Poughkeepsie Varsity Football
Should the Poughkeepsie High School football team forfeit its Friday game because of unsportsmanlike behavior following last Friday night’s game?
The superintendent announced the following: “We deeply apologize to our parents, students, and our Poughkeepsie City School District community for the cancellation of the varsity football game scheduled for Friday, September 18, 2015. At this time, the varsity football team will forfeit the game due to concerns raised about “unsportsmanlike” behavior this past Friday, September 11, 2015 as the team was returning from an away game.”
Should the Poughkeepsie High School football team forfeit its game against Saugerties because of unsportsmanlike behavior?
Using the believing and doubting strategy, write a believing and then a doubting paragraph. The class responses uploaded here may inform your draft argumentative essay.
English is my Thinglish :: 
agree
Poughkeepsie should forfeit the game because their actions must be taken seriously. What they did was very bad and they should be punished. Poughkeepsie forfeiting the game would be the right thing to do in this case. They need to accept this fate and not even argue against it.
disagree
Poughkeepsie should not forfeit the game because they worked really hard to get where they are today. They have spent hours and hours of practice to prepare themselves for each game. Poughkeepsie forfeiting the game would diminish everything they did to prepare for the game. Based on this claim, Poughkeepsie forfeiting the game would be unjust and cruel. This is obviously the wrong thing to do.
Ray Rice should be suspended because he assaulted his soon-to-be wife. This incident gives the NFL a bad image if the don’t punish Rice. The league shouldn’t reward their players for wrong doings, especially due o the negative feed back the video was receiving from the public. They probably should have benched Rice for the rest of the season and gave him anger management courses.
Poughkeepsie should forfeit because they all need to act as a team. if one or two team members are being punished then they all should be punished because there is no ” I ” in team. They are a family and need to act like one.
Doubt-
Poughkeepsie shouldn’t forfeit the game to Saugerties because the incident on the bus had nothing to due with Saug. or any other high school varsity football team. i understand that the video posted on a social media site was not appropriate.The video shows the competitiveness between the two school.There was no profanity used in the video against said school. Poughkeepsie shouldn’t forfeit but they do need to learn how to communicate and work as one. The two players should either be kicked off the team or benched for the remainder of the season.
Kenneth Palmer 9/16/15
Poughkeepsie Football Team
• I believe Poughkeepsie should forfeit Fridays game to Saugerities due to unsportsman like behavior because if your on the same team why would you be fighting anyway.
• I believe Poughkeepsie should not forfeit Fridays game with Saugerities because it was a team fight, it be dealt with between the teammates. And the coach should have never told anyone about the fight
Poughkeepsie should forfeit the game because they weren’t behaving like men on the bus. Also, this will teach them a lesson to behave or there would be consequences. on the other hand, they shouldn’t forfeit because the people who were innocent shouldn’t be punished. they also made up the day after which kind of resolved things.
Belief: I believe that this should happen because they shouldn’t have gotten into a physical fight. if they are a great family like everyone says, they wouldn’t of gotten into a fight. also, i think that the whole team should suffer as a greater consequence to the fight. Most of the members are Seniors and they should’ve known better. These are just a few reasons why i think that Poughkeepsie should forfeit the game.
Doubt: I do NOT think that Poughkeepsie should forfeit this upcoming game against Saugerties. Even if they did get into a fight, they are family and all families get into fights. They made up after anyway. Also, i think that because most of the members are seniors, they shouldn’t get punished because they have limited opportunities to play. Furthermore, community service is not an equal punishment to getting into a fight. I believe that only the two members that got into a fight should be suspended form a game or two. This is why i do not think that Poughkeepsie should forfeit.
Jadeen Sampson
9/16/15
Football OR “No”ball
I believe they should forfeit the game because they were fighting on the bus. Also they were being very childish.
