It was the battle of a founding father (James Madison) vs a late president (FDR) it what was billed as one of the biggest soccer games of the season in the Brooklyn A West division. When the hard-fought 3-2 game was over, the two team met at the center of the field for the traditional post-game handshake and guess what happened? Yes, fighting broke out and before you could say “Yo!” fans were pouring out of the stands to join in the fun.
Once again we have to ask: isn’t it time to forget this tradition and just let the losers go home to lick their wounds and come back to play another day? Don’t get us wrong, we’re all for sportsmanship, it just seems that these kinds of incidents seem to be happening more frequently, so someone is obviously getting the wrong message about what the point of it is.
The postgame handshake lines quickly turned into an all-out brawl following the James Madison-Franklin D. Roosevelt Brooklyn A West boys soccer game.
The teams lined up for what is usually a display of sportsmanship after the host Cougars’ physical and emotional, 3-2 victory over the two-time defending division champion Knights at the Parade Grounds in Park Slope.
As the FDR players made their way down the line in front of the Madison bench, two pairs of players from opposing teams separated from the lines and exchanged punches. With no police or NYPD school safety officers present, numerous fans and spectators began spilling on the field, causing a wild scene.
HS Football Player Arrested for Groping Opposing Cheerleaders During Post Game Handshake
Once again, we have to wonder if the tradition of the post-game handshake is past it’s prime? In the past we have had incidents where sore losers have tried to pull someone’s arm out of the socket, cut them with some kind of sharp object hidden in a glove and occasionally, someone gets punched in the face. This show of good sportsmanship has evolved into one last chance to take a shot at your opponent.
This is the first time though, that we can remember a member of the winning team acting out. In this case, a young Alabama high school football player named Sandarius Reed who actually scored a touchdown for Elba High in their 21-14 win against Geneva High School. According to police, Reed used the post-game handshake to get more acquainted with the Geneva cheerleaders. And by that we mean he’s accused of groping them. And, unfortunately for Reed, the fact that it happened four times makes it unlikely that he can claim he accidentally brushed against them.
It also didn’t help that–like a lot of incidents these days–police have a video of the alleged inappropirate touching, which helped them bring four misdemeanor charges against the star player. (If you find said video, please let us know.) At right, a picture from Reed’s MySpace page which had the caption under it that read: I take my shirt off watch all the gurls go crazy.
Here’s more from the Dothan Eagle:
An e-mailed statement to the Dothan Eagle from Geneva County District Attorney Kirke Adams said four misdemeanor harassment charges were filed against Sandarius Reed, 18, of Elba, on Friday. Court records show Reed, of Martin Luther King Drive, was released from custody at the Geneva County Jail after he posted a $1,000 bond per charge. Reed will turn 19 on Oct. 5.
Adams said in the e-mailed statement that the charges stemmed from an incident that happened after a football game between Samson and Elba on Sept. 17, in Samson. He said Reed, an Elba Tigers football player, is alleged to have touched four Samson cheerleaders inappropriately during the “traditional handshake” after the game.