Hoover High faces fines, probation for thrown punch
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Hoover High faces fines, probation for sucker...
Hoover High school will be fined, placed on one year probation and a student will be suspended five games of the next season.
AP
HOOVER, Ala.—Late Tuesday afternoon, the Alabama High School Athletic Association issued its punishment for Hoover High School and one of its players after he threw a punch during a playoff game.
It happened when Hoover and Spain Park faced off in the first round of playoffs at Oak Mountain High School last Friday. It’s a game Spain Park won over Hoover, but not before a player had to be restrained by coaches and other players.
It was late in the fourth quarter of this playoff game between Spain Park and Hoover High schools. Hoover had the ball. Spain Park attempted the steal. As the ball changed hands, a Hoover player pushes a Spain Park player twice, knocking him to the ground, and when he turns around, it appears he slugs another Spain Park player.
Hoover City Schools’ Jason Gaston said, “The coaches intervened. As I understand it a sheriff’s deputy was on hand, an SRO who also quickly came to the court and tried to look into what was happening.“
Also in the video, a Spain Park player raises his hands, firing up the Spain Park crowd and chest bumps someone from the crowd. We’re told the incident started quickly and ended quickly. But by then the damage was done. Late this afternoon the Alabama High School Athletic Association delivered its report to the district:
Hoover has been fine $4,800 and placed on one-year probation.
The student involved will be suspended from the first five games of the next season.
Gaston said, “This is not unlike other things we have seen at other high schools in the region or even across the country. We’ve seen stuff like this before, tensions run high, adrenaline’s pumping with people out on the court but at the end of the day there is no excuse for a lack of sportsmanship.“
Six players were ejected from Friday’s game. Hoover can reduce its fine to $3,400 dollars if ejected players take an online behavioral modification class.
Due to confidentiality, the school district isn’t saying if or how, players were punished for their behavior during Friday’s basketball game.
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Reader Reactions
My problem with Hoover High admin is:
1) After the minimal AHSAA sanctions, HH admin ‘closed’ the incident without any more action. HH admin failed to enforce their own basic policies which apply to ALL STUDENTS. If ANY HH student had done what #23 did on any School property, or at ANY school event, he would be either expelled, sent to Crossroads for a long time, suspended from all school activies, etc.
2) The HH spokesman referred to the incident as a ‘lack of sportsmanship’. No, not shaking hands is a lack of sportsmanship, what #23 did is assualt.
3) There is a rumor propagated by many/most HH students and some fans that #23 was provoked/justified by SP player(s) using the ‘N’ word. IMO the video indicates that’s a lie, and neither the game officials (who were right there), nor the AHSAA or any HH officials sanctioned SP for anything.
This is literally adding insult to injury for SP. I think if there is no reliable proof, that HH admin should make a statement that #23 was unprovoked and would have had addl penalties form the school.
There is a long history of the perception that HH’s sports programs are out of control (remember MTV ‘Two a Days’), and it’s star atheletes receive special treatment.
IMO HH admin needs to repair the bad feelings lingering from this incident between SP and HH students/fans, as it appears that HH wasn’t going to apply it’s own student policies/penalties against their star, and in any case HH should refute this ‘N’ word story.
It would clear the air.
ok so then what do you suggest the school does to #23?? You are complaining about how they did not send him to cross roads or suspend him…He doesnt even live in Alabama anymore..There is nothing they can do…He obviously did the wrong thing but the school had no idea he was going to slug somebody…The true test would be to see how the school dealt with it but they cant…and to say that the spain park fans showed restraint is completely ignorant..A SP ran over and tried to pump up the crowd and a student even ran out onto the court celebrated a fight…Thats definately not the right thing to do but neither is slugging somebody in the face…You guys just need to stop attacking the school officials for not punishing someone who lives in georgia..
jonsing
I believe you are repeating a self-serving, unsupported, poisonous, and malicious rumor.
Look at the full video on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BodXuSjeSw
After losing the ball, #23 assaulted the first Spain Park player with 2 separate blows to the head FROM BEHIND. There was no opportunity for any n-word there.
The second assault was the sucker punch, on another defenseless SP player, RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE ALERTED OFFICIALs, A COUPLE FEET from, in earshot and full view of the Hoover bench and perhaps 200 fans.
Yet no SP player was assessed a T, or censure for any provocation, either by game officials, or later by AHSAA, school officials. So how can any provocation have occurred?
