A nice change from the arrests, roids, etc sports stories out there.

[cobalt1999]

sports.espn.go.com/highschool/rise/basketball/boys/news/story?id=3914375

Team's gesture supports grieving opponent

Two missed free throws, ordinarily the cause of a coach's headache, became the symbol of sportsmanship in a Milwaukee boys basketball game earlier this month.

Milwaukee Madison senior Johntell Franklin, who lost his mother, Carlitha, to cancer on Saturday, Feb. 7, decided he wanted to play in that night's game against DeKalb (Ill.) High School after previously indicating he would sit out.

He arrived at the gym in the second quarter, but Franklin's name was not in the scorebook because his coach, Aaron Womack Jr., didn't expect him to be there.

Rules dictated Womack would have to be assessed a technical, but he was prepared to put Franklin in the game anyway. DeKalb coach Dave Rohlman and his players knew of the situation, and told the referees they did not want the call.

As a principal, school, school district staff, and community you should all feel immense pride for the remarkable job that the coaching staff is doing in not only coaching these young men, but teaching them how to be leaders.

The referees had no choice. But Rohlman did.

"I gathered my kids and said, 'Who wants to take these free throws?'" Rohlman said, recounting the game to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "Darius McNeal put up his hand. I said, 'You realize you're going to miss, right?' He nodded his head."

<snip>

Sportsmanship isn't dead yet.

[Condem]

1. Nice post, Cobalt.

[madinmaryland]

2. That's a great story. Wish I could recommend it.

:hi:

[joeybee12]

3. Very nice story indeed...n/t

[ecstatic]

4. Madison ended up winning 62-47... Darius showed true

sportsmanship, but it kind of seems like his team ended up being robbed. I think the game should be forfeited.

[rockymountaindem]

5. Well, two points wouldn't have made much difference in that case then n/t

[ecstatic]

6. True, but at the risk of getting flamed

They probably took it easy on the player who returned to the game.