I don’t believe the team of Poughkeepsie should forfeit Friday’s game to Saugerties due to unsportsmanlike behavior. For example, I’m friends with most of the team and I know they can win. Also, they were fighting each other not other teams. They got over their beef with each other so therefore we should too.
Adaeyja Chambers September 16, 2015
Belief & Doubt
• I don’t believe that the Poughkeepsie high school’s varsity team should forfeit Friday night’s game. Other people might disagree because they feel the physical fight was very inappropriate, but I feel otherwise.
• I doubt the game should be canceled. I feel that the team is a family, they’re like brothers. Every family fights but the fact is they made up. Now the whole team is punished for two player’s behavior. It’s not fair to them, most players are seniors and they want to enjoy their senior year. I feel the school district is wrong for forfeiting the game.
Belief- After an incident that occured on the bus, Poughkeepsie should forefit beacuse it was unsportsman like conduct. Thus, to demonstrate that every action has a consequence, the Poughkeepsie team should forefit.
Doubt- Poughkeepsie should not forefit the game because it was the actions of a single player. Thus if the whole team was not invovled no consequences should be taken to the team as a whole. Especially if the coach just walked off.
Belief: After an incident on the bus ride home from their last game the Poughkeepsie Varsity Football team has forfeited their game on Friday against Saugerties and will be doing community service instead. I belief this is a just ruling for their behavior. You might as well not play the game if you’re not going to be a team about it at fight. Through all troubles a team should not turn on each other.
Doubt: Poughkeepsie should be allowed to play their game at least as a scrimmage against Saugerties. They’ve worked hard this season, and one altercation between a couple players should not jeopardize their success this season. They have resolved their differences and they’re ready to play again.
Belief: Poughkeepsie should forfeit the game the game because the football players were not behaving the way they should have and they had to pay the price for their unsportmanlike actions.
Doubt: Poughkeepsie shouldn’t have to forfeit the game because it may have been a misunderstanding and the football team probably didn’t mean to act the way they did.
Belief: Poughkeepsie High School should forfeit Friday’s football game because of the fight. Exposing another school to violence is not fair to those students. Winning without demonstrating good character is not fair. It would be like rewarding bad behavior will likely continue.
Doubt: PHS should not forfeit Friday’s football game because of the fight. The actions of a few should not ruin the game for everyone. Punishing the entire team will only create more anger and ultimately lead to more violence. By allowing PHS to play, the school would be giving the team an opportunity to redeem themselves.
Firstly!!! it was not unsportsmanlike conduct leading to the incident on the bus. The incident occurred because of a disagreement between two fellow Poughkeepsie football players.It had nothing to do with what happened on the field so no the game should not be canceled. The superintendent was very one sided in her speech towards her parents about how and why they were suspended. Then when prompted by a parent she disregarded his question. So no i do not think they should be suspended
Belief: Poughkeepsie should forfeit the game due to the fights. If they want to act like that for no reason, then they need to be ready to be punished. They have to understand that you can’t just get away with stupid stuff like that without consequences. It was unproffesional how they acted and maybe having to forfeit and let another team win will teach them how to actually act.
Doubt: Poughkeepsie should not forfeit the game due to the fights because not everyone was involved. It’s not fair to punish the whole team for something that only involved a handful of players. Punishing the whole team will only lead to more problems and create tension throughout the team and it might continue into the season. Forfeiting is just embarresing and only the few people who were problems should be punished.
Belief: Poughkeepsie should forfeit the game on Friday because they need a punishment for their “unsportsmanlike” behavior. Football players are thought of as to be leaders of the school and should not be setting examples like that. If the school board thinks that that punishment is fair then forfeiting the game is necessary. By forfeiting the game, hopefully the kids involved will learn their lesson and not act out like that again.
Doubt: Poughkeepsie should not have to forfeit the game because not every player was involved in these actions. The kids not involved should not be penalized like that for their teammates actions. The punishment should be that they players not involved can play, and the ones that were involved should be off the team. Just because a couple kids acted out, it should not stop the kids who didn’t from playing.
