A boy’s basketball team from suburban Cincinnati was suspended from a youth league for featuring racist slogans on the backs of their jerseys, a report says.
The Cincinnati Premier Youth Basketball League is a private concern not directly connected to the school systems, so the teams have some leeway. Apparently trying to be humorous, the team from Kings Mills, Ohio, a town north of Cincinnati, took on the name the “Wet Dream Team.”
Worse, the team officially called the Kings, chose ostensibly funny player names for the back of their jerseys, too. But the “funny” names were even worse than the team name. Players chose names such as “Knee Grow” and “Coon.”
After three games, other players began complaining about the team’s jokes. Eventually, the controversy caused a school board member to resign, and the team was cast out of the league, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Some had questioned why it took three full games before anything was done.
But Jason DiTullio, a coach for a team from nearby Milford, insisted that he made several attempts to report the errant team’s joke jerseys. DiTullio, though, did admit that he forgot to report the problem when he first became aware of it before Christmas.
DiTullio also said he confronted the “Wet Dream Team’s” coach, Walt Gill, telling him that the jerseys were not funny.
“I said that is so provocative and unacceptable,” DiTullio told the paper. “They just laughed. They thought it was a funny joke.”
A spokesman for the league also told the paper that the Kings often played in an unsportsmanlike manner. An opposing player reportedly had his nose bloodied by one of the members of the Kings.
The team was suspended from the league, but the fallout continued when Kerry McKiernan, a Kings school board member, resigned his place on the board because his son was a member of the offending team.
During his resignation speech, McKiernan said, “I could have done more. I could have said more. So to whatever degree I can help the healing, I will.” McKiernan continued adding, “I’m resigning because it’s the right thing to do.”
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.