Sportsmanship/Positive Stories/High Road

[BudLytle]

Before we played at Huntington earlier this year, when they called the captains to mid court in the pregame, Huntington’s Elijah McCloskey told them to hold on and ran over past our bench. When he got there, he found his friend who is wheelchair bound and asked him if he wanted to come out with him. So, after he said yes, Elijah led him out for the captain’s meeting.

I’m not sure how many people even saw it, but right then everything that I had heard about Elijah was verified.

He takes David to the captain meeting every time he, David, is able to attend the home games! This pretty much sums up the type of young man that Elijah is! Thanks for noticing and commenting dani!

[Watson45]

Before we played at Huntington earlier this year, when they called the captains to mid court in the pregame, Huntington’s Elijah McCloskey told them to hold on and ran over past our bench. When he got there, he found his friend who is wheelchair bound and asked him if he wanted to come out with him. So, after he said yes, Elijah led him out for the captain’s meeting.

I’m not sure how many people even saw it, but right then everything that I had heard about Elijah was verified.

He takes David to the captain meeting every time he, David, is able to attend the home games! This pretty much sums up the type of young man that Elijah is! Thanks for noticing and commenting dani!

Elijah is an amazing young man. Priviledge to k ow him for so many years.

[Ukfanatic]

Pfloyd, I am honored to call you friend. As a pastor and a basketball junkie, I followed on here and prayed for you having never met you. I couldn’t have picked you out in a lineup. Lol! Doesn’t matter you were my message board friend that was fighting his butt off against a terrible disease. I figured a few extra prayers from Waverly couldn’t hurt. Since then I have been able to meet you in person and talk basketball a few times. I have met many from on here and even though we root for different teams, We are and will be basketball junkie friends for life. If I may I would like to share a quick story. Me and my wife were married in 1996. I have been a basketball fan my entire life. UK to be exact, don’t hold that against me haha. I wanted so badly to have kids, to have a son or daughter I could share my love of the game with. Wasn’t possible according to the doctors. After a few years I had given up hope. Then we heard about adoption. After many miscues we were able to adopt three kids from Haiti. My daughter played 4 years for Waverly and I miss seeing her play. When we got our son Cody he weighed less than 10 pounds at six months old. He was so tiny I could palm him with one hand at six months. He was severely malnutritioned and about to die. We were able to save his life and he has grown up to be a healthy strong young athlete. When my daughter started playing High School I gave up coaching which I dearly loved, to watch her play. I have continued to watch Cody play who is now a senior for Waverly. There have been ups and downs. His sophomore year he shattered his growth plate and missed an entire year. Last year he was able to come back and help lead his team to the district finals. I get so much enjoyment watching my kids play. I know everyone else does as well. God has blessed me! I am eternally grateful he has allowed me to be a part as a coach and as a fan of a game I truly love. Our other son doesn’t care for basketball at all. Lol! I have come to terms with that as well. I am going to enjoy watching Cody finish out his senior year and then I am going to join with Pfloyd and watch the greatest game ever invented in gyms in southeastern Ohio for the rest of my days. God Bless.

[TrueFan]

Let’s here some pertaining to our SE District (feel free to go back in time)

Back in 2012 at Jackson’s senior night we had 6 seniors. Two seniors were mainstay starters from game 1 of their sophomore year. The one senior who was a really good perimeter shooter and solid guard insisted to coach that he would be the senior on the bench, thus allowing the senior that never started would get the appropriate senior starting spot and early playing time. It doesn’t sound like much but I’ve never seen that happen before and when I think of that player....I don’t remember his 500-600 points, I remember his display of kindness that night.

Last season when Washington CH visited Jackson they had a guard and Jackson’s Carson Spohn was told to follow him everywhere, well he did and was well within the rules but also relentless and probably a bit irritating. During a free throw late in the game the Washington player was called over by his coach....and Spohn of course went with him and stood about 9 inches away as coach spoke to the player. Never blinking. The Washington player then grabbed his water bottle, squirted himself a drink and then looked at Spohn and without words offered Spohn a drink. Spohn nodded, Wash player squeezed him a mouthful and they went back to business. Loved that high road he took and everyone on Jackson side that saw it did too.

At Whiteoak they have a special needs kid that everyone loves and he’s always been part of the basketball team since 3rd grade (Friday he was crowned homecoming king)...every now and then he gets an opportunity to play the final portion of the game. Each time I’ve watched his teammates make sure he gets the ball, the opponent does what they should and the referees sometimes miss a little travel...and when it goes in, it’s the only moment everyone in the gym is happy.