Doubt-I think that the boys should forfeit the game and do community service instead because they need to learn a lesson and also learn to act their age. Fighting TEAMMATES is ridiculous. They are supposed to be a team, a family. Not fighting one another. Even if only two people were the problem they are a team.
Belief-I think that the boys should be able to play in their game on Friday night because just because two teammates was being immature the whole team shouldn’t have to suffer. They have been practicing for weeks to play games and now they are getting cancelled. That isn’t fair to the boys doing the right thing or the other team they cancelled on.
Poughkeepsie High school should forbid Friday’s game. The students behavior its unacceptable and unforgivable. Students Decided to misbehave and disrespect their own team. Fights, even playing around are not appropriate in a school environment, students need to learn to behave and punishing them by loosing a game. That’s going to help them understand to not misbehaved again and act properly as high school students.
Poughkeepsie High school should not forbid Friday’s football game just for a simple play fight. It’s very clear that the team likes to celebrate their win, and get a little bit exited, this should not deserve a punishment for what they did. They are high school students and play fighting it’s normal for their age and environment.
Belief:
Poughkeepsie High School should forfeit its Friday game because of unsportsmanlike behavior. This statement is true because there was an occurance of violenece of the bus ride home. Being apart of a sports team, one must understand and follow the rules of being a good sport. Sportsnmanship does not include violence. When athletes do not follow the rules but recieve no consequence, they do not learn from their mistake and do not get any better. Punishing the whole team shows that a team does not just consist of one or two people, but that it is a responsiblity among every athlete.
Doubt:
Poughkeepsie High School should forfeit their game on Friday because that is a very large consequence that will affect their record just over two people making a mistake. The whole entire team and season should not be affected by the poor choices of two of their teamates. If everyone else did the right thing, is it really fair to make them suffer? They should get to play the game but have a smaller team consequence on the side,but cancelling the whole game is too big of a deal.
Agree
Poughkeepsie should forfeit the game because their actions must be taken seriously. Poughkeepsie forfeiting the game is the right thing to do in this case, so the football team doesn’t have such behavior again. They need to accept their choice and not argue about it.
Disagree
Poughkeepsie should not forfeit the game because they worked really hard to get where they are today. The football team has spent several hours practicing to prepare themselves. The football team should be giving a second chance, because I’m sure this situation will not happen again.
Believe – Poughkeepsie should forfeit to Saugerties for unsportsmanship. Fighting could cause many more problems than just the fight itself. If the game game was canceled, it’s being used as a type of punishment for the whole team. Even though not everyone on the team was in a fight, they’re a team, they win and lose together and they have to suffer the consequences together.
Doubt – Poughkeepsie shouldn’t forfeit to Saugerties for unsportsmanship. Although two boys decided to get into a fight, it’s not the team’s fault that they fought. The whole team shouldn’t have to suffer or take a lost because of what two boys decided to do. The only punishment should be toward the two boys that fought because they’re the ones that arose the problem. Not only the team, but the school and the team’s fans also have to suffer and that’s unfair.
Believing the prompt Ray Rice should be suspended. Violence should be intolerable between anyone. If he doesn’t get suspended he could end up pursuing future violence against her and other people. The fiance because of the violence could develop depression since her significant other, a person who she is getting married to her betrayed and hurt her violently. Because of that she may not see her self worth anymore.
Doubting the prompt Ray Rice shouldn’t be suspended. Him and his team and him and his fiance are different sets of people. His team is part of his career and his fiance is part of his personal life. It’s not fair for the team to suspend him since the team didn’t do anything wrong. I believe legal actions should be taken such as arrest or jail time but I don’t think it’s the NFL’s place to discipline him since if he wasn’t on the team he wouldn’t have received that type of punishment. Since Rice is a major figure in football the NFL wanted to show everyone that the league has a no violence policy.
