Class rivalry comes out in powder-puff game

"02 bad you're not a senior!” echoes across the playing field as seniors cheer against juniors in the annual Powder-puff game. A mob of red-shirted seniors crowds the football field and spirits are high in anticipation of the game that represents a defining moment of class rivalry and school spirit.

The game proceeds with a valiant effort from the juniors, but with the seniors scoring the only touchdown of the game in overtime. Juniors boo and seniors dance exuberantly, as one class unites against the other. But despite many juniors' complaints, the game is over, and the 2002 class has won the Powder-puff game for the second year in a row, with a score of 6-0.

Yet despite this cheery, playful atmosphere, many juniors bemoan unnecessary roughness and unfair playing on the part of the seniors, revealing a more serious undertone to joking class rivalry. During the game, junior captain Makda Semere complained three times to referee Louie Hoelman about the seniors' defensive tactics and junior team sponsor Summer Roark commented on the seniors' overly violent playing.

During the game, Hoelman made one unnecessary roughness call when one senior threw herself on top of a junior that had already fallen to the ground. Hoelman says that he could have made many more unnecessary roughness calls on the seniors. "I didn't make more calls because I wanted to let you play, and I thought that sportsmanship would have been regulated by the players. Many seniors were playing a very dirty game.”

Junior Carly Vieria, one of the junior team's strongest offensive and defensive players, says that seniors hit or tackled her virtually every time that quarterback Lily Hamburger threw her the ball. "I found bruises all over my body that I don't even remember getting.”

From the seniors' side, however, they were just playing a game. Senior Stephanie Cooney, who played as linebacker and wide receiver for her team, says that any hits or tackles were unintentional. "The junior thought that the seniors were playing a little too aggressively, but we were just aggressive because we wanted to win so badly.”

Hoelman disagrees with Cooney's rationale, saying that the seniors took class rivalry past the level of friendly competition. "Tackle football is rough, touch isn't. It seemed like many of the seniors' plays were intended to hurt people,” Hoelman says.

However, Hoelman does agree that some of the roughness may not have been intentional. He believes that many of the players had a lack of knowledge about touch football and football in general, causing them to unknowingly disobey the rules. "A lot of kids watch football on TV and see it just as a physical game, which, in this case, it definitely should not have been.