A decorated South Carolina football coach lost his job with the team after their tradition of eating watermelon after games was seen as "racist" and "inappropriate," the National Review reported on Wednesday.
Bud Walpole was in the middle of a winning season when he was fired.
The traditional began when players bought watermelons en route to a game from a man who was selling them at the side of the road. If they won, they decided they would have a celebratory eating of the watermelon. Because the team didn't have a knife at the sidelines, they smashed the watermelon on the ground to break it apart and eat it when they did win.
This continued at every winning game until a parent from a rival school allegedly complained.
Mike Miller, a Charleston school board member, said a parent accosted him and said he was offended by players eating watermelon. Some of the kids were also allegedly making monkey noises.
Following the complaint, another parent said that school board members held long - winded meetings with each football player at the school to figure out if the watermelon tradition was racially - fueled in any way. The students denied that it was anything more than enjoying victories by indulging in juicy fruit.
The school is allegedly being tight - lipped about why exactly Walpole was fired.
Academic Magnet Athletic Director Curt Hoffman sent a group text to students on Tuesday saying "my focus right now is to help the players and coaches in any way I can, all matters concerning Bud Walpole are personnel matters and as such will not be commented on."
School officials say Andrew Rusciolelli will become the interim head football court, according to CBS Local.