Let’s hear some of yours

Not to be picky here, but the post about the WCH player, are we for sure it was a WCH player? I thought it was a Miami Trace player....or did it happen twice? I was thinking it was Cameron Carter from Miami Trace. Seems like he was always doing things like that with other players. He was a great basketball player who enjoyed the competition, but an even better young man.

[se-alum]

Just this passed weekend, all SVC teams and Chillicothe wore Kunkel Strong t-shirts during warmups to support Eli Kunkel, a 2015 Adena Graduate and standout baseball player, who was recently diagnosed with a fatal brain disease(Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease), and is not given much time to live. A great showing of support from the entire area.

[pfloyd]

Pfloyd, I am honored to call you friend. As a pastor and a basketball junkie, I followed on here and prayed for you having never met you. I couldn’t have picked you out in a lineup. Lol! Doesn’t matter you were my message board friend that was fighting his butt off against a terrible disease. I figured a few extra prayers from Waverly couldn’t hurt. Since then I have been able to meet you in person and talk basketball a few times. I have met many from on here and even though we root for different teams, We are and will be basketball junkie friends for life. If I may I would like to share a quick story. Me and my wife were married in 1996. I have been a basketball fan my entire life. UK to be exact, don’t hold that against me haha. I wanted so badly to have kids, to have a son or daughter I could share my love of the game with. Wasn’t possible according to the doctors. After a few years I had given up hope. Then we heard about adoption. After many miscues we were able to adopt three kids from Haiti. My daughter played 4 years for Waverly and I miss seeing her play. When we got our son Cody he weighed less than 10 pounds at six months old. He was so tiny I could palm him with one hand at six months. He was severely malnutritioned and about to die. We were able to save his life and he has grown up to be a healthy strong young athlete. When my daughter started playing High School I gave up coaching which I dearly loved, to watch her play. I have continued to watch Cody play who is now a senior for Waverly. There have been ups and downs. His sophomore year he shattered his growth plate and missed an entire year. Last year he was able to come back and help lead his team to the district finals. I get so much enjoyment watching my kids play. I know everyone else does as well. God has blessed me! I am eternally grateful he has allowed me to be a part as a coach and as a fan of a game I truly love. Our other son doesn’t care for basketball at all. Lol! I have come to terms with that as well. I am going to enjoy watching Cody finish out his senior year and then I am going to join with Pfloyd and watch the greatest game ever invented in gyms in southeastern Ohio for the rest of my days. God Bless.

... thank you UKfanatic - the SEOPs Nation was there when I needed ALL of those prayers - thank you for being one of the many ... great story "my friend" that you have shared about Cody , his brother & sister ... you gave those children life AND "a life" ... looking forward to having you in the Cheap Seats next year ! ... you will never regret getting out and seeing ALL of the outstanding hoops in SE Ohio , along with meeting some of the best peoples anywhere who also happen to love the game of high school basketball ...

[pfloyd]

Just this passed weekend, all SVC teams and Chillicothe wore Kunkel Strong t-shirts during warmups to support Eli Kunkel, a 2015 Adena Graduate and standout baseball player, who was recently diagnosed with a fatal brain disease(Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease), and is not given much time to live. A great showing of support from the entire area.

... Chillicothe and Washington CH both wore the t-shirts during warm-ups , the players on the benches kept them on during the game as well ... our prayers are with Eli & his family ...

[Ironman92]

Pfloyd, I am honored to call you friend. As a pastor and a basketball junkie, I followed on here and prayed for you having never met you. I couldn’t have picked you out in a lineup. Lol! Doesn’t matter you were my message board friend that was fighting his butt off against a terrible disease. I figured a few extra prayers from Waverly couldn’t hurt. Since then I have been able to meet you in person and talk basketball a few times. I have met many from on here and even though we root for different teams, We are and will be basketball junkie friends for life. If I may I would like to share a quick story. Me and my wife were married in 1996. I have been a basketball fan my entire life. UK to be exact, don’t hold that against me haha. I wanted so badly to have kids, to have a son or daughter I could share my love of the game with. Wasn’t possible according to the doctors. After a few years I had given up hope. Then we heard about adoption. After many miscues we were able to adopt three kids from Haiti. My daughter played 4 years for Waverly and I miss seeing her play. When we got our son Cody he weighed less than 10 pounds at six months old. He was so tiny I could palm him with one hand at six months. He was severely malnutritioned and about to die. We were able to save his life and he has grown up to be a healthy strong young athlete. When my daughter started playing High School I gave up coaching which I dearly loved, to watch her play. I have continued to watch Cody play who is now a senior for Waverly. There have been ups and downs. His sophomore year he shattered his growth plate and missed an entire year. Last year he was able to come back and help lead his team to the district finals. I get so much enjoyment watching my kids play. I know everyone else does as well. God has blessed me! I am eternally grateful he has allowed me to be a part as a coach and as a fan of a game I truly love. Our other son doesn’t care for basketball at all. Lol! I have come to terms with that as well. I am going to enjoy watching Cody finish out his senior year and then I am going to join with Pfloyd and watch the greatest game ever invented in gyms in southeastern Ohio for the rest of my days. God Bless.

