Banquet leftovers

I've gotten a few responses from my recent blog about the athletic banquet. Like I said, this was a difficult year as the early date made for an almost impossible selection process for the best athletes.
I don't think I ever seriously considered not doing the event. But, after hearing a few responses, I do feel like the positives out-weigh the negatives.
The community takes this event pretty seriously. I suppose that's a good thing.
For every happy winner, there were three or four nominees who were not happy with the results. Let me give you two names - Smackover softball players Maggie Butterfield and Sarah Poff.
These two girls were nominated every year since they were freshmen. They never got the award but they always showed up, always smiled for the photo and were always gracious. Personally, I thought Maggie could've won the softball award one year. If I thought she could've won it, I know she probably thought she could've won it.
Congratulations to both of these young ladies for being one of the best in the county for all four years. I wish I had a big trophy to give them. They are the reason I wanted to start doing this banquet.
I wanted kids to feel like it was an honor to be invited. Honestly, it's not about the winner. In a lot of cases, all five nominees have a legitimate case for winning. To be nominated four times and never win was probably a little disappointing for these girls.
If it was, they never showed it. They showed up every year with smiles on their faces. Maggie and Sarah never won Softball Player of the Year. If I had an award for best careers, they've definitely earned it.
As for the banquet, we'll work on moving it later in the month. It will probably conflict with someone's prom or graduation. Unfortunately, that's just the way it goes.
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Like I said, there were some disappointed student athletes after the banquet. One in particular made the statement that they didn't win the award because they were the wrong color.
The person who said this is black. Last time I checked, two thirds of the News-Times sports staff is black, including yours truly.
Pardon my language but how in the hell do you play the race card with people who are the same dadgum race as yourself?
Are you freakin' kiddin' me?
Geez!!!