Ozen - La Marque Brawl

[clearwall]

I am currently counting to 10 before I send an email to the whole Houston Chapter to organize a boycott of good ole Beaumont ISD.  I have seen the HUDL film (the cameras were not running during either fight) the crew did a great job.  Assigning the blame to us is bush league.

I will sign my name to anything that you send that includes a statement of that nature. That is complete BS to be blaming officials for something the GAME ADMINISTRATOR AND COACHES is responsible for. Show me where in the rulebook it states the the official is responsible for preventing fights? Coby, you're right on...freaking bush league there.

[george7244]

ozen needs to rename their teat the saints .  l looked at the photos closely and did not see any halos above the ozen players heads.  must be my old eyesight.

[george7244]

 my bad that is supposed to be team and not teat.

[mishatx]

On Saturday during the football game in the fourth quarter the outside receiver (#9) for La Marque positioned on the right side of the La Marque offense after the play was over in a violent way pushed the left cornerback for Ozen.

Holy moly, that's one poorly written sentence. 

[BankerRef]

From BISD:

To: All Concerned

From: Rodney Saveat, BISD Athletic Director

Subject: LaMarque vs. Ozen Football Postgame Incident

Date: November 29, 2011

Attachments - memos from Coach Nelson and Mr. Jackson

The following report completes my investigation regarding the postgame regional playoff contest on Saturday, November 26, 2011 at Baytown Stallworth Stadium where an altercation occurred between the Beaumont Ozen and LaMarque football teams. After an examination of all the resources available to me at this time, including, but not limited to interviews with Ozen Head Coach Jeff Nelson and his coaching staff who were present at the time of the incident; interviews with the Ozen football team; a telephone discussion with the secretary of the Houston Football Officials Chapter; written eyewitness statements from administrators on duty; careful review and analysis of video footage and photos, I find the following:

1. From start to finish, the game was not effectively controlled by the officials responsible for calling the game. As the head athletic administrator on duty, present on the sideline throughout the entire contest, I was witness to various degrees of unsportsmanlike conduct (verbal taunting, late hits after the whistle, etc.). This inappropriate conduct by LaMarque players started in pregame warm-ups and never addressed by the officiating crew.

2. The lack of controlling the unsportsmanlike conduct early on likely contributed to an incident that took place in the 4th quarter. It involved a LaMarque player punching an Ozen player. This action occurred on the Ozen sideline after the LaMarque player was forced out of bounds. [the incident is described in further detail in the attached statements/reports]. Ozen coaches immediately intervened to ensure there was no retaliation for the opposing players' actions and to ensure the situation did not further escalate. Within a few seconds, however, more than two dozen LaMarque players cleared their bench/sideline area and charged some 50 yards across the field to the Ozen sideline where they engaged in a verbal and physical confrontation with the Ozen players and personnel [see also attached photos]. The two teams were eventually separated and the LaMarque players were returned to their sideline area. The game was briefly delayed as the officials ejected one of the LaMarque players and assessed a penalty to another. However, the official never fully addressed the bench-clearing act by the LaMarque team. The remaining minutes of the final quarter were played without further physical incident, although some taunting between the teams still continued. I, along with the other coaches on the Ozen sideline, instructed our students to remain focused on the game and to not engage in or pay attention to the negative comments.

3. Since there were no further incidents, at the conclusion of the game, both teams lined up to shake hands as a gesture of good sportsmanship. I, as the athletic director, along with the Ozen coaching staff, other BISD administrators and district police officers, lined up with the Ozen players to make sure the student-athletes shook their opponents' hands and monitored the exchange closely to ensure there was no incident while doing so. LaMarque players lined up as well, but did not have the same level of supervision by their coaching staff or administrators while moving through the line. Despite this, both teams moved through the line and shook hands successfully.

4. At the conclusion of the handshake, LaMarque players appeared to have not been instructed properly on which direction they should precede to exit the field. As such, many of the LaMarque players began crossing through the line of the Ozen players. Shortly thereafter, the unfortunate altercations between the two teams ensued. While it is yet to be determined, who initiated the first contact, several players from both teams began trading physical blows. The coaching staff and administrators on the field from both schools worked to take charge of the situation. Due to helmets being swung which could have caused serious injury and other acts of violence, police officers moved into place to assist in physically restraining players. Some police discharged pepper spray to help regain control. Athletes, coaches and administrators alike were doused with the spray in an effort to break up the incident and get the students off the field. No fans, parents or spectators were on the field.

5. This was an extremely unfortunate incident to occur and it is regretful that any of our student-athletes were involved in the situation. Certainly, these actions are not representative of "who we are" or what our athletic programs are about at Ozen High School or in the Beaumont Independent School District.

6. Our student-athletes are recognized representatives of their school as well as the district and are charged with the responsibility to demonstrate the highest levels of character at all times. Many of the players made a good choice and did not get involved in the incident. Those players who lacked proper judgment and chose to participate in acts of misconduct will be held accountable for their actions. Based upon their degree of involvement, students will receive school-based disciplinary action in accordance with district policy along with counseling to better equip them with the skills and knowledge necessary to prevent future incidents.

