Upon Further Review

Just as things were looking up for soccer in Augusta County, a few “fans” and “parents” that must have majored in numskullery in college have to open their mouths, pick up their phones and/or log into their home, work and, yes it’s true, Waynesboro school system e-mail accounts, in a haphazard attempt to get the Waynesboro girls soccer team some newspaper ink.

Trust me, the braintrust that runs this sports department is well aware of how A) young, and B) talented this Waynesboro girls soccer team is and will be. There’s no argument there, but to send e-mails and make phone calls to this sports columnist because he wrote about how young and talented the Wilson Memorial girls soccer team is was just ludicrous. Also, it’s very “unadult-like.” Something those same “adults” would say only a 12-year-old would do.

Hey, Little Giants, none of this is your fault (I’m talking to the players, mom and dad, so don’t you go thinking I’m changing my mind on how dumb your e-mails were). Yes, I’m aware (even if some of your parents aren’t) that in Augusta FC you play on the same teams with some of those Wilson Memorial girls. Heck, you probably call a few of them “friends” or “pal” or whatever the latest term of endearment is in your text-messaging and e-mail lexicon. (Let me know what it is, I try to stay hip.)

You got a season to worry about. You have a regional berth up for grabs. You have four quality captains—Junior Bree Simonsen along with seniors Courtney Freed, Cammy Nasholds and a back-from-injury Kristin Berrang-- that can make you realize what comes from the stands isn’t important.

You got a coach, Robin Hersey, who has a track record of nurturing young talent into winners.

The captains? You four got a freshman goalkeeper to coach through a stretch run and a slew of other youngsters whose skills need to honed.

Yeah, don’t worry about what those in the stands said. Remember, all a couple of parents did was, well, be parents. Ask yours how many times grandma and grandpa did something that embarrassed them whilst they were in high school. The only problem is, some of your parents forgot about that.

Here’s hoping you don’t.

And another thing: What are a few of these parents trying to do? Really. I want to know. If they wanted an article similar to this one written about their kids, why didn’t they follow Coach Hersey’s lead and let us know that, hey, your team is young too. What were these few trying to accomplish by throwing insults at Wilson Memorial and its fans? Don’t they realize that girls on both these teams are friends with each other and play together in Augusta FC? Do we need a youth-soccer Civil War? I mean, last time we had a Civil War in Augusta County, things didn’t work go too swimmingly. Just ask Jubal Early.

This is why Derek McDaniel may be the greatest thing to happen to Wilson baseball since Bo Bowers: “We are not a good team,” he said after Wilson lost 10-2 to Luray on Wednesday. “I’m not being negative to my kids, because we are not a good team. We don’t make that plays that we need to make and good teams do that.”

With McDaniel at the helm, they’re gonna be good soon. You know, like football.

Thankfully, we all know Waynesboro baseball parents won’t send us any e-mails on how much better their team is and how bad Wilson is. You know, like a certain other group. (See above.)

Speaking of Wilson and other sports played on something we call a diamond: I wouldn’t worry too much about the Green Hornets losing to Luray, pardon the pun, but that race is going to be a dogfight until the end.

Speaking of dogfights: Waynesboro baseball’s magic number is two, if they can beat Rockbridge tonight and Fort Defiance on Friday (both games on the road) then all Jim Critzer and his Little Giants have to worry about is Region III. Must be nice ...

Finally: The Southern Valley DoeStink gives soccer fans something to cheer about. On Friday the Waynesboro boys and girls teams play an at-home doubleheader against Rockbridge. Go ahead and call it a day of soccer. Or maybe Pack the Pitch night. Or, how about, Purple Power.

Whatever you call it, here’s hoping some of the parents leave their laptops at home. They’ve already sent too many e-mails.

thanks jim.  not to mention the fact the waynesboro parents are comparing apples to oranges.  last time i checked, wilson was single a and boro was double a.  “the building of one’s self by the tearing down of others”.