Believe: Poughkeepsie should forfeit their game against Saugerties to show that they are a team–if one person does something, they all take the fall because that’s what a team represents. It also shows that you can’t just get away with things, and that everything has a consequence.
Doubts: Poughkeepsie should not forfeit the game on Friday because one-it is unfair to not only the players but the whole school to be punished for two people’s actions. The two involved should be suspended as any other student would, and the game should go on. The entire team shouldn’t suffer for individual actions. They should own up to it themselves.
Believing the prompt Poughkeepsie should forfeit the game against Saugerties for unsportsmanship like behavior. The boy’s varsity football team lost their game last friday. They are a team there for there isn’t one person who was responsible for the loss, even the people on the bench; All players could’ve worked harder to prevent the loss. As a team they should win together and lose together. The players could have had other ways to resolve the fight so it didn’t have to lead to violence. Poughkeepsie forfeiting the game sets an example for all local teams and the teams at Poughkeepsie High School; if you show bad sportsmanship there will be a consequence.
Believing the prompt Poughkeepsie should not forfeit the game against Saugerties for unsportsmanship like behavior. Cancelling the game doesn’t only effect our team but it affects Saugerties’s team also. All of the players have worked hard to prepare the game and not all the players on the Poughkeepsie team were involved in the fight that occurred. The whole team should not be penalized. Not only is our team suffering the consequences but so are students, parents, and coaches from both of the teams. Of course violence should never be the answer but losing the game was disappointing and a let down from the game they won against FDR the previous week. The team also expected to win since there was a prediction made predicting the score to be about 22-16. Our football team really has a passion for football so of course they felt upset. They had to live up to the expectations of the prediction which they didn’t and they felt as if they let down their friends, family, coaches, each other, and themselves.
I agree Betzy Garcia
I believe that Poughkeepsie did right when they decided to forfeit to Saugerties because the football team needed to be punished for their actions. In previous years football players have been able to get off the hook with minimal to no punishment for their actions, while a regular student would not be able to get this type of special treatment. The whole thing about playing sports is also to be able to work on a team together and not fight. Even if a team does fight they should be able to get together and work it all out. A team environment is where everyone treats each other respectfully and learn things from each other, not get into fights, in a verbal and physical way. It is nice for them to be punished for this because their behavior was not sportsmanlike and it shows them that they are not above the Poughkeepsie School rules.
Poughkeepsie High School should not have been made to forfeit the game with Saugerties because the football team got into a fight. Fights happen all the time in Poughkeepsie High School. It was also only a couple of team members out of so many, so you should only punish those specific team members and not the rest due to the amount of work these students put into the football practices. Don’t punish the whole team over a handful of kids being stupid.
Belief:
Poughkeepsie should forfeit the game against Saugerties for unsportsmanlike behavior because the Pioneers are based on and all about being a team. As an athlete, I know first-hand that everyone on a team is held responsible for the actions of their teammate(s). If the player(s) found their sport and team of value in their minds or hearts, maybe they would have reevaluated their thoughts to avoid consequences.
Doubt:
Poughkeepsie should not forfeit the game against Saugerties for unsportsmanlike behavior because the Pioneers have worked extremely hard to become the athletes they are today. The Pioneer football players wake up early in the morning to attend practice, even on school days – just to become better at what they do. Another reason why I believe the Pioneers should still be able to compete against Saugerties is because there are a lot of opportunities for the students on the team to receive scholarships from scouts from different colleges and universities. To add on, several players are seniors, so their last season playing for the Pioneers should be special and memorable. As a student athlete myself, I know the characteristics and qualities of being apart of a team. With that being said, not every single incident should reprimand the whole team. I also say this because at try-outs, everyone individually shows their skill, and the players are individually identified by the numbers on their backs as well as being apart of the team as a whole. Therefore, the whole team should not always be held accountable for the mistakes an individual or individuals decide to make on their own. Instead of impacting the whole team, the individual player(s) should reap their own personal consequences.