Already a fan of your son, now even more so

[Ironman92]

Let’s here some pertaining to our SE District (feel free to go back in time)

Back in 2012 at Jackson’s senior night we had 6 seniors. Two seniors were mainstay starters from game 1 of their sophomore year. The one senior who was a really good perimeter shooter and solid guard insisted to coach that he would be the senior on the bench, thus allowing the senior that never started would get the appropriate senior starting spot and early playing time. It doesn’t sound like much but I’ve never seen that happen before and when I think of that player....I don’t remember his 500-600 points, I remember his display of kindness that night.

Last season when Washington CH visited Jackson they had a guard and Jackson’s Carson Spohn was told to follow him everywhere, well he did and was well within the rules but also relentless and probably a bit irritating. During a free throw late in the game the Washington player was called over by his coach....and Spohn of course went with him and stood about 9 inches away as coach spoke to the player. Never blinking. The Washington player then grabbed his water bottle, squirted himself a drink and then looked at Spohn and without words offered Spohn a drink. Spohn nodded, Wash player squeezed him a mouthful and they went back to business. Loved that high road he took and everyone on Jackson side that saw it did too.

At Whiteoak they have a special needs kid that everyone loves and he’s always been part of the basketball team since 3rd grade (Friday he was crowned homecoming king)...every now and then he gets an opportunity to play the final portion of the game. Each time I’ve watched his teammates make sure he gets the ball, the opponent does what they should and the referees sometimes miss a little travel...and when it goes in, it’s the only moment everyone in the gym is happy.

Let’s hear some of yours

Not to be picky here, but the post about the WCH player, are we for sure it was a WCH player? I thought it was a Miami Trace player....or did it happen twice? I was thinking it was Cameron Carter from Miami Trace. Seems like he was always doing things like that with other players. He was a great basketball player who enjoyed the competition, but an even better young man.

You know...maybe it was MT. I bet you are right. I’ll check and edit.

[Ironman92]

Let’s here some pertaining to our SE District (feel free to go back in time)

Back in 2012 at Jackson’s senior night we had 6 seniors. Two seniors were mainstay starters from game 1 of their sophomore year. The one senior who was a really good perimeter shooter and solid guard insisted to coach that he would be the senior on the bench, thus allowing the senior that never started would get the appropriate senior starting spot and early playing time. It doesn’t sound like much but I’ve never seen that happen before and when I think of that player....I don’t remember his 500-600 points, I remember his display of kindness that night.

Last season when Washington CH visited Jackson they had a guard and Jackson’s Carson Spohn was told to follow him everywhere, well he did and was well within the rules but also relentless and probably a bit irritating. During a free throw late in the game the Washington player was called over by his coach....and Spohn of course went with him and stood about 9 inches away as coach spoke to the player. Never blinking. The Washington player then grabbed his water bottle, squirted himself a drink and then looked at Spohn and without words offered Spohn a drink. Spohn nodded, Wash player squeezed him a mouthful and they went back to business. Loved that high road he took and everyone on Jackson side that saw it did too.

At Whiteoak they have a special needs kid that everyone loves and he’s always been part of the basketball team since 3rd grade (Friday he was crowned homecoming king)...every now and then he gets an opportunity to play the final portion of the game. Each time I’ve watched his teammates make sure he gets the ball, the opponent does what they should and the referees sometimes miss a little travel...and when it goes in, it’s the only moment everyone in the gym is happy.

Let’s hear some of yours

Not to be picky here, but the post about the WCH player, are we for sure it was a WCH player? I thought it was a Miami Trace player....or did it happen twice? I was thinking it was Cameron Carter from Miami Trace. Seems like he was always doing things like that with other players. He was a great basketball player who enjoyed the competition, but an even better young man.

Just found it buried on page 9...you are correct it was MT and I didn’t label the name but assume it was Carter. I’ll edit the original. Thanks for the correction.

