The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1921-01-06
OMEMEE NEWS

mas Deen given an exceedingly motor
ious Interpretation by an article from
Gardena in the Courant of Dec. 80,
which precipitated an upwarranted
outburst of criticism and insinuations
that r misleading, absurd and unjust
to put it in a mild form.
AS Superintendent .of the Omemee
schools and director Of Athletics &C.
tivities, I may inform the Gardena
contributor and the public, that the
names used in connection with the
basketball teams on one occasion were
not sanctioned by me or members of
the team, but were used thoughtlessly
in connection with advertising another
attraction. The party responsible for
those bills, when criticized for the ac-
ton, voluntarily substituted other bills
as far as possible.
That bit of our own concern was
settled in Omemee-we need no out
side help.
In mentioning the Grand Forks Her.
aid writeup, and the matter Of self
praise, etc., the Gardena contributor
deserves unbounded thanks. The writ
er of this article submitted the modest
facts, and if the editor OF the Herald
saw fit to boost team and town,
it would be exceedingly impolite for
us to critic him for it. In fact we
think he did so we'll that we didn't
remind him that he credited the Ro-
lette girls with winning the game here
which we won by 2O-4. Omemee does
not have to live on self praise. They
are SC busy delivering the goods that
they let others do the talking.
We don't feel directly hurt by the
scandalous article of December 80,
and would pass it by without COM
ment were it not that the public in
general might thotlessly absorb some
of the SANDER. The whole thing is in
consistent and absurd-that is readily
seen by the following explanation.
The author in question unjustly
conceals the fact that he arranged for
a game with our high school team
when he refers to "stunts pulled off
by athletes of your town." Naturally,
he invites prejudice against our high
school team, and tries to reflect dis
credit to theirs; by referring to an
cient athletic history. AS a champion
of clean, high school craftsmanship I
challenge this and other delusive
statements made that allude to foul
play. Let me make it perfectly. plain
right here, that the Omemee high
school basketball team has no "back
porch" to be "swept and scrubbed"
so I shall recommend that the offer of
assistance to go abroad be cancelled
also.
I further object to the discredit ap-
parently given school work in the ala
hi for the losing team "then they are
boys having other work to do besides
going to school and playing basket
ball." But fortunately, only four are
in the above mentioned class, as one
of the players is a regular on the Mi
not Normal team, home on vacation
why not have more facts in the Ease
and show the thing up?
What about the "threats" referred
to? Why should threats be necessary
for a team playing a better than 2
to 1 game on a floor new to them. The
only threat in order, and appropriate
too, would be that we ought to beat
them worse on the home floor. But in
speaking Of threats the author was
a little undiplomatic. A. respectable
person from his town conveyed the
bit of news to US that a certain for
ward who failed to score, promised to
mop the floor" with our Is year old
guard who evidently Inconvenience
said forward considerably for about
40 minutes last week. (Names and
further enlightenment furnished on
request.)
The statement used in connection
with the "threats": Have all your UNI
pires and referees on the ground" is
a subtle confession to those who know
the facts, but to the general public it
indicates that there was a squad of
officials stealing the game. Here are
the facts: The Omeinee high school
Will "SAA1 w 0oAuOAd Wlt11OOt COdC1l,
umpire or referee. Less than IL One
NEE people including the players were
present. They went there to play ball
not to fight. We had faith enough in
our neighbors to place our team at
their mercy, but note the idea present.
ed in the writeup.
l appreciate the fact that the boys
can see a little humor. The course of
instruction" is not a serious matter
at all, as we might be- led to believe.
Let's all see the joke. When the ref
eree's whistle blows, for "held ball"
there occasionally is high tension,
and may not be heard the first time
by all the players. it is usually blown
again. This happened, but a basket
was made in the meantime, and "it
counted" This is new" to our boys
and they were able to take it as a
joke, SO why all the noise.
We feel that an injustice has been
accorded our high school and team
and town in the article in m1estion.