A slap on the wrist

In this week's View from the Sidelines, I alluded to the fact that Terrelle Pryor and his Jeanette teammates were involved in an altercation after their game Saturday against North Catholic.

The WPIAL, the western arm of the PIAA, was going to make a ruling yesterday (Tuesday) about possible suspensions of players. Well, forget the suspensions, both schools got their wrists slapped.

Here is a story, I pulled off Penn Live:

Don Rebel The WPIAL Board of Control has handed out punishments to both the Jeannette Jayhawks and the North Catholic Trojans boys basketball teams Tuesday evening after a fight between the two teams took place outside the locker room at Hempfield High School following a PIAA quarter-finals state playoff game on Saturday. The penalties handed down did not include any individual suspensions.

Here is a rundown of the sanctions placed on the two schools following a hearing Tuesday in Moon Township:

• The coaches and players from both teams must attend anger-management classes by the end of the school year, and the head coaches Jim Nesser of Jeannette and David Long of North Catholic must attend a coaching education class.

• ALL of the athletic programs at Jeannette and North Catholic were placed on two years' probation. During that time, if ANY sports team is involved in a similar incident, the team will forfeit its rights to qualify for the WPIAL playoffs.

• The coaches, principals and athletic administrators at both schools were publicly censured.

• Jeannette and North Catholic must give the WPIAL a written plan on how athletic contests will be managed in order to ensure a similar incident won't happen again.

With no suspensions levied by the WPIAL, the Jayhawks will be at full force for their PIAA Class AA Semifinals game Wednesday night against North East.

So, here are my comments:

• Since all the schools across the state are required to enforce sportsmanship, why do we spend so much time promoting sportsmanship and read those lengthy announcements before games, if this kind of stuff is allowed to go on.

• I harken back to a few years ago when Trinity and Sto-Rox got into a fight in the state finals and fans poured out of the stands. With those sportsmanship policies in place, why wasn't that game stopped and both teams forced to forfeit their medals?

If the sportsmanship policies of the Lancaster-Lebanon League, District 3 and the PIAA are to work, examples need to be made. Selective enforcement of the policy as I see it, just isn't the way to go.

We don't want to turn our teams, coaches and fans into robots watching games, but sooner or later, proper enforcement of rules has to take place.

So I ask again, why have these policies because there is hardly, if ever, any real discipline handed out.

We'll just keep slapping people on the wrist!

Just received

Editor:

This letter is in regard to a recent article referring to fan/student behavior at the recent basketball game between Columbia High School and Lancaster Catholic High School.
The term “food stamp” was yelled at Columbia High School students and players in an attempt to intimidate and insult the team.
As a director of the Columbia Food Bank let me make it very clear that lack of funds does not directly correlate to a lack of character. On the contrary, a vast majority of the clients we deal with every day who utilize public assistance/food stamps are decent and hard-working individuals who are seeking help to feed themselves and their families during tough times either due to financial difficulties or illness. I know of very few people who have made it through their lifetime without at one time or another needing a helping hand along the way.
The students, fans, faculty and administration of Lancaster Catholic High School should be ashamed of themselves and should make a public apology to the players, students and fans of Columbia High School.
True wealth is what you are, not what you have.

Danielle Peters
Columbia Food Bank

Last night

Was talking to someone last night during halftime of the J.V. game when a small group of Annville-Cleona students entered the Elm.

Some didn't have their shirts on and many had their chests painted A-C colors. Well, guess they didn't understand the L-L League sportsmanship policy. A potential bad situtation was quickly taken care of by the CHS administration and the security.

I wasn't going to make a comment on sportsmanship after reading yesterday's Intell, which ran a story on the lack of sportsmanship across the L-L League on page 1. It upset many when they first saw the story with a picture of the Columbia fans at Monday's game, the reaction was "what did Columbia do now." You had to read the story to find out it was pretty good for Columbia.

I said it 100 times before, there is a sportsmanship policy for the league, district and state. At least at the league level, there is selective enforcement. Until there is a no tolerance policy at ALL games and everyone enforces the rule to the "T," there is no policy.

It's not just the students that can be brutal either. There are some great student sections throughout the L-L League and District 3. I can remember last year being at a game at a Lebanon County School, complaining to a security officer about that school's student section. The officer said go see the principal. Well folks, the principal was near the student section and failed to do anything.
There are two schools in Section 4 that Columbia plays that also has selective enforcement.

So my question why do we read or state the sportsmanship policy before the game? I saw two examples of what I would term marginal sportsmanship within the last 24 hours. One was on TV last night, in another "important" Section 4 game and another was a picture in the paper this morning, that in the one corner, it showed students standing during the game. If there are 24 schools in the L-L League, there are 24 different ways that the rules are enforced.

If we talking about sportsmanship, there should be one policy and one way of enforcing it, not 24.

Sorry for the rant.

Have fun in the stands

I’ve been reading a lot not only in the local newspapers, but a certain web site as well, about fan conduct at basketball games this season.
Earlier in the year, a couple of student sections were cleared out at games because of bad behavior.
Last week, Sunday News staff writer Mike Gross wrote an article about the sportsmanship of fans throughout the Lancaster-Lebanon League.
There were a number of incidents mentioned in the story, including some chants at the last Columbia and Lancaster Catholic game.
I’ve been to gyms all over the Lancaster-Lebanon League, the state and District 3. It wasn’t that long ago that Trinity played Sto-Rox in the state finals, where the fans emptied onto the floor at the Giant Center because of a brawl.
I thought then and still think to this day, that both teams could have been striped of their medals. But, it didn’t happen.
So why am I writing this now and why have I written about this in the past. Well, first off there’s a big game on Monday night and it was mentioned in Gross’ article about how that other school meets with its students about sportsmanship. I will not comment on that.
Then, I’ve been reading about problems over at Manheim Township, where the school is taping the student sections. I understand Hempfield does the same.
I know the L-L League, just like District 3 and the PIAA have sportsmanship policies in place.
I can remember last year at Pequea Valley, complaining about the conduct of their students and nothing was done.
My feeling is and always will be, that is a policy exists, it need sto be enforced equally at every school and not enforced by what school is visiting. It shouldn’t be up to the schools to pick and choose what part of the policy they want to enforce.
It’s almost to me like how different some officials officiate during the regular season and in the playoffs.
Poor sportsmanship has filtered down to the youth level.
I guess what I’m trying to say that fans need to be on their best behavior and not try to bring attention to their schools. That’s how schools get bad reputations.
Schools should also promote in the right way of how the student bodies get involved in the right way.
I think video taping of fans, at the high school level, is a little too much. But selective enforcement of sportsmanship policies isn’t the right answer either.
Let’s keep it clean Monday night and enjoy the biggest game of the season!