I see where the Illinois High School Association reinstated all-stater Jerome Richmond of Waukegan in time for the 6-foot-7 junior forward to play in his Class 4A sectional against highly touted Zion-Benton.
Interesting...he'd been automatically disqualified for that game because he collected two technical fouls in the previous game, an 80-50 win over Palatine-Fremd in the regional finals. 'T' No. 2 was for hanging on the rim on a bush-league slam dunk in the fourth quarter. With 4:39 remaining, a teammate, on a breakaway, with a huge lead at the time, popped the ball off the backboard for the trailing Richmond instead of just laying it in. Real classy, huh?
Richmond missed the high-flying dunk opportunity, but was whistled for hanging on the rim, his second 'T' of the game, an automatic ejection and disqualification for the next game. After his coach argued the call to no avail, claiming he didn't hang, the refs conferred as a group and upheld the call.
The Illinois High School Association subsequently overruled, saying it wasn't a technical because he didn't hang on the play. So, my question is, since when does a state athletic association overrule a judgment call? And should the technical free throws Fremd's Dan Bruno subsequently hit be wiped out? Should the game just be replayed from that point?
And if I was one of those refs, I'd tell my IHSA overseers where to stick their judgment. What the IHSA apparently didn't consider well enough here is that it just opened the door for every judgment call in every game of every sport to be appealed. And where are my fellow prep journalism brethren in protesting this or calling this oversight into account?
I sincerely hope that ad infinitum every coach in Illinois in every sport who disagrees with a call made by a ref subsequently takes it to the IHSA, flooding them with appeals, especially now that they've opened the door and set a precedent.
And by the way, Coach Ashlaw at Waukegan, if that's the kind of play you're tolerating from your kids, you should have gotten a technical. Memo to Bruce Weber at Illinois: Are you still recruiting this kid? Memo to Chicago Sun-Times: Are you sure he's your Player of the Year?
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So I see where NHL general managers are gathering to try to curtail fighting in the game. Good luck. These guys are goons on and off the ice. Need proof?
Colleague Barry Rozner at The Daily Herald recently applauded Colton Orr of the NY Rangers for walking away from a fight he would've won by TKO when his opponent's jersey was pulled up over his head, subsequently blinding him, giving Barry pause to say not all NHL'ers are goons. Maybe so.
But they're rotten tippers. Rotten. My Columbia College Chicago students who hustle to pay their bills as servers at restaurants around the city tell me pro hockey players routinely tip 5-10 percent, if that, regardless of the amount of the bill or the size of the party they're with.
And as long as Todd Bertuzzi is earning an NHL paycheck somewhere, NHL'ers are goons. Period. I love ya' Barry and you've earned all the best-columnist awards you've received (hey, I voted for you). You are regularly out front of the competition on so many things. But you are wrong on this one.
Dead wrong. Don't ask me, ask the family that just buried a late Canadian senior amateur player. Outlaw fighting? No. Curtail fighting. Absolutely!
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Howard Schlossberg is an associate professor of journalism at Columbia College Chicago (http://www.colum.edu/) and a sports correspondent for The Daily Herald (http://www.dailyherald.com/). He also serves on the editorial advisory board of and contributes to The Journal of Sports Media (http://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/ and www.olemiss.edu/depts/journalism/JSMindex.html).
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