[TrueFan]

Let’s here some pertaining to our SE District (feel free to go back in time)

Back in 2012 at Jackson’s senior night we had 6 seniors. Two seniors were mainstay starters from game 1 of their sophomore year. The one senior who was a really good perimeter shooter and solid guard insisted to coach that he would be the senior on the bench, thus allowing the senior that never started would get the appropriate senior starting spot and early playing time. It doesn’t sound like much but I’ve never seen that happen before and when I think of that player....I don’t remember his 500-600 points, I remember his display of kindness that night.

Last season when Washington CH visited Jackson they had a guard and Jackson’s Carson Spohn was told to follow him everywhere, well he did and was well within the rules but also relentless and probably a bit irritating. During a free throw late in the game the Washington player was called over by his coach....and Spohn of course went with him and stood about 9 inches away as coach spoke to the player. Never blinking. The Washington player then grabbed his water bottle, squirted himself a drink and then looked at Spohn and without words offered Spohn a drink. Spohn nodded, Wash player squeezed him a mouthful and they went back to business. Loved that high road he took and everyone on Jackson side that saw it did too.

At Whiteoak they have a special needs kid that everyone loves and he’s always been part of the basketball team since 3rd grade (Friday he was crowned homecoming king)...every now and then he gets an opportunity to play the final portion of the game. Each time I’ve watched his teammates make sure he gets the ball, the opponent does what they should and the referees sometimes miss a little travel...and when it goes in, it’s the only moment everyone in the gym is happy.

Let’s hear some of yours

Not to be picky here, but the post about the WCH player, are we for sure it was a WCH player? I thought it was a Miami Trace player....or did it happen twice? I was thinking it was Cameron Carter from Miami Trace. Seems like he was always doing things like that with other players. He was a great basketball player who enjoyed the competition, but an even better young man.

Just found it buried on page 9...you are correct it was MT and I didn’t label the name but assume it was Carter. I’ll edit the original. Thanks for the correction.

No problem. Wasn't trying to nitpick either, so hope it wasn't taken that way. Was just curious if it had happened with WCH too, as I thought I remembered it with Carter and MT.

[Ironman92]

Not to be picky here, but the post about the WCH player, are we for sure it was a WCH player? I thought it was a Miami Trace player....or did it happen twice? I was thinking it was Cameron Carter from Miami Trace. Seems like he was always doing things like that with other players. He was a great basketball player who enjoyed the competition, but an even better young man.

Just found it buried on page 9...you are correct it was MT and I didn’t label the name but assume it was Carter. I’ll edit the original. Thanks for the correction.

No problem. Wasn't trying to nitpick either, so hope it wasn't taken that way. Was just curious if it had happened with WCH too, as I thought I remembered it with Carter and MT.

I just flat out misremembered lol

[countywide35]

Great stuff and awesome read !

[mattash]

Pfloyd, I am honored to call you friend. As a pastor and a basketball junkie, I followed on here and prayed for you having never met you. I couldn’t have picked you out in a lineup. Lol! Doesn’t matter you were my message board friend that was fighting his butt off against a terrible disease. I figured a few extra prayers from Waverly couldn’t hurt. Since then I have been able to meet you in person and talk basketball a few times. I have met many from on here and even though we root for different teams, We are and will be basketball junkie friends for life. If I may I would like to share a quick story. Me and my wife were married in 1996. I have been a basketball fan my entire life. UK to be exact, don’t hold that against me haha. I wanted so badly to have kids, to have a son or daughter I could share my love of the game with. Wasn’t possible according to the doctors. After a few years I had given up hope. Then we heard about adoption. After many miscues we were able to adopt three kids from Haiti. My daughter played 4 years for Waverly and I miss seeing her play. When we got our son Cody he weighed less than 10 pounds at six months old. He was so tiny I could palm him with one hand at six months. He was severely malnutritioned and about to die. We were able to save his life and he has grown up to be a healthy strong young athlete. When my daughter started playing High School I gave up coaching which I dearly loved, to watch her play. I have continued to watch Cody play who is now a senior for Waverly. There have been ups and downs. His sophomore year he shattered his growth plate and missed an entire year. Last year he was able to come back and help lead his team to the district finals. I get so much enjoyment watching my kids play. I know everyone else does as well. God has blessed me! I am eternally grateful he has allowed me to be a part as a coach and as a fan of a game I truly love. Our other son doesn’t care for basketball at all. Lol! I have come to terms with that as well. I am going to enjoy watching Cody finish out his senior year and then I am going to join with Pfloyd and watch the greatest game ever invented in gyms in southeastern Ohio for the rest of my days. God Bless.