7. Further, all district coaching staffs and student-athletes will receive resources and guidance on how to properly handle contentious situations in regard to their roles, rights and responsibilities.

Thank you for your time in reviewing this report.

1.  Blame someone else
2.  Blame someone else
3.  Blame someone else
4.  Blame someone else
5.  This isn't like us
6.  Admission??? of some responsibility

With this kind of statement from the AD it's no wonder the kids behave the way they do.  They clearly aren't fully responsible for their own actions when things don't go their way.  All they learn from this statement is how to point fingers and make excuses. 

[Arbitrator]

1.  Blame someone else
2.  Blame someone else
3.  Blame someone else
4.  Blame someone else
5.  This isn't like us
6.  Admission??? of some responsibility

With this kind of statement from the AD it's no wonder the kids behave the way they do.  They clearly aren't fully responsible for their own actions when things don't go their way.  All they learn from this statement is how to point fingers and make excuses.

 

Totally in agreement! What the BISD is richly engaging in is to teach its players/students that no matter what happens, you are not charged with taking responsibility of any kind. In essence, "it's never your fault!" While I heartily applaud Coach Jackson of LaMarque for the stance that he has taken, I know that there will, at least, be some internal justice meted out on his players who indeed crossed the line.

By the BISD AD's and Ozen's HC's remarks to the press, their players were simply just this side of sainthood. And those little darlings that they coach will now go through life thinking that they can absolutely do no wrong. That if there's no plausible explanation, we can just blame the officials. And until they have an attitude adjustment over there starting with the AD on down, I couldn't blame Houston officials from staying away from that riff-raff. Let BISD go get their officials from Abilene, Permian Basin, San Angelo, or El Paso for a season or two; and then see if their athletic budget doesn't take a serious hit!

BISD: It's a hell of a lot easier and cheaper to try instilling some discipline in your kids: much the same way that the BISD Superintendent needs to instill a little bit in his chosen AD!   

[TXMike]

http://www.khou.com/home/UIL-investigates-football-brawl-between-La-Marque-and-Ozen-134795398.html


by Gabe Gutierrez / KHOU 11 News
 
khou.com

LA MARQUE, Texas—The University Interscholastic League, which governs high school sports in Texas, is looking into the brawl that erupted at the end of Saturday’s football game between La Marque High School and Beaumont’s Ozen High School.
 
Photos taken by The Beaumont Enterprise show a chaotic scene at Stallworth Stadium in Baytown. At one point, coaches and police physically subdued players. Some officers used pepper spray.
 
“It was kind of chaotic,” said La Marque student Raven Shinette, who witnessed the incident. “Everyone was in awe. Everybody was in complete shock because they didn’t expect it.”
 
Still, police say the players won’t face criminal charges.
 
School administrators in Beaumont partly blame the officiating crew for not keeping the game under control earlier. According to a report on the incident released this week, the Ozen coach said a La Marque wide receiver pushed one of his cornerbacks after a play in the fourth quarter. After a fight broke out, one La Marque player was ejected.
 
But tensions kept escalating, apparently boiling over as players shook hands after the game.
 
In a written statement, La Marque ISD officials said “unsportsmanlike behavior” like this “won’t be tolerated”—but they didn’t say exactly how the students would be disciplined.
 
Many students and parents from La Marque High School who were at the game are convinced that the Ozen players started the altercation – and the La Marque players were just defending themselves.
 
“They was just looking out for their teammates,” said parent Rosa Ford.

[psv]

So, the report says that Beaumont has video of the event but they havent released it.  Now, i am the paranoid sort, but if the video showed the LaMarque players actually starting it, I think we would have seen it by now.

[BankerRef]

The AD's statement does refer to "careful review of video footage and photos" but I'm not sure we can conclude the video he is refering to is of the altercation since he goes on to blame the fight on events that occured during the game and the officials improper response to such.  Perhaps the video he references is actually game footage.

[rickref]

You can flag USC and PF all day and still have this happen in the end. Sorry officials did what they needed to during the game. After it is over babysitting is up to school staffs.

[Hank]

You can flag USC and PF all day and still have this happen in the end. Sorry officials did what they needed to during the game. After it is over babysitting is up to school staffs.

I did NOT see the game.  And I am NOT criticizing the officials.

BUT the box score shows Ozen was penalized 6 times for 30 yards and LaMarque was penalized 6 times for 44 yards.

I know the offsetting fouls would not show up in the boxscore and there had to be at least 1 of those since a player was ejected.  But, from the boxscore, it doesn't appear that they were calling PF and USC all day long.

[rickref]

My point Hank is even if they had it may not have stopped an after game altercation. When officials are off the field how is what they did during the game going fix and end game issue? I do not buy into the fact penalties control or fixes the possibilty of end of game issues. Only during game can it gain control.

[JasonTX]

I did NOT see the game.  And I am NOT criticizing the officials.

BUT the box score shows Ozen was penalized 6 times for 30 yards and LaMarque was penalized 6 times for 44 yards.

