Story stirs reaction

MEDORA — Although some in this Jackson County town may have viewed a recent article about the struggles of the boys high school basketball team in The New York Times as being a negative, the article has provoked some good.

“Our coach thought it was going to be an article about our kids and how hard they work,” Superintendent John Reed told trustees during a meeting of the school board Monday night at the school.

Reed said the article, which appeared in The New York Times on Nov. 27, did not turn out as coach Marty Young expected, and Young was disappointed.

“There were some unexpected positive results from the article,” said Reed, who also said he was disappointed in the way the article portrayed the team and school.

Reed said the school’s athletic department, especially the boys basketball team, has received more than $8,000 in donations from people across the country in response to the story.

The school also has received offers to purchase shoes, uniforms, warm-ups and practice jerseys for both the boys and girls teams as well as offers of meals for the players.

Members of the boys team are going to be given autographed copies of an autobiography of Larry Bird, and others have offered to donate inspirational-type books and other books.

Reed said some television networks also have contacted him, including ESPN, and one in Atlanta, where a Medora graduate now works. Reed asked trustees how to handle those requests as well as donations.

Reed said he was worried about giving people the wrong ideas about the school and would like to be able to review any potential television reports about the school and the sports program.

Trustees eventually voted to accept the donations and told Reed to review some of the requests from television stations before dismissing them outright.

The article, written by John Branch, provoked a strong reaction from at least one board member.

“I was angry about it,” Trustee Joe Campbell said.

Campbell added he knew the article angered many in the community.

After the meeting, board President Darrell Persinger said he also was initially angry about the article, but after reading some of the responses on the newspaper’s Web site to the article, and communicating by e-mail with Branch, he has softened his initial thoughts about it.

“He told me he was trying to write an article about a team that hasn’t won a lot and why,” said Persinger, who grew up in Medora. He added he understood the initial reaction of many in the community to the article.

The story explained that Medora was one of several high school basketball teams that failed to notch a win last season, when the Hornets went 0-21.

The squad recently defeated Tabernacle Christian of Martinsville, 45-44, and stands 1-5 on the season this year.

The article also focused on the tough economic times confronting the community and social issues facing student-athletes.