Poughkeepsie should forfeit against Saugerties because the unacceptable actions of a few players have held the team back. You win as a team, lose as a team, and should be punished as a team. Fights on buses are unacceptable; even if just two people are to blame, others could have taken steps to prevent the fight. Also, the coach leaving the bus cannot be tolerated as he has to supervise the kids at all times
Poughkeepsie should not forfeit the game because the dumb actions of a few should not be held against the rest of the team. It was a personal confrontation and did not involve most of the team. The least one could do is let the non-responsible players play.
@sethcarty I agree with your statement because it had nothing to do with the whole team it was a disagreement between two people amongst the poughkeepsie team
@Seth Carty I didn’t realize that the incident was not unsportsmanlike conduct and that the superintendent deflected questions concerning that.
@Zach Woolley I like how you stated both claims. You were very direct and to the point. You explain that they should forfeit the game because they did not act like a team and that they should not forfeit the game because it was not the entire team’s fault. It was well worded and precise
@zachary wooley, I agreed that poughkeepsie did the right thing by forfeiting the game on friday because of their unsportsman like behavior. Team members working together is very important otherwise they efforts on the field wouldn’t be as effective.
@Devin Tully,
You statements have been very good although sometimes i believe in individual punishment is better team punishment because of how a team acts together and how an individual acts is completely different therefore i agree with your statements.
Belief: Being a part of a varsity sports team is a privilege. It is not acceptable to be fighting with anyone, especially fellow teammates. Being a part of a team requires mutual respect, maturity, and leadership. If some of the team doesn’t behave this way then the whole team should suffer because that is what a team does. They stick together
Doubt: This incident should be dealt with in practice. The fighting occurred between two Pioneers players and did not involve another school so it shouldn’t interfere with their game. In practice the whole team should be punished , but when it comes to the next game only those who participated in the disturbance should be benched.
@Jenna Salmonese
I agree they should do community service because they obviously don’t know how to act, therefore if they want to act childish because they lost a game the other team doesn’t deserved to be punished either by forfeiting the game. They all came to win or lose and at the end of the day they have to suck it up and do better the next time.
Believe:
Poughkeepsie Pioneers should forfeit the game on Friday too Saugerties because every action deserves a consequence whether if it is good or bad. Also, high school students should know not too fight on the bus or anywhere while representing someone or a school district. This problem could have been avoided if the other teammates stepped in before the problem escalated too physical altercations.
Doubt:
I don’t believe Poughkeepsie Pioneers should forfeit the game on Friday too Saugerties because they can be punished in a different way during practice. By Poughkeepsie forfeiting the game it makes our school look even worse and looked down on by putting our business out too the news. Saugerties Varsity Football players should not have too be forced not too play a game and have their time wasted on a game they prepared too play due too our team’s mistakes. We are still young and still in high school, so silly mistakes are bound too happen like this that can be handled in many different ways.
Belief: Poughkeepsie should forfeit their game for unsportsmanlike behavior because being on a team, you should act the opposite way. Being on a team means you should show good sportsmanship on and off the field. So if they don’t show good sportsmanship, they shouldn’t be able to play the sport and in this case play in that particular game.
Doubt: Poughkeepsie should not forfeit their game against Saugerties for sportsman like behavior. For one the behavior was not reflected on to another team, it was reflected toward themselves. So with that being said, they should have the opportunity to learn and grow from the situation and practice doing so by playing the sport. They should also work ten times as hard in practice as some kind of consequence for their behavior.
Belief: I believe that Poughkeepsie should forfeit Friday’s game for the fact that they had acted out of character. As a team, every win and every loss should be a humbling experience. We win some and we lose some. Fighting another teammate is unacceptable & unsportman like. That gives Poughkeepsie a bad look as a school overall & playing games is a privilege. Playing a sport is a privilege. We teach these boys to their best in school in order to play on that field, so we need to teach them how to cope with one another after a bad loss. Its call sportsmanship. Its call teamwork. They need to learn how to keep their positive attitudes like they did their first home game.
