Coach firing sparks furor
By Anne Cook
Friday February 6, 2004
by John Dixon
Former Franklin Middle School seventh- and eighth-grade basketball coach Todd Anderson hugs his players at an impromptu rally held by players and parents in support of the coach on Thursday evening. Anderson, a Champaign firefighter, was fired after coaching at the school for six years.
CHAMPAIGN – On the eve of a regional basketball championship game, Champaign school officials fired a popular Franklin Middle School coach who admits he pushed a player down on the bench.
That player: Superintendent Arthur Culver's seventh-grade son, Alexander, who coach Todd Anderson says swore at him when he removed him from the game because he was playing poorly. Culver, who attended the Wednesday sectional game at Tolono's Unity Junior High School, took his son home before the game ended with a Franklin victory.
News-Gazette Archive
The full story is available in our paid story archive.
Find this article at:
http://www.news-gazette.com/news/2004/02/06/coach_firing_sparks_furor
