ACKERMAN — Some 100 county residents gathered Monday night to support Weir Attendance Center in the aftermath of the school’s athletic program being featured in the December edition of Penthouse, a sexually explicit magazine, during the Choctaw County School Board meeting.
The article titled “Country Strong – How did the tiny town of Weir, Mississippi win six high school football state championships and produce six NFL players, not to mention a Major League Baseball All-Star and a Miss America," is a positive article on the athletic achievements of Weir throughout the years.
The placement of the article in the adult magazine came as a shock to those interviewed, who were told the article would be featured in Sports Illustrated.
One in particular was Houston Astros Pitcher Roy Oswalt.
“The guy (freelance writer Merrell Noden) called me from New York and said he worked for Sports Illustrated and he wanted to do a sports story on the town of Weir,” Oswalt said.
Oswalt said he thought that would be a great way to get Weir more exposure.
“It’s the place I grew up and I am proud of it,” Oswalt said.
Unfortunately, Sports Illustrated didn’t want to publish the story.
In a Nov. 9 letter from Noden, to Weir Coach Joe Lynn Gant, it reads, “Anyway, Sports Illustrated didn’t want a second story on Weir, so I shopped it to Penthouse, mainly because I have a good friend who’s the sports editor there.”
“He sold it to the wrong magazine,” Oswalt said. “That’s the way I feel.”
Oswalt’s thoughts are echoed in statement made by the school board.
“The school board was as surprised and shocked as some of you to learn that the article was printed in the Penthouse magazine,” Pennie Brasher, school board president, said. “We had absolutely no knowledge of the writing and the visitation of the writer onto our campus.”
“While most of the article was complimentary of what Weir athletics have been able to accomplish, it certainly could have been published in many other publications that we, as the Choctaw County School Board, along with students, fans, and teachers could have been proud to display,” Brasher continued. “Even though we feel like it was unethical, it was not illegal.
“As your school board we will be setting policy in the near future that prohibits the person or persons to allow this article and invasion to our campus,” Brasher said. “We, the board, apologize for any embarrassment any of you it may have caused.”
Superintendent Arlene Amos said no school policy was broken.
The public was not allowed to address the board on the matter.
Still some residents of the small community believe that the public is being deceived about the article’s placement.
Bob Mamrack, who is the pastor of New Zion Baptist Church and a teacher at Choctaw County’s Alternative School, circulated flyers after the meeting.
“An attempt is already being made to deceive the public into believing that this Penthouse mess was an innocent mistake,” Mamrack said. “Those responsible for shaming our community would have us believe that this article was supposed to be in Sports Illustrated.”
Mamrack went on to say that everyone at Weir Café, everyone at Ackerman High School office and many, many people throughout the county knew this summer that Penthouse was in Weir doing a story.
But in the mind of Wayne Ingram, an alum of the school, Weir will be Weir.
Ingram said under coaches, like Gant, the football team has developed discipline and believing in themselves.
Ingram said Weir would be much worse off without the school and the leadership of coaches. “They teach these kids how to grow up and be good people.” Ingram said.
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