To bite the hand that feeds you. If someone bites the hand that feeds them, they behave badly or in an ungrateful way towards someone who they depend on. This is the www.collinsdictionary.com definition of the phrase: a concept that football players would come to know as of Sept. 5.
As managers, sophomore Grace Owen, junior Karly Moore and senior Hayden Bruey face the task of filling and handing out water to players. Aside from that, upon the absence of the athletic trainer Elizabeth Brown, they assist in taping cuts or injuries. Bruey said that she does not think bystanders are aware of all the things managers do.
“When people see us they just automatically think ‘water girls’,” Bruey said. “When people go to games, they don’t go to pay attention to the girls filling up water, they pay attention to the guys on the field.”
The managers said that the players would never say ‘thank you’ and occasionally throw the bottles. Finally, after Brown overheard players complaining about the warmth of their water, she took her concerns to head coach Chris Jaxx.
“They would complain about the water not being cold. It’s common sense that ice melts, so the water is not always going to be cold,” Bruey said. “They just have to realize that.”
For the following days, players were required to retrieve their own water, with the exception of the Sept. 6 game against Buhler. Bruey said that the team ran out of water at practice on two different occasions.
“We had the injured players, they helped out a lot,” senior Zachary Hill said. “They [the injured players] helped out with more than they should have, but it’s still different from when the managers did it.”
Hill said that not all of the players were to blame for not saying thank you, yet he can understand how the managers felt. He believes those guilty of disrespect have learned a lesson.
“I think it taught the guys that weren’t being appreciative of the water that it can be taken away,” Hill said. “They need to appreciate it.”