Doubt: I believe that Poughkeepsie should not forfeit this Friday’s game because what had happened on the bus was a team incident. They had gotten into a heated argument and as teens, they are thinking off of emotion and not logically. They are still learning how to cope with a loss & it would be harsh for them not to play in Friday’s game after all the hard work and dedication they had put into practice to play. They are a hard working team of students that just want to make the best out of their football season. They had their first loss and they were very upset.
Belief: I believe that Poughkeepsie should forfeit the game on Friday because the level of un-sportsmanship had on the bus5ride after a game was beyond means of no punishment. As a team, players are supposed to support and help one another on and off the field. Allowing them to play would almost condone their previous behavior and send the wrong message. When considering the usual consequences for athletes of other sports fighting, such players are suspended and kicked off the team, keeping that in my I feel the varsity football team got the slightest discipline by having to forfeit a game.
Doubt: On the other hand, I don’t think it’s fair to discipline the whole team for the actions of a few players. The players who were apart of the fight should be punished on their own and sat out of the game on Friday while the rest of the team play against Saugerties.
Belief: Ray Rice should be fired from football because he assaulted his fiancee. A man of his popularity surely has a large fan base and the constant conversations about it in media outlets spreads the news to people beyond football fans, so letting him go without serious consequences would send the message that domestic violence is acceptable as long as you’re famous. it also would send a message to other women who are victims of domestic violence that nothing will happen to their abusers even if people find out.
Doubt: Ray Rice should not be fired from football because his career and personal life are two separate things. While he does have young impressionable fans, it is not his job to parent them. It’s the parent’s job to make sure their children understand that Ray Rice and his fiancee’s relationship isn’t healthy and that he’s a sports role model not a person they should model their entire life off of.
Believe: I believe that the behavior displayed by the Poughkeepsie High School football team was far from professional and because of that, the game cancellation was completely called for. As a team, they must realize that working together at all times may be difficult but beneficial towards the entire school’s title. If there were truly a problem, they should have spoken to an adult or worked it out between themselves. One does not have to be friends to work together on a healthy professional level. The decision to act in such an unsportsmanlike manner did not just affect themselves; the district as a whole had to speak on their mistake. Being responsible and polite in any workplace, whether football or a school, is an important key to reach success.
Doubt: I do not believe that the game on Friday, September 11, 2015, should have been cancelled. Young teenage boys are bound to quarrel here and there. It isn’t something that should have affected the entire team and school district. This loss was unfair towards the other teammates. Those that were causing disruption could have sat out for the game. More rational punishments could have been found. It was unnecessary and the adults could have responded better. Those that caused the tension should have been the ones to deal with the punishment. Sure, they’re all a team, but being a team only goes so far when it begins to hinder someone from future accomplishments. One shouldn’t be punished for something that they had no part in. The other boys playing took their time to practice, prepare, and leave only to be sent back home. To be punished unjustly is a cruel act that shouldn’t be done in any high school situation or in any situation whatsoever.
It is a shame that two individuals have the ability to cease a game to the opposing team without a single play taking place. The whole Poughkeepsie High School football team should not have to suffer, due to the actions of two students. Other members of the team have worked so hard, practice so often and sacrifice so much to play a game they love. Rather, only the students should be disciplined and the rest of the football team should be allowed t play. Hopefully soon, the football team will realize that they are a team on and off the team, and should treat each other’s as such all the time. In the time off, the team should look back on what caused this eruption and learn how to prevent another event from happening.
Friday’s games against Saugerties should be forfeited by the Poughkeepsie High School, due to sportsmanship. This exercise will give the varsity team the time to reflect on what happen and on how to ignore this problem in the future. It will also give the team a good life lesson. The team must work efficiently with one another to reach victory. If one or two things are out of sync, it causes the team to not work.