Another great story... I do hold being a UK fan against you though. Jk

[Ukfanatic]

Matt join the crowd. Most of my friends do. Goes with the territory!

[Ukfanatic]

Thanks Ironman92. He is a good kid. He just preached his first sermon in January. Taking after the old man I guess!

[Ironman92]

Thanks Ironman92. He is a good kid. He just preached his first sermon in January. Taking after the old man I guess!

Oh wow! I bet he’d get along great with my kid. They sound similar

[Ukfanatic]

Hopefully we will be at some track meets together this year

[Ironman92]

Hopefully we will be at some track meets together this year

Definitely a few

[burgfella69]

This happened to me, a couple of years ago while attending a Warren game at the Warrior Dome ... a little background - I had been diagnosed with Stage 4 Melanoma Cancer back in 2010 ... I had battled for 6 years - many treatments, hospital stays at the James, surgeries ... back in 2016, they had found something more in my January scan ... they wanted me back for another scan in March ... between the January CT scans and the March CT scans I was doing what I have done for 19 years - go to high school basketball games/reporting on high school basketball games ... the act of kindness/selflessness that took place at/after the Warren vs Athens game that night - a greater act of sportsmanship/kindness by a Coaching staff/basketball team I have never known - will ALWAYS remember that night for as long as I live ... here's my post from after the game :

... it's not a secret - pfloyd is a big fan of the Warren Warriors - have been for 15 years or so ... Coach Maddox and I both taught at Logan High School in the same department before Coach Maddox took his coaching/teaching talents to Warren Local - Logan's loss for sure ... we have been friends forever it seems ... I have always had great respect for Coach Maddox as a person, a teacher and a friend for 30 years - tonight , after the Warren , Athens game Coach Maddox & his staff only solidified that respect ...

... I always try to at least say hello to Coach Maddox whenever I'm at the Warrior Dome - it's what friends do ... I did so tonight as well - we talked hoops - I gave him the scoop on Fairfield Union & the transfer PG , Blane yelled at me for NOT letting him know I was in the gym for the Parkersburg game Tuesday night ... i returned to my cheap seat location ... as the game progressed through the first half ... Blane's wife Sally who was sitting in front of me , returned to her seat and told me that Coach Maddox wanted to see me following the game - win or lose ... okay ... the game got into the 4th quarter ... it got a little chippy when a couple of Athens players took down a Warren player - 2 Warren technicals were called one on a player who simply said what EVERYONE in the gym said when he saw how hard the tackle was of his teammate = technical #1 ... Coach Maddox had a few words with an official = technical #2 ... the game continued , Warren pushed out to nearly a 20 point lead ... with 30 seconds or so left in the game I'm writing down Napkin Stats and I hear Coach Maddox yelling my name from the bench !!! for a second I thought " Coach ! I don't have any eligibility left !" ... I told the folks around me " he wants to yell at me and blame the technical on me - I didn't say anything Coach Maddox !!!" ... he yells for me to go to the Warren locker room after the game ... ??????

I walked into the locker room the Warriors , Coach Maddox & coaching staff celebrating the "W" over Athens ... I then heard Coach Maddox introduce me to the team, he introduced me as his long time friend, that the players know me by my internet/seops name but he knows me as Mike ... he informed the players that I was battling cancer again ... asked them if they would join hands with him, me and the coaching staff to pray for me, pfloyd ... he asked me if that would be alright ... right there in the locker room , where but seconds before the Warriors were celebrating ... Coach Maddox explained to his young men that he KNEW that with his, his players prayers I could beat cancer ... I had tears in my eyes the whole time as Coach Jack Colgrove - with the entire Warrior family holding hands in a circle with pfloyd - led the team in praying for pfloyd ...

... players who had just worked their butts off on the floor for 32 minutes were now learning a life lesson from Coach Maddox ... that basketball as important to them at that time is what it is - a game ... that there are things bigger and more important than basketball ... Coach mentioned that the kids themselves knew of family/friends who were affected by cancer ... not too many dry eyes in that locker room ... it was my pleasure to shake those kids hands after the "Amen" in unison ... I thanked them all ...

... I just want to thank Coach Maddox, Coach Mitchem, Coach Coffman, Coach Colgrove and every single one of those Warren players for giving this old man, pfloyd , a memory that I will take with me forever ... I WILL beat this terrible disease ... cancer has no chance - I have the Big Bad Blue fighting for me ! ... Life IS worth Living ... #livinglifeonMYterms

pfloyd ...

man... stop cutting onions in here
truly incredible story