In the final game of the Agnes Irwin flag football tournament, the first leg of the Upper School Triple Crown, the juniors beat the seniors 48-24, a humiliating loss for the school’s ruling class. Although the flag football tournament was widely celebrated as exciting and enjoyable, several members of the class of 2023 have expressed grievances with the final game, with some accusing officials of rigging the game in the juniors’ favor. As a journalist, I took it upon myself to find the truth.
First, I went to Ms. Leonard to get her response to this accusation. In a statement that broke the heart of every senior, Slen said, “It was very clear that the juniors were the stronger team that day” and laughed at me. She said she felt confident that the game was not rigged.
I next took the question to the juniors’ dean, Dr. Beasom. In an act of cowardice, he avoided taking responsibility for offering a statement by showing me a YouTube video. The clip showed Jim Mora saying, “It was a disgraceful performance” and exclaiming, “Playoffs?!?!”
His response to whether the game was rigged? “False.”
Even senior dean Ms. Hurst told me the game was a “tough loss,” but “not rigged.”
Senior Clare Minnis, however, had a very different opinion.
“You know what, I’m just gonna say it: I think that it’s a joke that the seniors didn’t win. I think it’s honestly embarrassing,” she expressed in an interview. “I don’t think it was right that we lost.”
When asked about the controversial choice made to move the super bowl from Friday to Thursday, Clare told me, “I think that was wrong, okay? Because I would’ve been there, first of all. And, so would’ve Kennedy. And, I think, yeah, maybe there was some rigging going on. Maybe some people talked to Coach Lubbe about changing the dates, but I’m [redacted] because I would’ve been there, Kennedy would’ve been there, and we could’ve won. I think we would’ve won if it was at the right time.”
When I took this allegation to Coach Lubbe, she couldn’t believe her ears.After taking a few moments to process, she told me, “The decision to change the date of the super bowl was driven by an academic conflict on Friday, and changing it from the originally planned Friday to Thursday allowed us to better accommodate the accepted students that were visiting in the day.”
She said the seniors lost because they “suffered from some absences and poor execution on their game plan.” When I pointed out that absences could have been avoided if the date was kept she said, “There would have been more absences if we kept the date. That’s what I think.”
Junior Alimah Jalloh agreed with Coach Lubbe’s reasons for the seniors’ loss. “I feel like the seniors—they had good plays but they didn’t execute as well.”
She also did not think the game was rigged. “I feel like they wouldn’t do that to you your senior year. I think the juniors won because we were talented and we did well and we were the best.”
Whatever your theories on why the seniors lost, it’s clear that the flag football tournament is a well-loved Upper School tradition. Thank you to the players, coaches, announcers, referees, and most of all the Athletic Association for putting together such a fun event!
