Leave it to those nutty kids at Riverhead High School on Long Island to cause a stir.

Or create a ‘Wave’ as it were … as in the school’s mascot.

But even Connor Carroll or Tyler Carroll, two of the students involved in the admitted prank of “Tebowing” in a school hallway during class change time during a recent school day must not have known how much publicity their  act would draw.

From coverage on ESPN’s Sportscenter, since they are student-athletes at the school, to an interview spot on Saturday’s Fox and Friends, the Carroll’s have drawn plenty of attention to the school on the North Fork.

The kids appear to be honest and admitted they were joking around with their Tebow stance. They also indicated they weren’t issued a warning, but were instead suspended a day for blocking the hallways with a group of other Tebowing students.

In the interest of full-disclosure I served as a “permanent sub” at the school for five years and I don’t understand why a teacher in the hallway just didn’t quickly break up the gathering and get the students to move along.

Seems like no big deal, as teachers are told to stand out in the hallways in between classes.

Instead the school’s administration flexed its muscle and made an example of the pair, garnering negative publicity for a school in desperate need of POSITIVE publicity.

Hmmmmm… seems like a bit of an overreaction, one in which the district is paying a bit of price with ugly and unnecessary threats coming in.

“I’ve got over 100 emails from people around the country,” principal David Wicks told Newsday. “Our phone’s been ringing off the hook. The majority of those displeased are going along the lines of us being anti-Christian.”

I tell you what, I wouldn’t have minded running the ISS room the day those guys served their “sentence”.  I had enough days with misbehaving quarterbacks like Bryan Hale and Eddie Wansor  to fill a calendar … joking on the latter, though the former could be a “character”.

Anyway, praying for real would be what Tim Tebow wants for you guys. Pray it forward, especially for some of the adults who are supposed to be in charge of you and setting a good example.

Check out Matt’s features on the New York Yankees at: http://yanksgoyard.com/author/mattster/