ShawnaUsesHerRealName

Thanks for your ' thought', Mr. Seagraves. That 'thought' and 50 cents MIGHT buy me a cup of coffee. Oh, and if you need the money for gas to come to our county, I'll be glad to pay your way. Come up to the mountain. I would LOVE to meet you. And once again for people like you who are slow to grasp concepts, I will repeat myself for the last time. I didn't START this forum about my daughter. I just had the guts to defend her when she couldn't defend herself. Many people woudn't be willing to do that, and use their real name. I am through. I have proven my point. An intelligent debater ALWAYS rests his or her case when he or she has gotten a conviction. I will do so here. SEVENTIESEAGLE took all the negative slander/postings off the website, and admitted that he/she was wrong to even start all this mess. That is all a person can do. Some would say that an apology isn't good enough, because it doesn't change the damage. It won't change what was written, because I have a copy of it. It won't erase the hurt, but a person has to be strong if one is a Christian, and accept an apology when it is offered. There is nothing wrong with a Christian confronting someone who has wronged him or her. When a person wrongs my child, I go to that person. It is actually in the Bible to do so. It is also written that if we have wronged someone else, we should go to that person and ask forgiveness. It would be easier to accept if SEVENTIESEAGLE had used a real name, but I'll accept it nonetheless. This isn't, and never has been your business, Keith. I realize that you can offer up an opinion on an open forum, but I would hope that most people would only offer it up to give needed information, if something pertains directly to him or her, or to help someone or someone's team. You haven't helped anyone. In fact, you have only hurt your reputation as a coach and as a human. I can tell you're bored, but I'm sure your community would like you to now focus on your OWN team instead of someone else's, so why don't you do that? I won't waste any more of MY time responding to you or anyone else. Again, a good debater (and one who plays fair) quits when he or she gets a retraction and an apology. Well, unless he or she is an attorney. Then he gets lots of money! lol /rolleyes.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":rolleyes:" border="0" alt="rolleyes.gif" />

If you are AlwaysTruetoVB1, then why are you so jealous of my child's success? Why can't you congratulate her on being such a dedicated athlete for our county? If you really loved our county, you would be happy to see her on the court. Listen, I'm sorry that you are jealous of my daughter. I'm sorry that you are jealous of me. I am sorry that you are so vicious toward a young person. I'm sorry that you have to hide behind a fake name to make comments about an underage child. But mostly, right now, I just feel sorry that you obviously have so much hatred inside. Let me clarify something. I have always wanted my child to be treated fairly, not differently. I will continue to ask for fairness when I see fit. Your comments are so outrageously childish. Want to give all of us your real name? I'm guessing not. You and SEVENTIESEAGLE keep hanging in their together, o.k? Good gracious. Some kids just happen to be good athletes and have high conditioning that she receives from her father. You are really bashing her for what she inherited and what she has achieved? No comments back to you until you tell the world who it is that is jealous of Shawna and her kid. You are truly a sad case.

Thank you so much, ECU. /thumb[1].gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":thumb:" border="0" alt="thumb[1].gif" /> That has been the most intelligent comment I have read up to this point in this discussion. You are so right when you said that 'there has to be exceptions' for certain things. Otherwise, a coach's own rules become incoherent, confusing, and purely egotistical. The idea of punishing a child for fulfilling school-authorized obligations is just plain egotistical, when another child can start a game when she has missed because she was sick. Consistency is the key. Nobody should be punished because she was unlucky enough to catch a virus, or unlucky enough to have a State Fair Convention on her Homecoming night. Having a virus and/or missing Homecoming is punishment enough in and of itself. There has been a virus going around. We all know that ballplayers are very susceptible to 'sharing sicknesses' due to the nature of the beast. Girls don't want to miss ballgames! They live for these games. But sometimes, they have to miss. The team as a whole has been through a lot of sickness. So I say, find out if she really is sick, and don't punish her for it. Find a way to let her make it up, just like if a child really does have a school-excused function. As a coach, if a person is smart and works in the school system, that person knows when a kid is really sick, or when a kid really has a school function, or when a kid really did have a close family member to pass on. Like you said, "Use common sense." /flower.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":flower:" border="0" alt="flower.gif" /> Make that child run to make up for the missed game/practice, or make her stay in the weight room an extra 2 hours, or SOMETHING. I have helped coach my own kids, I have coached other people's kids at the elementary and the high school level, and I can guarantee I was smart enough to know if a kid really did have a dentist's appt. 3 different times in the same week, or if she was really just riding around town with her boyfriend. I mean, it simply isn't that hard to figure out who is dedicated to the sport, and who isn't. All the players on my daughter's team are good kids, and they all work hard. They deserve to be recognized for that, and they also deserve to not be punished for fulfilling obligations or for being unlucky enough to catch a virus. They need a mentor to say, "How are you feeling?" or "Hey, good job representing our county. This is what you have to do to make up the absence(s)." Then lay out the rules to make up the absence. A dedicated player will adhere to however many super sevens the coach says, or whatever he says. My daughter knows that the more she runs, the better athlete she becomes, and the more hours in the weight room, the more strength she has under the goal. As far as the trip to Hawaii, well...I'll tell you. As a coach, I would be physically sick if the girl or boy was a valuable player and this was a tournament, but things like this come up. Personally speaking, I'd let the kid go, and I would make him/her promise to send me a postcard. /tongue.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":P" border="0" alt="tongue.gif" /> We aren't guaranteed tomorrow in life, and this might be the kid's only chance in her entire lifetime to go to Hawaii. Some might say, "Yea, but her parents could have planned that trip for summer when ball season was over." Yes, indeed. Maybe they sure could have. But I don't think the KID should be punished for it. Unless he/she makes the decisions in the household, or pays for the trips. Maybe the child had little or no input into when the trip was going to be. Should he/she as a child be punished for the plans and vacations her parents enforce while she is underage? I say no. I had a kid who missed almost 2 weeks of practice this past summer because she was on a trip to Washington D.C. It was a school-related function because she had been elected as our Congress representative. I hated the fact that I couldn't utilize her in practice for that long. The girl was a senior, for crying out loud! But I wished her well on her trip, told her to have a great time, enjoy all the Smithsonian had to offer, and that I would see her when she got back. I was happy for her, and she did in fact have a great time. I wouldn't have wanted her to miss the trip for anything. It was rough without her, but such is life. I'm so glad I did the right thing, and I'm so glad she had the opportunities that she had. Just like I am so glad my daughter spent 3 days at the state convention to accept awards for our county, even though SEVENTIESEAGLE only posted that she was at a stupid pageant and that the team played better without her. Which is not only a complete falsehood, and made people think that it was not SCHOOL-RELATED, or EXCUSED, which it MOST DEFINITELY was, but it was also directly bashing a 17 year old kid! I am not worried about the comment that the team played better without her. Anyone can check the stats and/newspapers and see what a valuable player she is, or just come to one game. Everybody knows she is an excellent athlete. Anyway, thanks for your comment. /roflol.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":roflol:" border="0" alt="roflol.gif" />

