NY kids bounce back against banner malfunction
WALLKILL, N.Y. -- This week, in the tiny town of Wallkill, New York a tiny football team has been licking its wounds.
The Wallkill Mighty Mites are coming off their toughest challenge to date.
"I mean it was weird how my team couldn't even get past it," said one teammate. "It was tough... it was tougher than us," said others.
Not a single player could penetrate the line, but coach Jim Cracolici explains, their adversary wasn't some banner team, but rather the team banner.
"We'll run through the competition, but the signs we need a little work on, I'll tell you that much," said Cracolici.
Here's what happened - as the players we're running off the field in a victory celebration, their breakaway banner didn't.
Like compact cars on a foggy freeway, each one rear-ended the next - resulting in a 20-kid pile up.
It was posted on YouTube and the video went viral this week.
Although some of the kids were initially embarrassed - by week's end they were more fired up than ever.
"If you fall you get right back up. Because if you give up, you can't try again," said the kids.
Which is why the kids say that banner hasn't seen the last of them.
"We have to keep on doing it until we break through," they said. "Yea, it needs payback."
There're going to take another run at it next weekend, and every weekend until justice is served.
In the meantime, the coach is trying to figure out exactly what went wrong the first time.
"This banner is made to velcro apart," said Cracolici. When asked why couldn't they get through that, Cracolici replies, "That is a good question."
After studying the game tape, Cracolici is convinced the problem was the orientation of the sign. The words are actually facing the team.
Cracolici said it should have been turned around.
"Because the loops on Velcro go the other way, so it tears easier," as Cracolici tried to go through the banner unsuccessfully.
"Well let's just say it's a little harder than it should be," Cracolici said.
When asked why not just get a new banner, Cracolici responds, "I think we have to consider it."
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