Coach in Tennessee Pulls His Team Off the Floor Due to Alleged Racism in High School Basketball Game

All, High School Sports, Race Jason McIntyre December 7th. 2011, 11:34am

Today in disturbing, racist, sports-related news from the South:

Warren County was fined $500 by the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association because boys basketball Coach Malcolm Montgomery removed his team from the floor in last Friday’s overtime game at Van Buren County with more than two minutes left … Warren County has three minority players. Van Buren County has none … After hearing complaints about the slurs, Montgomery became upset about two Van Buren County students wearing a gorilla costume and a banana costume, Childress said. Van Buren County Principal Chris Binkley told Childress the costumes are part of a homecoming tradition and are not meant to be racial.

Van Buren County officials say nothing racist happened. To our readers in Tennessee: What “homecoming tradition” involves a gorilla costume and a banana costume? [Tennessean]

* Why the photo of Penny Hardaway? I was trying to think of the best basketball player to come out of the state of Tennessee, and landed on Hardaway. He’s obviously not involved in this situation in any capacity.

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53 Responses to “Coach in Tennessee Pulls His Team Off the Floor Due to Alleged Racism in High School Basketball Game”

1
TheGilly Says:
December 7th, 2011 at 11:37 AM
Homecoming basketball game? Didn’t the season just start?
/avoids topic all together.
2
T.E. Says:
December 7th, 2011 at 11:40 AM
I knew the team that walked off the court would be losing…down six with less than 2 mins left.
3
payaso Says:
December 7th, 2011 at 11:43 AM
Isn’t that where Skkkylar McBee went to school?
4
traderjack21 Says:
December 7th, 2011 at 11:43 AM
racism in the south? no shit.
5
jim Says:
December 7th, 2011 at 11:43 AM
Homecoming basketball game? Didn’t the season just start?
I didn’t know they even had homecoming basketball games.
/TheMoreYouKnow’d
6
José Ovechkin Says:
December 7th, 2011 at 11:44 AM
I knew the team that walked off the court would be losing…down six with less than 2 mins left.
Down 6? how insurmountable.
7
Cowboy Mike's Red Hot Ricochet Barbecue Sauce Says:
December 7th, 2011 at 11:44 AM
I knew the team that walked off the court would be losing…down six with less than 2 mins left.
To be fair, the scorekeeper was only counting three of every five shots they made.
8
José Ovechkin Says:
December 7th, 2011 at 11:45 AM
Homecoming basketball game? Didn’t the season just start?
We called ours ‘Winterfest’ and I think it was in January.
9
payaso Says:
December 7th, 2011 at 11:47 AM
Shawn Marion > Penny Hardaway, as far as players from Tennessee
10
rittyrich Says:
December 7th, 2011 at 11:48 AM
This stinks of b.s. on the coach’s part. I bet it had more to do with a questionable call pissing him off than anything else. Seen that happen before.
11
squawkbox Says:
December 7th, 2011 at 11:49 AM
I hate to break it to you … my son and his buddy would dress up in gorilla costumes for every basketball game – it was part of the football team supporting the basketball team. It is now a tradition for a football player to “don the ‘go’” for select random games.
12
Wally's World Says:
December 7th, 2011 at 11:49 AM
Nothing says Homecoming Tradition like a Gorilla Costume and a Banana Costume.
What.The.@#$%.
13
Breesus Says:
December 7th, 2011 at 11:50 AM
Shawn Marion > Penny Hardaway, as far as players from Tennessee
Is Keith Lee from Tennessee?
/ignores NBA stats
14
rittyrich Says:
December 7th, 2011 at 11:50 AM
My high school had a bunch of idiots who protected a coconut painted like a monkey…I think it was a coconut.
Glad a coach never left the gym claiming the coconut monkey was racist.
15
Breesus Says:
December 7th, 2011 at 11:51 AM
This stinks of b.s. on the coach’s part. I bet it had more to do with a questionable call pissing him off than anything else. Seen that happen before.
/Williams Sisters’d
Nothing says Homecoming Tradition like a Gorilla Costume and a Banana Costume.
What.The.@#$%.
IT’S PEANUT BUTTER JELLY TIME!
16
rittyrich Says:
December 7th, 2011 at 11:53 AM
Also, looks like the coach shoving a player may not have made it into the story.
17
Anti-KC Res Says:
December 7th, 2011 at 11:54 AM
What “homecoming tradition” involves a gorilla costume and a banana costume?
Pittsburg St.?
18
T.E. Says:
December 7th, 2011 at 11:54 AM
Coach Montgomery just hates any halftime show at a Phoenix Suns game.
19
rittyrich Says:
December 7th, 2011 at 11:55 AM
