Wednesday, October 05, 2005

Say What???

The following is an excerpt from a letter to the editor of The Tuscaloosa News (October 4th, 2005).**



There is no question that Shula’s decision to play Prothro was dead wrong. I am not positive, but my gut tells me Shula had a slightly different upbringing than Prothro. Along with that different upbringing came different opportunities.

Prothro will now most likely miss the rest of the season because of Shula’s despicable decision. I can only hope and pray Shula did not hinder Prothro’s ability to support himself and his family in the future.



First, I must say that Saturday's game pitting the Alabama Crimson Tide vs. the Florida Gators was the best game I have been to while here at the Capstone. For those of you who may not know, we beat #5 Florida, 31-3. It was a wonderful victory. The victory, however, was bittersweet. One of our star players, Tyrone Protho was injured in the 4th quarter. He broke his leg. This incident quickly gave way to a debate over whether Shula should have kept Prothro in the game with only a little less than a quarter to go. We had heard the debate last year when Brodie Croyle was injured. So, here we go again.

I personally support Shula's decision to keep him in the game. Florida could have come back at any moment, and this was a crucial game that would be a key win for us. Plus, I would imagine that Prothro wanted to be in the game. He loves football and does very well at it. My heart certainly goes out to Prothro. I loved enthusiastically cheering for him each and every game. He was part of the soul of the team. But, I am confident he will return with full force next year. He just has that determination.

I was most appalled at this letter to the editor, though. Mr. Gerber seems to imply that this injury may leave Prothro unable to support his family or earn a living. Did Mr. Prothro lose his leg Mr. Gerber?? Are you implying that his only career option was professional football, and hinting even further that this is true because he is black?? Pardon me if I'm wrong, Mr. Gerber, but Tyrone Prothro is not only playing football at The University of Alabama, but he is earning an outstanding education, which will leave him with a good number of career options. Please leave your racial attitudes and illogical conclusions at home next time, Mr. Gerber. We will not tolerate them here.

Me, oh me. I was quite fired up today.



**Gerber, Micah*. Letter. "Shame on Shula for Playing Prothro." The Tuscaloosa News. 4 October 2005. www.tuscaloosanews.com.

*Mr. Gerber is from Gainsville, FL.

4 comments:

Life is better in the South said...

You go, girl. It's very easy to say what someone else should have done when you have seen the outcome of their decision. Perhaps not so easy to try to fill their shoes...

Anonymous said...

Yeah, I agree with you Laura.
Mr. Gerber this is the SEC just in case you did not know, teams are good in the SEC. Teams COME BACK in the SEC, especially Florida.

Plus there were 9 minutes left in the game when Prothro got hurt, so it is not like there was not much time on the clock.

If Prothro had not got hurt and possibly scored another touchdown then you would have been loving on Shula.

Shula made the right decision, but it just did not work out.

Poor guy, it was awful to watch.

By the way I PICKED THAT GAME!!!!!!!!!!!!


i love your blog!

Owl of the Desert said...

Thanks Reagainzer! And, good choice! I picked us, too, but not with that much of a lead. My guess before the game was 24-21, Alabama.

What's your guess for the rest of the season?

Anonymous said...

Personally Laura, I cannot think of another game that I think Bama will lose. Having said that, I think they will lose 1 though, you just don't go through the SEC undefeated very often, (yes, I know Auburn did it)

I think they will be 10-1.