[jammin' jamey]

This is what Pillersdorf wrote. The letter is too long to place in one post:


Every Kentucky high school basketball game begins with a meeting of the team captains and coaches at center court, during which a referee reads a sportsmanship warning card. Over the last five years, I have heard this warning at every game played by the team I coach for the David School. The sportsmanship card simply reads that there will be no taunting during the games and that there will be no warning as to the consequences of taunting.

I recently read in the Lexington Herald-Leader that my attempt to cancel this year's game against Allen Central led to a "furor." It did. Why did I do it? The various press accounts indicate there is confusion about my reasoning. I write to explain the events that led to the decision that I still believe was correct. So that there is no misunderstanding, my recommendation to my team and my attempts to cancel the game were based upon my belief that displaying a Confederate flag constitutes a form of taunting. I believe this is especially true when one of the teams involved in the game is racially mixed.

I am not alone in this view. In 2000, the NCAA stated that the presence of the Confederate flag at sporting events created an "intolerable environment" and issued economic sanctions against the state of South Carolina for their continued use of the Confederate flag above their State Capitol. In an interesting side note, the NCAA press release announcing this position was issued by Charles Wethington, former president of the University of Kentucky.

In reflecting on the tumultuous events that have surrounded the controversy, I believe there are several misconceptions that need to be addressed. First, I have been criticized for scheduling game against Allen Central in the first place, knowing of their past use of the Confederate flag. I also obviously knew that I had the only racially mixed team in Floyd County.

Several events occurred during December 2006, after the game was scheduled, that led to my decision. During this time I read with great concern press accounts of the response of certain Allen Central officials and students when Floyd County school board member Mickey McGuire publicly challenged the use of the Confederate flag at Allen Central sporting events. The defiant response by those associated with the school generated national news coverage prior to the David School becoming embroiled in the controversy.