Also, looks like the coach shoving a player may not have made it into the story.
Whoops…that’s in dispute too/probably didn’t happen. Man, I miss high school. Not really.
20
VladimirCrouton Says:
December 7th, 2011 at 11:56 AM
Butch McRae is from Chicago.
21
traderjack21 Says:
December 7th, 2011 at 11:57 AM
Pittsburg St.?
well there isn’t much to do down in the corner of the state…
22
atxtiger Says:
December 7th, 2011 at 11:58 AM
@breesus, Keith Lee was from West Memphis, AR just across the river from Memphis. The one true answer for the best player in Tennessee history is Larry Finch. We love Penny but Larry is and will always be LEGEND.
23
SouthernAggression Says:
December 7th, 2011 at 11:59 AM
What “homecoming tradition” involves a gorilla costume and a banana costume?
I’ve seen people at high school games dress in all sorts of costumes that had no apparent relevance or significance. There’s rarely a rationale behind what high school kids do.
24
HtownHacker Says:
December 7th, 2011 at 12:02 PM
To be fair, the scorekeeper was only counting three of every five shots they made.
Good one.
25
arkbadger Says:
December 7th, 2011 at 12:04 PM
racism only exists in the south
/TBL
26
mrejr8234 comes for the sports posts but stays to kill the local inhabitants Says:
December 7th, 2011 at 12:05 PM
Didn’t bother him at the beginning of the game? Weird.
27
ms621 Says:
December 7th, 2011 at 12:09 PM
racism only exists in the south
/TBL
+1
28
Jason Lisk Says:
December 7th, 2011 at 12:10 PM
To be fair, the scorekeeper was only counting three of every five shots they made.
+ 1 Founding Father
29
Cowboy Mike's Red Hot Ricochet Barbecue Sauce Says:
December 7th, 2011 at 12:10 PM
racism only exists in the south
/TBL
However, Tennessee is in the Pacific Northwest.
/TBL
30
sportsgal116 Says:
December 7th, 2011 at 12:13 PM
What “homecoming tradition” involves a gorilla costume and a banana costume?
What school has homecoming in December instead of in September or October during football season?
31
mrejr8234 comes for the sports posts but stays to kill the local inhabitants Says:
December 7th, 2011 at 12:15 PM
Gal it is warmer down there so they don’t have to have homecoming 3 weeks after school starts so it isn’t too fucking cold.hey since you’re here could you talk all trashy? That’s pretty hot.
/fap fap fap
32
arkbadger Says:
December 7th, 2011 at 12:17 PM
What school has homecoming in December instead of in September or October during football season?
schools with no football teams is my guess.
33
ms621 Says:
December 7th, 2011 at 12:19 PM
schools with no football teams is my guess.
There are schools in Tennessee that don’t play football?
34
QueeferSutherland Says:
December 7th, 2011 at 12:22 PM
To be fair, the scorekeeper was only counting three of every five shots they made.
Well done.
35
payaso Says:
December 7th, 2011 at 12:22 PM
There are schools in Tennessee that don’t play football?
Yes, all of them except Vandy.
36
Wide Word of Sport (?) Says:
December 7th, 2011 at 12:28 PM
Yes, all of them except Vandy.
Actually the high school (private) next to Vanderbilt doesn’t have a football team. (It’s mostly Vandy professors’/doctors’ kids)
37
Babar 2.0 Says:
December 7th, 2011 at 12:30 PM
Actually the high school (private) next to Vanderbilt doesn’t have a football team. (It’s mostly Vandy professors’/doctors’ kids)
Nice awareness of comedy.
/It was a UTenn joke, from a UT fan
38
Nada Says:
December 7th, 2011 at 12:31 PM
The lesson here is, don’t fuck with the Van Buren Boys.
/ Costanza’d
39
Cowboy Mike's Red Hot Ricochet Barbecue Sauce Says:
December 7th, 2011 at 12:31 PM
When questioned about the incident, the kid in the gorilla suit responded that he asked the lord to be his guiding force and truth, and that for some strange reason the lord guided him to his home, he guided him to Tennessee.
40
mrejr8234 comes for the sports posts but stays to kill the local inhabitants Says:
December 7th, 2011 at 12:33 PM
Actually the high school (private) next to Vanderbilt doesn’t have a football team. (It’s mostly Vandy professors’/doctors’ kids)
They’re too busy being spoiled pussies to play football probably. Probably has a kickass ~~date-rape~~ lacrosse team tho
41
Wide Word of Sport (?) Says:
December 7th, 2011 at 12:33 PM
Nice awareness of comedy.
/It was a UTenn joke, from a UT fan
I got the joke, was just commenting that not all high schools have football. Didn’t know clown was a UT fan though.
42
starkweather Says:
December 7th, 2011 at 12:35 PM
guided him to his home, he guided him to Tennessee
Bet he wishes somebody would take him to another place
43
Nada Says:
December 7th, 2011 at 12:35 PM
