Column: Crosby-Ironton fan conduct more than disappointing

MINNEAPOLIS — Chloe Johnson made a courageous choice earlier this year.

The Duluth Marshall eighth-grade girls basketball standout decided to reveal her battle with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), general anxiety disorder and a rare childhood condition known as selective mutism.

Duluth Marshall lost to Crosby-Ironton 96-66 on March 6 in the Section 7AA semifinal, but it's what was posted on social media by Johnson's dad, Greg, that caused many to pause afterward. It will make any parent of a child with a developmental delay or disability fume.

In a Facebook post, Johnson said "to end the season with Crosby-Ironton fan section chanting 'OCD, OCD, OCD' when Chloe had the ball was not something we were prepared for. Chloe is a strong kid, but just a kid. It took a lot of strength for her to be vulnerable and to share her story, but she wanted to. I simply don't understand how people would choose to ridicule her."

The chant from the student section was later confirmed by others in attendance. The Crosby-Ironton girls basketball Facebook account said in a post after the game that its "fans were impressive tonight." The post has since been deleted.

Jennifer Strom, principal at Crosby-Ironton Secondary School, said the staff member who made the post wasn't aware of the "OCD" chant. Days later, Strom told the Star Tribune that the school investigated the incident and met with four students about the chants. Strom said the students were punished, but declined to say how or go into specifics.

"The behavior is certainly not something that we encourage or tolerate," Strom said.

Strom then said administrators talked with the entire student body the day after the game about expectations for cheer sections and how the school "would not tolerate negative or targeted cheering" going forward.

That March 6 section semifinal game was played in Cloquet, and it took Cloquet Activites Director Paul Riess to notice what was happening to Johnson. Riess said Crosby-Ironton Activities Director Cley Twigg and Strom were informed of the behavior, but only after it happened.

Riess told the Duluth News Tribune that he and other site managers monitored the Rangers' student section the rest of the game without incident. It appears Crosby-Ironton administrators weren't watching their own students, but relying on others to do so.

I got some first-hand experience with the Crosby-Ironton student section on Friday, March 15, in the Class 2A state girls basketball tournament quarterfinals against heavily favored Providence Academy at Williams Arena. I was covering the Albany girls basketball team's semifinal game against Minnehaha Academy , and also wanted to watch Providence Academy standout Maddyn Greenway go up against Crosby-Ironton star Tori Oehrlein.

Greenway and the Lions dominated the game and won handily by a score of 92-54. Even down by 30 and 40 points, the Crosby-Ironton student section proved they had learned nothing from their previous verbal diarrhea.

The Rangers' fans directed their ire toward Greenway, the daughter of former Minnesota Vikings linebacker Chad Greenway. Here's just a sample of what I heard from press row:

• "Hey Greenway, stop riding your dad's ----."
• "Your dad doesn't like you, Maddyn."
• "All you do is ride your dad's coattails, Maddyn."

There were more chants about the Greenway family that I don't even want to repeat. Maddyn Greenway is a sophomore in high school.

Dan Williamson / Duluth Media Group

I noticed immediately there were no Crosby-Ironton administrators standing by their student section. After what happened earlier in the month, you'd think an activities director or anyone from the school district would have gotten the idea that having supervision around their students would be a wise choice. Clearly, that light bulb hasn't gone off yet.

I watched other schools' fan sections at the state tournament and there were clearly admins talking to the students about what was appropriate and what wasn't. Not Crosby-Ironton.

What these Crosby-Ironton kids (who were mostly males) proved to me is that the human brain definitely isn't fully developed until we hit 25 to 27 years of age. No parents, no coaches and most importantly, no administrators did anything to stop their students' ire toward Greenway. And clearly no one was there to stop it in time against Johnson on March 6.

I'm a dad with a 9-year-old boy with autism spectrum disorder who also has ADHD and battles anxiety. Our lives were changed because of our son's diagnosis when he was 3, but he was diagnosed early and the strides he's made both physically and mentally are amazing to see. I couldn't be more proud of him.

When I read what happened to Johnson, my blood boiled. If what happened to Johnson had happened to my son, I don't know what I would have done. I know I wouldn't have handled it well.

To say my blood was boiling again when I saw it myself on March 15 is an understatement. I turned around and stared at the Crosby-Ironton boys making these statements toward Greenway. They were laughing, having a good time while knowing no consequences were headed their way. Oh, to be a care-free, adolescent idiot.

The entire Crosby-Ironton School District should be ashamed of what we witnessed from them over the past month.

Not only did they make small-town Minnesota schools look like uneducated, unsympathetic hicks, they also clearly don't understand the long-term effects their actions could have on these players or the school's reputation.