Hooters will host a party for Corbett Middle School, whether they want to show up or not
Leave it to Hooters to maximize the benefit of a fight they never intended to be involved in.
On Tuesday, Prep Rally and a variety of other outlets reported on Corbett Middle School's football team (Corbett, Ore.), where coach Randall Burbach was fired for agreeing to hold the team's celebratory awards dinner at a local Hooters restaurant.
Though Burbach allegedly agreed to host the dinner at Hooters after his athletes voted to hold it there, a number of parents felt that was inappropriate. Corbett athletic director J.P. Soulagnet demanded that the dinner be moved. Burbach refused, and was fired.
Now Hooters has stepped forward, allegedly to honor the team, though probably to capitalize on its newfound fame as well. The restaurant chain sent the following email to Deadspin, which was among the outlets that reported on Burbach's dismissal.
"The Corbett Middle School football players, coaches and their families have earned the right to celebrate a successful, hard-fought season. This Saturday, Nov. 9, Hooters is picking up the tab for an awesome end-of-season football party to honor the team's gridiron success. To top it all off, Hooters will donate $1,000 along with 20 percent of Saturday's Jantzen Beach location sales to Corbett Youth Football so that the entire community can join in celebrating the team's winning season."
Clever Hooters, clever. Not only did the restaurant chain agree to pick up the tab for a middle school football party, it's also donating money to the youth football league that feeds into the school. Whether the impromptu one-off promotion gets Burbach to show up for dinner (and the coach said he would), it can't hurt the restaurant try and broaden its public image, which tends to focus on scantily clad women and not greasy American food.
Perhaps Hooters can give Burbach an endorsement gig. After all, those Dick Vitale ads can only stay relevant for so long. And we know Burbach really does eat the food.
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is the editor of Prep Rally on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at preprallyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
