be more acceptable to behave this way if I had won
a championship or been All-Public. (NOTE FROM TED: Kenny is correct. Such behavior by any
player is wrong, no matter his status.)
   In closing, I again would like to thank you for caring enough to address the issue and for trying to
help me and other athletes with your comments. I hope to see you at another Frankford game so I can
demonstrate an improved attitude and make a better impression on you.
Thank you,
Kenneth Spotwood

"Now, for Spotwood. Sorry, my man, but this needs to be said. It's time to grow up. I've heard you're a good prospect, so I watched you closely. You rolled your eyes and whined on every call, even when the foul wasn't called on you, and when coach Bernie Handler removed you at one point in the second half, you stalked to the end of the bench area and, from a sitting position, slammed a nearby folding chair to the floor. Handler told you to pick up the chair or go to the locker room. You didn't. A teammate picked it up for you. (Bernie was coaching again by then and probably didn't see that.) He sent an assistant down to talk with you and you acted out to some degree with THAT guy. Across the way, I could see fans nudging each other and pointing to you. Bad behavior always draws attention. Actually, I thought it was wrong for Bernie to give you another chance, at least tonight, but he did and what did you do the first time a call went against you? Whined and made faces. Again. This team has big plans this season. You could be part of all kinds of fun. Or you could slip out of the starting lineup and far down the bench. Sorry if this comes off as harsh. I guess I'm just a little tired of seeing inappropriate behavior, especially from guys who have truly done nothing yet. Best of luck, and I mean this sincerely, as you work to get back in your coaches' (and teammates') good graces. It can be done. It starts with you."