the lord guided him to his home
True story:
One day our top tech, a real fundamentalist/evangelical, walked into the boss’s office and said God had come to him in the night and told him to quit his job and move home to Tennessee to attend Bible college. And he did so.
Soon afterward, the tech’s wife took their kid, left him and divorced him.
Not long after that, the tech walked into our boss’s office and said God had come to him in the night and told him He’d made a mistake, and to go back to his job.
He got rehired and remarried his wife.
44
Wide Word of Sport (?) Says:
December 7th, 2011 at 12:38 PM
Tennessee really isn’t all that bad. Stereotypes are really fun, but I’m a born/raised New Englander, and have enjoyed TN to the point I’m actually pretty likely to stay and raise a family here.
45
HuskerDawg Says:
December 7th, 2011 at 12:39 PM
Warren County was fined $500 by the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association because boys basketball Coach Malcolm Montgomery removed his team from the floor in last Friday’s overtime game at Van Buren County with more than two minutes left … Warren County has three minority players. Van Buren County has none … After hearing complaints about the slurs, Montgomery became upset about two Van Buren County students wearing a gorilla costume and a banana costume, Childress said. Van Buren County Principal Chris Binkley told Childress the costumes are part of a homecoming tradition and are not meant to be racial.
Holy shit. But yeah, since Obama was elected racism stopped, right guys.
/weeps for the South
46
Babar 2.0 Says:
December 7th, 2011 at 12:41 PM
and said God had come to him in the night and told him He’d made a mistake, and to go back to his job.
Is he now on some drugs to control the voices in his head?
47
arkbadger Says:
December 7th, 2011 at 12:43 PM
Tennessee really isn’t all that bad. Stereotypes are really fun, but I’m a born/raised New Englander, and have enjoyed TN to the point I’m actually pretty likely to stay and raise a family here.
ssshhh, don’t tell anyone that the south isn’t full of slack-jaws and moonshine stills. I like it here the way it is now.
48
Cowboy Mike's Red Hot Ricochet Barbecue Sauce Says:
December 7th, 2011 at 12:43 PM
True story:
One day our top tech, a real fundamentalist/evangelical, walked into the boss’s office and said God had come to him in the night and told him to quit his job and move home to Tennessee to attend Bible college. And he did so.
Soon afterward, the tech’s wife took their kid, left him and divorced him.
Not long after that, the tech walked into our boss’s office and said God had come to him in the night and told him He’d made a mistake, and to go back to his job.
He got rehired and remarried his wife.
What Arrested Development song is that from?
49
starkweather Says:
December 7th, 2011 at 12:46 PM
Is he now on some drugs to control the voices in his head?
I was assuming God first visited him in the form of LSD but I guess he could go ON drugs to control these things, too
50
Wide Word of Sport (?) Says:
December 7th, 2011 at 12:52 PM
ssshhh, don’t tell anyone that the south isn’t full of slack-jaws and moonshine stills. I like it here the way it is now.
I’ve spent a considerable amount of time outside of Nashville… and it’s just what you’d expect from a rural area. Things are a bit slower, and there’s a lot less internet. I don’t think I’ve seen any more racism here than anywhere else. The only time I can really think of is when some guy at home depot suggested I rather than build a new something, I could just n****-rig it to work (a term I’d never even heard of, and completely offended me to the point I just left).
51
Lando Says:
December 7th, 2011 at 2:04 PM
Way to go, coach. Instead of taking advantage of a teachable moment, you make a mountain out of a molehill like the idiot from the Rutgers basketball team. You got your name in the paper. Nice work.
52
pigskin28 Says:
December 7th, 2011 at 4:38 PM
When you have experieenced racism and you understand how deep it cuts, come tell me how much of a molehill it is.
Insensitive, ignorant ass.
53
Southernergal Says:
December 8th, 2011 at 8:48 AM
To be fair, the scorekeeper was only counting three of every five shots they made
Ok, lovely…..we dont roll that way in Van Buren..i a,m from there, i came from the north, but i am a raised van bureian…KK? WE ARE FAIR!
and our traditio does involve these suits, so F OFF!!!!!
n our school doesnt have football….
if there werre any ciomments made, u can nsut those…..but leave our traditions alone!!!!!!!!!!!! yes, the commets were wrong, but no, our traditions rnt