High School Kids Choose Phillies Over Football

Much like the site you're reading now, there were some attendance problems last Friday in certain Philadelphia area school systems. Reports say that as much as 20 percent of the area's students licked their palms and skipped school so they could be sworn at by Chase Utley. Among that group are nine varsity football players at Hatboro-Horsham High School who chose the Phillie victory parade over school—despite being specifically told not to—and now their "disappointed" coach has kicked them off the team. You see, Friday means game day and state rules say that athletes can't play in any game at night if they weren't in school that day. Anticipating the celebratory truancy, Coach Tom Butts specifically told his players what would befall them if they didn't show up to school. The Hatboro Nine went to the parade anyway, their team lost 33-31 that night, and they got the boot.

"We sat down all of the players beforehand and told them, in no uncertain terms, that they needed to honor their commitment to the team," Butts said. "That commitment started way back in January, with off-season conditioning." "I'm not mad at the players, but I'm disappointed in the decision they made," Butts said. "And, as with life, there are sometimes repercussions for the things we do."

Repercussions? These are Brett Myers fans we're talking about. HS Athletes Kicked Off Team For Cheering Phillies [SbB]