|
|
JANUARY/FEBRUARY
February 8, 2019 - Racine, WI - Strange But True: Wisconsin Judge Overturns A Sports Official's Judgment Call. See Judge Overrules WIAA, Halter Gets To Wrestle, reported by Adam Rogan, Racine Journal-Times. Parents and schools have gone to court before to dispute calls that decide games or result in an ejection, but they almost never win. The prevailing judicial logic was best expressed by Oklahoma Judge in a 2014 case. Jones said,"This slippery slope of solving athletic contests in court instead of on campus will inevitably usher in a new era of robed referees and meritless litigation due to disagreement with or disdain for decisions of gaming officials.” That about said it all .. but it didn't say it all in Wisconsin where a judge literally became the referee and reversed an official's call.
The sad thing about the Wisconsin case is that the official didn't have to overturn the official's judgment call. It wasn't legally necessary to do so. This case involves a wrestler who was ejected for unsportsmanlike conduct. The wrestler was ejected for flexing and allegedly swearing to celebrate a win. The ejection resulted in a suspension. The school then claimed that it entered the wrestler in a JV tournament to have him serve the suspension. This didn't pass muster with the WIAA, which required the varsity wrestler and defending State champion wrestler to serve the suspension in his next varsity match, which was round one of the State tournament; effectively resulting in the wrestler being DQd from the tournament.
The judge ruled that the wrestling officials made a bad call ... but that meant that the judge became a wrestling referee. This is poor work by the judge, and it wasn't necessary. There are two grounds of attack that the judge passed on. First, the judge could have ruled that WIAA rules aren't clear on whether the suspension could be served at the JV level. Second, the judge could have ruled that it is not clear whether WIAA rules clearly define this action as unsportsmanlike (which is a bit of a shaky argument, but far less damaging than having judges become referees).
This poor ruling did result in an NASO editorial on February 11th. NASO properly notes that judges becoming referees places us all on a slippery slope. The NASO is correct. The judge issued a results based decision, and could have gotten that result in a better manner. You can see the WIAA and NASO's position in the following article. Referees, WIAA Fear Wrestling Court Ruling Will Have Problematic Statewide Implications, reported by Adam Rogan, Racine Journal Times, Feb. 12, 2019. Now, this case isn't necessarily over. The current ruling is a temporary injunction. The standard for the judge is to determine whether to suspend the WIAA's decision by balancing the chance of irreparable harm to the wrestler against the WIAA's likelihood for success on the merits of the case. Generally, if an agency follows its rules, it will win on appeal, which generally means that the wrestler would have had a very slim chance for success. If the WIAA appeals, they probably win, but this creates the issue of what to do about their wrestling tournament. Do they postpone it? Do they let the wrestler compete, and then forfeit him out later? There are no good options here. Bad law creates real world problems.
--------------------------------------------
January 31, 2019 - Columbia, MO - Mizzou Football Team Banned From Bowl this Season As Part Of Academic Fraud Penalties, reported by Blair Kerkhoff, Sam McDowell, and Alex Schiffer, Kansas City Star.
-------------------------
January 31, 2019 - Atlanta, GA - Grady High School Suspends Cheerleading Team For Bad Behavior, reported by Vanessa McCray, Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
-------------------------
January 28, 2019 - Wyandanch - Long Island, NY - 1 Hurt, 1 Arrested In Wild Brawl During Wyandanch High School Basketball Game, ABC - TV (New York), January 29, 2019.
----------------------------
January 27, 2019 - Where are the football players going? The answer might surprise you as parents who pull their kids from football are placing them in other high concussion risk sports. See Wealthy Parents Are Shying Away From Football, But Not From Low-Concussion Sports, reported by Bob Cook, Forbes.com. And, the reader should note that the headline should read, "Not From High - Concussion Sports" as the whole point of Cook's article is that parents who are pulling their kids from football because of its high concussion risk are placing the children in other high concussion risk sports. It's enough to make a football fan a little paranoid. But, maybe the point is that football is unacceptably high risk to the wealthy parents who are the subject of the article while other high concussion sports may have a high risk, but that high risk is deemed acceptable for any of a great number of reasons.
----------------------------------------
January 26, 2019 - Farmington, ME - Alleged Racial Slur Roils Maine High School. See Mt. Blue Investigating Alleged Racial Incident In Boys' Basketball Game Against Cony, reported by Drew Bonifant, Lewiston (ME) Sun Journal.
--------------------------
January 22, 2019 - The Fight Over The Future of Football Has Become a Battle For California's Soul, reported by Michael Weinreb, The Ringer
---------------------------
January 22, 2019 – Seattle, WA - Legal – High School Football Coach Fired Because He Prayed On Field. See Supreme Court Denies Bremerton Coach Kennedy’s Prayer Case, MyNorthwest.com.
-------------------
January 19, 2019 – Fairfax, OH - Parents Charged After Fight Outside Youth Basketball Game, reported by Dan Griffin, WLWT – TV (Cincinnati) ------------------------
January 13, 2019 – Portland, Me - Certified Trainers Keep Athletes Safe From Injury. So Why Do So Few Maine Schools Have Them? reported by Steve Craig, Portland Press Herald.
--------------------------
January 12, 2019 - Richmond, CA - What Will Football Helmets Look Like In Future? UC Berkeley Scientists May Know, reported by Al Saracevic, San Francisco Chronicle. The promise of that magic helmet looms large. We want this, but the promise of the perfect helmet has led many people to fall prey to bad equipment and bad advertising. Hopefully, this one's different.
--------------------------
January 10, 2019 – Tucson, AZ – Basketball Official Who Reportedly Asked For Pueblo High Team’s Green Cards Fired, reported by Norma Gonzalez, Arizona Daily Star.
---------------------
------------------------------
LATEST COLLINS ARTICLES/INFORMATION
Association Intervention, Referee Magazine, May 2018, page 80 (National Association of Sports Officials).
FROM THE ARCHIVES
December 24, 2017 - Mexico - Another Soccer Referee Is Killed By A Player. Mexican Referee Dies In Hospital After Being Attacked By Player He Sent Off, Sports Illustrated, January 1, 2018.
--------------------------------
August, 2015 - Title IX has done a lot for girls, but the benefits of Title IX are slower to trickle down to schools with high concentrations of minority and low-income students. See Finishing Last: Girls of Color and School Sports Opportunities, National Women's Law Center Report.
----------------------------------------
Of The People, By The People: How To Ensure That Legislators Hear Your Voice, Referee Magazine, July 2001 page 42 (co-authored by Jennifer Rardin).
