Sports Etiquette 101: Losing Your Spot

By: Dave Martinez | April 15th, 2009

Turn on sports talk radio any time of the day. Surely, there will be a discussion about TEAM A losing a key player to injury, and ROOKIE A taking his spot. If ROOKIE A does an outstanding job in said players place, the grand old debate will begin: Should the incumbent player lose his starting position to the upstart rookie? Or is it completely wrong to lose your job to injury?

Now let’s bring the hypothetical to real life.

Jon Conway lost his starting position as the Red Bulls keeper for taking an “illegal supplement.” When given a chance to clarify his position, Conway was closely guarded to say the least. But one thing seems to be fact in all of this; he took an over the counter supplement who’s adverse effects caused this positive testing. In my view, such an innocent (yet mindless) infraction should not be a reason to lose you’re starting spot.

Enter Danny Cepero. After a successful season in USL-1 with the Islanders, Red Bull called up the back up keeper to fill in Jon Conway’s shoes. And he accomplished that, and more. Danny Cepero came up with some incredible, key saves that salvaged a dreary 2008 season. In fact, he came up so large, he took the team to the promised land (along with Juan Pablo Angel of course.) and nearly completed the task of bringing the gold home.

Conway’s suspension lead into this season. Four games into it actually. And following his accolades last season, Cepero was the obvious starting choice. But just when the question of whether Conway would inherit his spot old spot again, Danny Cepero loses his starting spot to a concussion for this weekends RSL clash.

Now, if Conway secures the teams first win of the season, the conundrum will come to life; does Conway become the teams starter after losing his spot unjustly, or should Cepero get his spot back in net as this seasons starting keeper? It is a tough call. And that is why I am going to leave it in your lap!

What do you think about this forthcoming keeper drama? Share your thoughts below.