Ugly situation in Staten Island: Police were called to a football game in New Dorp after the coach for the Harlem Hellfighters discovered a racial slur scrawled on his team's bench.
Duke Fergerson, a former NFL player, called police during the first quarter of the game against host McKee/Staten Island Tech after noticing the words "Ya, nigga's SUCK from MSIT" written in marker on the bench, The Advance of State Island reported.
The referee ordered the bench removed, to the dismay of Fergerson, and locked in an equipment room.
Police arrived early in the fourth quarter, and the game was stopped for about 15 minutes while they talked to Fergerson, whose third-year team is a blend of players from 13 schools in a bid to revive football in Harlem.
"What bothered me is the way the adults handled it," Fergerson told the newspaper. "To try to get me to dismiss it; to tell me I'm in the wrong for bringing it up. And then the ref penalizes me when I go to tell him that he ordered evidence removed and that he's not being impartial," Fergerson said.
Fergerson refused to let his team line up at midfield for the traditional handshake at the end of the game, which the Hellfighters won in three OTs, 44-36.
MSIT coach Mike Scotti said he didn't see the writing but he was certain that it was not done by any of his players. "I think it's horrible. I think it is really horrible that kids and coaches had to see that," Scotti said.
The Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating the case. No arrests have been made, according to a NYPD spokesman.
Dept. of Irony: It's understandable that the folks in Lansingbugh aren't laughing, but does anyone else see the humor in the fact that a player who transferred from a private school to a public school is at the center of a huge Section 2 football issue?
Lansingburgh will find out tomorrow if it is in or out of sectionals in Class A after the Section 2 executive committee determines the eligibility of senior wingback Nyquan McGirt. The Section 2 transfer committee ruled on Tuesday against McGirt, who played at Catholic Central in 2006, because it did not feel Lansingburgh adequately showed the senior's residency in Troy.
Section 2 President Jack Whalen said Saturday night Lansingburgh (6-1) is in the playoffs pending tomorrow's ruling. If the executive committee rules against Lansingburgh, the Knights would be out of the playoffs and would forfeit five victories.
McGirt has rushed for nine touchdowns and nearly 700 yards, averaging about 12 yards a carry, The Troy Record reports.
Mookie to 'Cuse? Six-foot-six Mookie Jones of Peekskill attended the Syracuse-Rutgers football game and is believed to have decided to play basketball for the Orange beginning next fall. Rivals.com says a source close to the Syracuse program reported that Jones told people he intends to commit to Syracuse following visits to Rutgers and St. John's.
Extra points: East Aurora surrendered its first goal in 15 games but topped Eden in boys soccer, 3-1. Frieder Burgin scored all three goals to bring his season total to 31. . . . Hoover (Ala.) football players received preferential academic treatment, said a report released Saturday. The report by a retired federal judge said the district needed a greater degree of control over outside income for coach Rush Propst and that the school did not report infractions in a timely manner to the Alabama High School Athletic Association. The report said Propst had pressured teachers to change grades. The school's football success led MTV to do a reality show about Hoover in 2005-06.