I know the offsetting fouls would not show up in the boxscore and there had to be at least 1 of those since a player was ejected.  But, from the boxscore, it doesn't appear that they were calling PF and USC all day long.

I would not trust what the box score shows.  I have personally called games where we had twice as many fouls than what the box score was reporting.

[Joe Stack]

BUT the box score shows Ozen was penalized 6 times for 30 yards and LaMarque was penalized 6 times for 44 yards.

The box scores of my games are so incorrect, its quite difficult to figure out how they arrived at what they did. We threw about 15 flags one night, with, I think about 12 being accepted. The box score had 5 fouls for one team and 3 for the other. On another occasion, I don't recall the number, but the box had one team with the TOTAL number of fouls we called all night on both (it was like 6 or 8 and only about 11 total).

[Hank]

My point Hank is even if they had it may not have stopped an after game altercation. When officials are off the field how is what they did during the game going fix and end game issue? I do not buy into the fact penalties control or fixes the possibilty of end of game issues. Only during game can it gain control.

I'm not sure I agree with that.  I've seen plenty of fouls that when they are called, the offended team (and often times even the offended player) feels vindicated.  Additionally, tensions are usually calmed.  If a late hit goes uncalled, the offended team gets HACKED, and rightfully so.  Watch the 11 news story.  It's posted here somewhere.  They show some game video.  They show a play where an Ozen player is tackled and hits the ground.  Then a LaMarque player hits him while he's on the ground.  It's close, but it's late.  Should it have been flagged?  I don't know, I wasn't there.  It looks late and I don't see a flag.  Would flagging it have enraged the LaMarque players?  I don't know but in my experience the fouling team gets a little mad at the refs and starts to play cleaner when those fouls are called.  Let them get mad at me, I'm leaving when it's over.  Also, we seem to be under orders to call these kinds of fouls.

Now, if it (and any other supposed fouls) were called, could all hell still break lose after the game?  Sure.  But possibly, the teams would just be mad at the refs and we're not around for them to take a swing at us.

Also, true enough, the boxscore could be wrong.  However, on this particular play, I don't see a flag.  Could it be there? Sure.  But if it is, it's not in the boxscore.  I also know we're supposed to call the obvious and let the kids decide the game, but some fouls MUST be called.  I'd like to see a tape of the entire game.  I wonder if Beaumont or LaMarque would be kind enough to post their game tape?

[rickref]

I do not think I ever said they should not be called. PF and USC should be called when they are warranted.

[blindref757]

Here are the police reports from the Baytown security force--all active duty PD officers who were working off-duty security at the stadium that night.  Interesting actions by the Beaumont officer against a Baytown officer!  And these reports certainly don't give the same squeaky clean image of the Ozen players as the AD's report.

I did notice that the officers never blamed the referees!  Amazing!

http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/feeds/item/Ozen-use-of-force-documents-7348.php

[TXMike]

In the interest of full clarity, the offending officer from Beaumont appears to be a Beaumont ISD officer, not a Beaumont PD officer.  And since most all of us here are from Texas, I will not waste time explaining why that differentiation is very important.

[Welpe]

And since most all of us here are from Texas, I will not waste time explaining why that differentiation is very important.

Ouch...

[Grant - AR]

In the interest of full clarity, the offending officer from Beaumont appears to be a Beaumont ISD officer, not a Beaumont PD officer.  And since most all of us here are from Texas, I will not waste time explaining why that differentiation is very important.

So, in Texas, the schools have their own officers who are not affiliated with the local police departments?  I know that most universities have their own police forces, but the school districts in Arkansas do not have this.  A lot of the schools have resource officers assigned to individual schools, but they all work for the local police departments.

[TXMike]

Many school districts have large police departments.  They include armed and unarmed personnel.  The armed personnel are Texas peace officers and have all the authority of any other peace officer in the state.  In some communities, the school police salaries are as good, if not better, than the salaries of those in area city and county departments.  There are wide variations in hiring and training standards though.   

[Grant - AR]

There are wide variations in hiring and training standards though.

That would be my biggest concern.  The school resource officers here are members of the local police force and get all of the same training, etc. as the other officers on the force.  I think they actually get a little more/different training because of being on a school campus, but I'm not positive.

[Birddog]

  A lot of the schools have resource officers assigned to individual schools, but they all work for the local police departments.

There are many districts here in TX that have that same arrangement.  As Mike said and apparently Beaumont included has "in house" police.

[Headlinesman]

"The University Interscholastic League, which governs high school sports in Texas, is looking into the brawl that erupted at the end of Saturday’s football game between La Marque High School and Beaumont’s Ozen High School."

Isn't that a hell of a comforting thought?

[WABill]

As long as Mr.Hopelesly Childish is leading the investigation, I feel perfectly secure he will solve it and debunk the grassy knoll shooter.

"The University Interscholastic League, which governs high school sports in Texas, is looking into the brawl that erupted at the end of Saturday’s football game between La Marque High School and Beaumont’s Ozen High School."

Isn't that a hell of a comforting thought?