At a SOCCER game?

Nazi speech played before H.S. game

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- Part of a Nazi leader's speech was played over the
public address system before a high school soccer game, prompting an apology
by the home team's principal.

Forestview High School principal Robert Carpenter said neither he nor his
team's coach knew about the speech before the 90-second excerpt was played
during warmups Saturday, according to a letter he sent Monday to visiting
Charlotte Catholic High School.

The speech, by Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels, was in German.
Carpenter said in the letter the team had adopted the slogan "On to
victory," and a German exchange student who plays on the team had taught
other students how to say the phrase in German.

"Some of our more zealous students sought to capture this slogan in German
and to play it on the PA," Carpenter wrote.

School officials said two players had downloaded the speech off the
Internet, and no adult heard it before it was played at the field, The
Charlotte Observer reported Wednesday.

Catholic coach Gary Hoilett said his squad was "just real shocked."

"All of us stopped and looked up at the booth," Hoilett said.

Hoilett, who is black, said some Forestview players also shouted racial
epithets at his two black players. Gaston school officials said they
interviewed 14 people, including coaches, officials and players, but did not
find conclusive evidence of that.

Hoilett called the Forestview principal's apology "lame."

"You don't toss something like that to the corner," he said.

The Gaston County district will now require school personnel to listen to
any recording before it is played over the public address system.

The North Carolina High School Athletic Association was investigating. If
wrongdoing is found, penalties could include probation, fines or loss of
home games.

"It's really hard to fathom in this day and time," association spokesman
Rick Strunk said.

Forestview won the playoff game 1-0.

I guess it was just a prank, yank the chain of all those grown-ups.

But holy cow. Plus, now the school thought police have to listen to recordings. Seems like a pretty significant overreaction.

But holy cow. I tend to dismiss vague charges of racism as made up...But holy cow. Even if you are just invoking some offensive symbol of the past to get a rise out of adults....

I realize I'm repeating myself. But...well, here's the thing. How could kids in HIGH SCHOOOL have so little knowledge of historical context that they would be surprised that people would be offended? How would a GERMAN KID not know? Germans are (or were) hyper-sensitive about associating themselves with Nazi iconography.