School District: No Bullying Involved in 91-0 Football Rout

FORMER PENN HOOPS star Bob Bigelow got it right a dozen years ago when he co-authored a book titled, "Just Let The Kids Play."

The book's subtitle is "How to Stop Other Adults from Ruining Your Child's Fun and Success in Youth Sports."

Someone should send a copy to the father who accused a high school football coach in Texas of "bullying" after his son's team, Western Hills, was on the losing end of a 91-0 rout.

The Aledo Independent School District, which is required by law to investigate all complaints, ruled yesterday that there were no evidence that Aledo High coach Tim Buchanan, or his team, bullied anyone.

According to the Associated Press, which obtained a copy of the complaint, the unnamed parent said, "We all witnessed bullying firsthand."

"Picking up my son from the fieldhouse after the game and taking him home was tough," the parent wrote in the complaint. "I did not know what to say to my son on the ride home to explain the behavior of the Aledo coaches for not easing up when the game was in hand."

When asked if anyone else at the game shared his view the parent wrote: "Everyone in the football stadium."

Well, not exactly everyone.

"We just ran into a buzz saw," Western Hills coach John Naylor told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "[Aledo] just plays hard. And they're good sports, and they don't talk at all. They get after it, and that's the way football is supposed to be played in Texas."

The Bearcats are 7-0 and average more than 69 points a game.

There isn't a mercy rule in Texas high school football, but Buchanan reportedly pulled his starters after the first quarter. And a running clock was used in the second half.

"I can't tell the backups not to play hard," he told the Star-Telegram. "They've worked their tails off all week. They've lifted weights in the offseason. I'm not going to tell them not to play."