Belief: I Believe ray rice should be fired from football. First is that you should get consequences for physically assaulting your spouse. Not only does that show that you do not care for her, but you don’t respect her either. Secondly, him playing football means he is more physically advanced then his wife which should be more of a reason that he shouldn’t touch her in that way.
Doubt: Believe ray rice shouldn’t be fired from football because the incident regarding his wife has nothing to do with his football career. Yes, he shouldn’t be physically assaulting any female but he also shouldn’t be getting penalized for a situation that had nothing to do with him actually playing the sport
Poughkeepsie should not forfeit the football game on Friday just because of the team acting “unsportsmanlike”. No one knows how the team felt emotionally after the loss of their previous game, as well as prior feelings going on at home. The team could have just been upset after a taxing game and, instead of taking it out on the field with the other team, they brought their anger back with them. Everyone gets aggravated from time to time and even if their team is a family, families fight from time to time, and just because of this they shouldn’t have to forfeit their next game.
Poughkeepsie should forfeit the football game on Friday due to unsportsmanlike behavior. This is because of an altercation between two students on the bus after a loss on the previous football game. If a team physically fights one another over a single loss, why continue to act as a team in the first place?
Belief:
The game should be cancelled because team members were unsportsmanlike and didn’t show good sportsmanship. If they can’t react properly to losing, their other actions become questionable. With the cancellation of the game, the members will learn a valuable lesson that anger should not be turned to violence due to a loss. They will learn that they can have more serious consequences for that type of misconduct in more serious situations. With the substitution of community service, the members will learn to make positive changes in the community instead of contributing to the level of violence that already is extremely prominent.
Doubt:
The game shouldn’t be cancelled because the team members have always behaved properly and have shown good sportsmanship on the field. They have shown that they know how to behave properly. With a simple warning and explanation of the consequences of their actions, these members will understand that it’s not okay to be unsportsmanlike. The community service is enough as a consequence of their actions.
For a private team matter to be made public in the manner it was was extremely inconsiderate by the district. To handle a matter between a pair of players by punishing the whole team does nothing but further break trust in the administration. The team had a argument on the bus, and it should be handled by the team. Don’t ruin their preparation and the preparation of the opposing team for this instance. Punishment of this level is unfair to those not involved in the situation, and the way this is being carried out, is similar to punishing an entire grade level for a fight between two of it’s members. It’s nonsensical. What the district is doing is essentially handing down judgement without getting all sides of the story, which is very unethical. These circumstances mirror a police hostage situation where the officers arrest every individual involved, even if they were just bystanders.
However, one must consider the optics. We cannot wholeheartedly say the team shouldn’t be punished for actions off the field and then turn around and demand Ray Rice be ejected from the NFL. Hypocrisy that blatant wouldn’t stand in the public eye. The members of the team were expected, on that bus, to act as such. They were expected to handle disputes calmly and collectedly, especially when representing the school district. The Poughkeepsie City School District already has a big enough problem with optics, and this incident only adds to the bad PR. The District is suffering a huge ethics and trust fracturing after it became public knowledge that an official in charge with handling the district’s money hired a prostitute on district grounds. Actions like punishing the football team in such a severe manner compensate for the lack of action taken against the official, and serve only to regain the broken trust in the district as a whole.
Belief: Ray Rice should be suspended for violence against his finace. Some many kids that watch football look up to him and he is setting an example that it is ok for a male to hit a female. Abuse should not be handed lightly, number one it’s not a fair fight and two people shouldn’t do things like that for any reason. He hit not only a women but his fiancee so this shows he could do it to anyone if he can do it to loved ones.
Doubt: He shouldn’t be suspended because she could have provoked it or she hit him first and deserved to get hit back. The moment just got heated and he didn’t mean to do it. The team needs him he is a very good player and without him the team would fall apart.
