George Ferguson Column: We love our high school hoops the way it is

As a journalist, I will never, ever step on the Constitution of the United States. Freedom of speech, no matter what stupid things come out of people's mouths, sometimes is a right in this country, and the First Amendment is something I take very seriously, and never for granted, every single day.

There, I said it. We all have the right to say what we want to say, even when some of the things that we say are really ignorant.

On Tuesday, something really ignorant was said that, for a time, shook up a lot of people in Montana high school basketball, but later, brought so many of them together.

That ignorant statement, made in a post online by Billings radio personality Paul Mushaben of Cat Country KCTR 102.9, who now has been indefinitely suspended from his job, suggested that Montana should segregate its high school basketball tournaments — one for Native American schools and one for non-Native schools. The post, which was later taken down, included statements: “Indian teams involved in a tournament left people re-thinking if it’s worth it or not to host a tourney," as well as "The crowd is so unruly and disrespectful of the facility that it may be time for the MHSA to proceed with an all Indian tourney.”

Now, I don't know and have never met Mushaben, or even heard his show, but the comments he made are so far out of line, there's literally only one way to describe or discern them. They carry racial tones toward Native Americans, and as I read them, it was disheartening to me that, in this day and age, in this great state of Montana, we're still seeing this kind of stuff.

I mean really. In 2017, someone honestly thinks the right thing to do is to segregate high school basketball in Montana? The right thing to do is segregate anything? Come on, man.

The mere suggestion that high school basketball in Montana should be segregated is not only, at the very least, racial by its suggestion, but it's utterly stupid, too. That may sound harsh, but often times the truth is.

Again, I don't know Mushaben, and I am not going to speculate any further on why he made the post, or what kind of person he is. I'm not here to pass judgement on personal beliefs. But as a journalist, I don't really understand why he's worried about any of it in the first place. First and foremost, we're supposed to be impartial in the sports we cover, write about and broadcast. We aren't supposed to be fans, so the comments perplex me even from that end.

But on the flip side of it all, I have to say, sadly, there's a part of me that's not surprised this came up, because it's come up before. And it's usually a big old case of sour grapes.

I have covered high school basketball in Montana, and working here in Havre, four reservation schools, for nearly 20 years now. And when I see things like this, all I see is jealousy. I see people reacting to their favorite team getting beat, and that's pretty much the bottom line. I have no idea if that's the case here, but like I said, I've seen it before.

And on the subject of unruly fans, to single out fans of Native American schools is absolutely ignorant. I have covered multiple high school basketball tournaments with no Native American teams in the field, and have seen more than my share of unruly fans at them.

Trust me, unruly fans come in every shade and color, every age and every background, and to suggest otherwise is just ridiculous.

I can prove it simply, too. I have been an unruly fan. As a student at the University of Montana in the early 1990s, I am one hundred percent sure I qualified as an unruly fan at both Griz football and basketball games. I am one hundred percent sure I blurted out some very, not nice things in those days. There's no doubt in my mind I have fallen into the unruly fan category a time or two, or three or 12. I'm guessing most of you reading this, because you love sports, could say the same.

I can also dispute the notion that basketball tournaments bring out the worst in people. I have now covered 18 District 9C tournaments in my career, and every one of them includes multiple teams from reservation schools. And quite frankly, I can't recall a single incident from the fans, where I thought they stepped over a line, of any kind. I'll admit, I haven't been to every tournament around the state, every year, and I don't see everything that goes on in the stands, but what I see at the 9C every February in Havre is anything but what I would call a bunch of unruly Native American fans, or for that matter, unruly fans from anywhere.

No, on a yearly basis, I see a lot more class and pride coming from the fan bases in the 9C and Northern C than I do anyone crossing boundaries that shouldn't be crossed. I see a lot more sportsmanship on the floor at these tournaments than I do attitudes and bad behavior from players and coaches. More times than not, I see people respecting each other, and the facilitates, the right way.

Is everybody perfect? No. Have there been and will there be incidents? Yes. But incidents by all manner of fans. Not just Native Americans — All fans.

More often than not in my career, though, I have seen the good side of high school basketball way more than I ever do the bad, and I think I see my fair share over the course of the winter. By the time this is published I am on my 30th basketball game in less than a full week, and many of them involved Native American teams, and Native American fans, and gee, guess what, no incidents like what was being described in Mushaben's original post.

But none of that really matters anyway. The notion of segregating Native American kids from the rest of Montana, for sports, or for anything else, is just so far out of line, I would laugh, if not for the fact that it's such a dangerous and sad suggestion.

No, I love our high school basketball just the way it is in Montana, and actually, I've always been rather offended at the notion that Native American basketball is different from regular basketball. That alone has always bothered me. Native Americans shouldn't be labeled for the way they play basketball, or any other reason either. No, I'm pretty sure James Naismith invented the game with human beings in mind, even way back then. I'm positive Naismith didn't see race when he mounted his first peach basket to a wall.

Basketball is basketball, and anyone who plays it is playing the same game.

And in Montana, it's going to stay that way. I'm proud to cover our reservation schools around the Hi-Line. I'm proud to know so many great people from those schools. People I've known for years now. I'm proud to call Jeremy MacDonald and Joel Rosette and Scotty Henderson and so many others my friends. I'm proud that I got to cover the great Hays-Lodge Pole team, with the late A.J. Long Soldier back in 2007. I'm proud that I was there when Rocky Boy won the 2010 Class B state championship, on their first try. I'm proud that our Native American schools are every bit a part of the history of high school basketball in this state as any other school is. I'm lucky I get to do what I do for a living, and see what I see, and while I'll say it again, people have the right to speak freely and say what they want to say, I'll just leave it at this — thanks but no thanks on separate high school basketball tournaments.

Most of us love our high school hoops, and our great state, just the way it is.