After his thuggishly assualts, #23 was outraged by a weak shove in in the back as he sauntered off? This guy has some dangerous loose screws, and is a very bad guy.
#23 just later scurrilously lied and played the RACE CARD, further showing his arrogance and guilt.
Regardless of whether #23 is gone now, the scandal here is the weak penalties by the AHSAA, the lack of additional action/penalties, and the special treatment and protection of their sports star by the Hoover School administration.
Any other student in the Hoover system who committed assaults like what #23 did on school grounds or at ANY school activity would have been sent to Crossroads, and banned from school activities, especially high school sports.
The Hoover administration has badly damaged it’s credibility and integrity, and also failed to address/refute #23’s baseless and scurrilous N-word lies.
There are VERY BAD feelings remaining from this incident, on both the SP and Hoover side.
The SP players and fans exhibited truly admirable restraint; what #23 did could have resulted in a big riot. However, such restraint is based on the belief that authorities will fairly address the situation, and penalize the guilty. Without that belief, people feel compelled to defend themselves, or they are just punching bags.
And to add insult to injury (literally), SP has to endure unfounded (and IMO false) malicious provocation rumors.
Hoover Administration needs to address and repair this, by investigating and either confirming or denying the poisonous N-word rumors. If concrete proof of unbearable Spain Park provocation is found, the guilty SP players should be censured.
However, if #23s charge is unsupported, the rumors should be denied, condemned, and exposed as lies, and Hoover Admin should make clear what penalties #23 should have gotten.
You people dont even know what you are talking about. First of all, it was not unprovoked. The Spain Park player called him the “N” word. That doesnt excuse him by any means but it was provoked for your information. Second of all, the player moved to atlanta a few days after the inccident. Therefore, the school and the state had no way of doing anything to him. Maybe the police, but not the school. So before you start attacking the school you need to know what you are talking about. And the $4000 fine isnt just another meaningless fine. Money doesnt grow on trees here. Hoover is making budget cuts too and that definately hurts us. So all of you people need to stop attacking Hoover High School and go worry about something else.
How is this punk not in Jail? Where is the Hoover Police Dept on this. A life time ban is the least that should come from this.
Shame on you Hoover. Treat all students the same, instead of giving your star athletes special and preferential treatment.
By the way… were not any real life charges filed with the Hoover police department?
Who is this fool trying to spin 2 unprovoked assaults by the Hoover #23 as a common ‘lack of sportsmanship’?
There is an excellent video on YouTube of the complete events/assaults here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BodXuSjeSw
#23 Booker should have been barred from participating in ANY further high school athletics.
How would you feel if your son was one of those assaulted by Booker, or about your son playing against Hoover/Booker next year?
Hoover can (and should) levy additional suspensions and penalties beyond what AHSAA minimum.
I hope the media does not allow this Hoover/AHSAA scandalous travesty of justice to continue.
with the budget cut, the $4,800 fine will be money wasted because of one unprofessional basketball player. As a tax payer, I am upset and i suggest Hoover High expel that student from the team. A player like him is an insult and disgrace to a civil society and to Hoover.
I watched the 2/6 Spain Park-Hoover area tournament game played at Oak Mountain, including the ugliest and most dangerous display I’ve witnessed in over 40 years of watching High School sports.
Hoover #23 (Booker) committed at least two acts of assault & battery in a crowded auditorium, including a sucker punch, ALL CAUGHT ON HD VIDEO.
I believe the 5 game ‘suspension’ of Booker is a scandalous travesty of justice, as I suspect the over 21,600 viewers of the youtube video agree.
Booker is suspended next year from 5 meaningless, basically pre-season games, and a meaningless early season tournament. Hoover, the richest school in the state pays a meaningless fine.
Booker, who would be Hoover’s best player next year, received no suspension from any Area (e.g. meaningful) games; less than a slap on the wrist, and shameful.
We both know that any similar action by another athlete at another school, or even such an action by an ordinary student at ANY SCHOOL ACTIVITY would result in severe discipline, including suspension from ANY SCHOOL ACTIVIES, sent to CrossRoads, etc.
Booker should have been barred from participating in ANY further high school athletics.
What AHSAA and Hoover did here has lowered the standard for conduct, invites additional such occurrences, reinforces the idea that Hoover and it’s athletes receives special treatment, and failed to adequately punish and discipline a dangerous thug.
How would you feel if your son was one of those assaulted by Booker, or about your son playing against Hoover/Booker next year?
Hoover can (and should) levy additional suspensions and penalties beyond the AHSAA minimum required.
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