Belief: Poughkeepsie should forfeit to Saugerties for unsportsmanlike behavior. Two people on the same team shouldn’t fight with each other. They need to have discipline to teach them that there are consequences for their actions. The whole team deserves a discipline because they could have stopped it so it didn’t turn into a huge fight. They need to learn how to get along.
Doubt: I don’t think it’s fair for the whole team to forfeit because of two players actions. We are giving another team the advantage not letting the players not involved play. The two who argued should get suspended from the game as a form of discipline. It’s not fair to the school it hurting their records and lots of people go out to see the football games.
Belief:It is true that the Poughkeepsie varsity team did have unsportsmanlike behavior at their last game but it should not affect future games. The team’s behavior did not affect the other team only themselves. Maybe at the least only punish the players that took part in the behavior but do not punish them all. It should not affect the rest of the players the worked so hard.
Doubt: The P.H.S football team should forfeit. The behavior that was demonstrated at the last game was unacceptable. They understand that there are rules on how to act. If they chose to not be sportsmanlike then they should not be athletes. They can be considered athletes when they learn to behave like them.
Belief:
Poughkeepsie should forfeit Friday’s game. If they can’t hold it together as a team, how will they work together when on the field? They should forfeit to work on some team building exercises. This would improve future games because they would be able to cooperate as a team. If they don’t forfeit or work on team building, the next game everyone would be trying to win for themselves to maybe redeem themselves for the last game.
Doubt:
Poughkeepsie should not forfeit Friday’s game. One mishap shouldn’t cost the team a whole game. They’ve worked too hard for this. The team could pull themselves together quickly enough to be ready for Friday’s game. And to think, if we played maybe we could even win with a major comeback. Maybe we could come back even stronger than before.
Doubt: I believe Poughkeepsie shouldn’t forfeit the game on Friday because they worked so hard over the summer to be a better team. Many senoirs were looking forward to playing their best this season yet, so this will ruin their last year in high school. They will end up having a horrible season because thats one less game they will play. If they play on Friday, their hardwork will show on the field.
Support:
Poughkeepsie High should forfeit their next game because of their unsportsmanlike behavior after losing a game against their last opponents. One team member’s actions represents all their actions since they are a team and for them to allow that team member to act the way they did is truly disrespectful and actions should be taken to prevent it from happening again.
Doubt:
Poughkeepsie high shouldn’t have to suffer such a heavy punishment for uncontrollable actions. They are young and still growing in mind and body so actions like these are to be expected. They have spent long times to develop the skills they need to win and for them not to be able to see how far their training will bring them is truly disappointing. Their behavior is unsportsmanlike and I’m sure they’d have remove the problem already and should be allowed to play again.
@BriannaT
I completely agree with your belief. Very well said! Working together at all times CAN be difficult but everyone should be able to do it! It does define the amount of success that the team can achieve and can completely backtrack the progress of building a sense of support and responsibility to behave properly in any team member.
Belief:
The Poughkeepsie Varsity football team shouldn’t have forfeited the game because of a discussion between the players. First of all, it’s not fair for the other team who trained hard for it and they end up receiving news that they have to forfeit the game because the opponent team doesn’t know how to act with a loss. Secondly, I always believed that in any professional career or activity, people must not mix the personal conflicts with the professional. This is the varsity team, they are grown enough to know how to act they are no longer a modified team, they should know how to work things out as a team and be held responsible for their actions. There is no need to argue against one another over a loss and insult or hit one another. In a team, you can’t just blame one person, you have to blame everybody because you practice together to help each other out on the field. I believe they should’ve punished the football team by making them do community work because they hate it, but they’ll learn to deal with it.
Doubt:
The Poughkeepsie Varsity football team should have forfeit the game. For example, they need some type of punishment to let them know what will happen if they do it again. They need to learn how to act if they lose a game and respect their teammates. Also, due to a loss the other team shouldn’t have to deal with rudeness from PK varsity team.