Hey, MR. KEITH SEAGRAVES. "NO HARM, NO FOUL?" You are lost. You said, "Punishment over." Then you said, "No harm, no foul." Which is it, Mr. Seagraves? A "PUNISHMENT", or "NO HARM"? You obviously don't realize that punishment IS harm. Bless you. You are looking awfully silly when you continue to contradict YOURSELF. You are right about one thing...my daughter is a wonderful team player and has immense insight into the game. And Keith, I sincerely hope you are not coaching anyone's kids. It is obvious you are narrow-minded, have very little insight into the feelings of young children, and don't care to get on the bandwagon and bash a kid for doing the right thing. What if she were honoring a veteran or a person who has passed away? You don't think she should be excused for any of those things either? Nothing is worth more than a game??? What about bringing a person to Christ? That wouldn't be excused either? Wow, Keith. You really have shed a lot of light on what is important to you in your life. I am sure that your fellow community members already know what you stand for, though. Good luck to you, Keith. I mean that with all sincerity. I won't further debate with you. I am making people see you for your true colors, and that just doesn't feel right, Keith. I feel badly enough for you as it is.

Couldn't help but notice you didn't use your real name either there, Mr. KSGOVOLS. But that's o.k. I'll stand up to my daughter against cowards all day and all night long. This was a STATE event, o.k? You didn't know that it wasn't just a COUNTY event before, so I will let you slide on that one. But now that you know, I would hope that you understand that she had a state and a county obligation to fulfill. I would also like to tell you that she has been playing basketball since the 4th grade, and has missed 4 practices in EIGHT YEARS. She has played sick, she has played with deaths in our family, and she has played her heart out. That is dedication, KSGOVOLS. You also talk about consistency. I will give you a break on that one, too, since you apparently don't know that other girls got to start even though they had missed prior practices due to sickness. You said yourself that your opinion is that there is NO GOOD REASON to miss, and that consistency is the key. NOW what do you have to say? I personally am GLAD that the girls got to start, and that they won. My kid was thrilled, and only hated that she had to miss the game. Who wants to miss their HOMECOMING game on purpose? I always hate it when people comment when they haven't gotten all the facts. Get your facts straight, do some research, THEN post your comments. Oh, and by the way...I could CARE LESS if CHAMIQUE HOLDSCLAW starts or not. I'm not HER mother. Further, I don't care what YOU would do, OR WHO you would start or not start. But thanks for the comments. Keep trying, though. I'm sure you have posted some comments in the PAST that have been accurate, and maybe you will post some in the FUTURE, but you missed the mark TODAY, pal. You obviously don't know my kid, or her team. She has a great team with great friends. She wasn't even upset that she didn't get to start. She was put in after about 3 minutes into the game. She will be fine. I will be fine. I can sleep at night knowing she did the right thing. Others can't say the same, however.

Here is a new concept, Seventieseagle...Act like a brave adult, not a cowardly infant. Use your real name like me. Confront me at one of the games instead of trashing my daughter under a fictitious name. I find it extremely sad that you are trashing a 17 year old girl who represented her county (which was school-excused, by the way, because it is school-related) and can't even speak without using a fake name to hide behind. I see you at every game. You know where I live. My number is in the book. Talk to me about my daughter. I know you won't though, because I know who you are, and I know way more than I want to about you. If you are going to talk about my daughter, tell the whole story. Tell people that she represented her county because it was her obligation. Tell people the truth...that our school has a junior fair board, and 4H Congress, and all of these activities are school-related. Every activity involving these associations have always been school-excused in the office, and you can verify that with the coach, who is the assistant principal. Since it was school-excused, it should have been basketball-excused. It broke her heart to miss Homecoming, but she did what she had to in order to accept COUNTY AWARDS by the Commissioner of Agriculture in Nashville, and represent our county. Our county would have looked pretty stupid if there had been no representative there to do so. An Overton County basketball starter had to miss her game that night also. The only difference was that she was not punished when she got back. The coach congratulated her for doing the right thing, and she started her game when she returned. Don't bash my kid, tell lies and half-truths in order to mislead people, and get them to say negative things about her. She has been the leading scorer in so many games that I have lost track. Just like she was during Friday night's game. Bless your heart. Jealousy makes people do desperate things, apparently. Go ahead, Seventieseagle. Tell the world who is so malicious, who tells lies, and who picks on young children under the guise of a fake name. I'll be waiting.