FOR LOVE OF THE GAME: SPORTS, STUDS, PRANKS AND POLITICS

A college professor once told her students that sports are an opiate for the masses, meaning they allow followers to temporarily dismiss their troubles and escape the sometimes harsh circumstances that reality bestows upon them.

In other words, sports are meant to be fun and entertaining.

But with some of the recent happenings on the local sports scene, last week was anything but enjoyable for this sports writer and, I might add, for a couple of coaches.

First, let me begin with the most petty item on my it-was-a-tough-week list: the word stud.

A Speakout caller complained last week that I used the slang expression in one of my articles and the caller criticized Jackson football coach Carl Gross for using the word to describe an opposing player. The caller said the word was offensive because a stud is an animal used for breeding purposes.

This is true.

But the word stud is also defined as a small, buttonlike device with a smaller button or shank on the back -- like an earring stud. Maybe he meant that his opponent pierced through defenses.

Stud is also an upright piece in the outer or inner walls of a building to which panels, siding, etc. are nailed. Maybe he meant this running back holds up the offense.

In fact, the word stud, according to Webster's Dictionary, has six different definitions that do not relate to the business of animal reproduction.

OK, I'll admit that Gross wasn't referring to an earring or a 2 X 4, but he wasn't referring to a sexually stimulated animal, either. And to the people who were offended and think Gross is without class for using that word, I say: Get a life.

Secondly, I wanted to bring up Cape Central football coach Lawrence Brookins.

He had a rough week last week with six of his seniors quitting, including four starters and two team captains.

There were some attitude problems on the team and Brookins basically told all the team members that if they didn't want to be a team player and abide by his standards, then they could turn in their gear.

And some did.

Brookins, who is in his first year as head coach here, set a powerful precedent by letting these guys walk.

He could've bent the rules for the sake of winning a few ballgames. And let's face it, this isn't the most talented group of Tigers that Cape Girardeau has ever seen.

So it couldn't have been easy for Brookins, who is now 0-3 as a head coach, to let some of his best players leave. But he did the right thing and in the long run the program will benefit from Brookins' stance.

It may take Brookins a while to get his football program turned around, but everyone knows now that it is his program and he's not going to allow players to call the shots.

What's more, Brookins and his coaching staff had his team well-prepared for the Tigers' game against Blytheville, Ark. Though Cape Central lost the game 39-17, Central owned a 17-14 lead at halftime.

While Central was having its problems, they were pale compared to what Jackson was dealing with.

Jackson is still being distracted by the whole eerie and tragic situation where some football players were allegedly involved in a terrible prank. The victim, who among other things was tied to a cross and videotaped, was so emotionally distraught he eventually had to move across state.

I don't know who these players are and quite frankly I don't want to know.

But I had a woman call me last week (and there was later a letter to the editor) to suggest that we drop our coverage of Jackson football altogether and send a statement that the individuals who were involved in this fiasco -- which was off school property -- should be kicked off the team.

Perhaps the players should be removed from the team, perhaps they shouldn't. That isn't my call.

However, it hardly seems fair to punish some 70 players for a crime they didn't commit, a crime which was committed in March. It seems harsh to ignore the six or seven years of hard work that some of the seniors have invested into their sport because a very small minority of players, in one night, carried out this senseless and abhorrent act.

The town of Jackson, where I currently live, has already been torn apart by the actions of these few irresponsible individuals.

Should the law-abiding residents there also be robbed of the coverage of their football team -- the same football team that once brought the town together?

At any rate, last week was a tough one to be a sports writer.

There were approximately 1,523,672 other problems which occurred that I don't have the room to go into.

But through all the muck and politics; and through all the people I offended, I still feel I did my job to the best of my ability last week.

I was just doing my job.

Bob Miller is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian.