Scooping Through

A year ago I published a piece on the SportsFive Blog about going to a game and watching a track team ignore the playing of the National Anthem that was being played as part of the lacrosse game.

I never mentioned the name of the school, but a couple of days later I received a very thoughtful e-mail from the Athletic Director at the school. Apparently there were readers who also were concerned and sent the link to the AD. I was impressed by the professionalism of his note and at the end of it he stated that he was going to work to make sure that it didn't happen again. It was a priority for him.

I'm pleased to report that this week I was back on that field and again and this time when the Anthem was played the track folks who, this time were more than a field's distance from the stadium, all stopped and faced the flag. A number of students had their hands over the hearts and they served as a wonderful backdrop as I faced the flag. When the Anthem concluded, they went right back to work.

This is the way it is supposed to be but I was taken by two thoughts as I waited for the game to begin. First that all the students at the school stopped and second that the Athletic Director was not only true to his word, but had effective achieved the goal. It was very impressive.

Now. . . there was this one visiting parent walking back and forth in front of the flag pole... Oh well.

It's vacation week in Section Five land and a bunch of great match ups are scheduled, although some will require that you get out of work early.

In a possible tournament time game, Victor and Aquinas start off the week on Monday night (at AQ).

Seven games are scheduled for Tuesday and some are big ones. Canandaigua is at Fairport (2:00), Schroeder and Penn Yan get it on at McAvoy (1:00), Geneva is at McQuaid and Thomas is at Irondequoit.

On Thursday Penn Yan is at Fairport(2:00) Livonia is at RH (5:00) and Geneva is at AQ.

On Friday Greece Arc/Oly hosts Bloomfield-Honeoye (11:00) and one team will come out with an exciting win.

On Saturday Corning East will be at Canandaigua (11:00) and Schroeder will be at Amherst.

The rest of the games during the week should be predictable, but it's great when there are upsets. Did I miss one?

As for the "Game of the Week", my favorite is CA and CE. Here we have teams that have great tradition, a large group of excellent players and good coaching. It's not uncommon for a Corning East game to get canceled, but the weather looks at this point and there should be no reason not to play. Corning East might not be as loaded as in some years, and CA is playing very well. Either way, there are lots of bragging available to the winner.

Who do you like and what are your predictions for other games this week?

Although Bath started us off with their 12-8 win last weekend, the 2008 season starts in earnest by the end of the week concluding with 14 games on Saturday.

Aquinas starts of on Thursday hosting St. Francis (Buffalo). Penn Yan opens on Friday night, hosting Amherst.

On Saturday its HFL-Churchville Chili, Schroeder-Pittsford and Fairport-Penfield at Paetec Park. Arc/Oly-Spencerport, Batavia-Ath/Ody, Gates Chili-Brockport and Hilton-Eastridge will play at McAvoy Park. Mynderse-Bath, St. Joseph (Buffalo)-Aquinas, Canandaigua-McQuaid and Newark-Livonia will play at Aquinas and Thomas will play at Brighton.

It looks like there are some interesting match ups here, but I think the game that will draw the most interest will be Penfield vs Fairport (2:15 at Paetec Park). Although it's probably not as "meaningful" this early in the season, someone will be the winner. Will it be close or a blow-out?

Home-team fans will pick some of the others as the game of the week. I also like Penn Yan hosting Amherst (Friday 6:30) as a potentially exciting game, although I would have preferred to see this one mid-season.

Who do you like and what are your predictions?

The Washington (State) Supreme Court ruled yesterday that random drug testing of athletes violates the State Constitution as it relates to random searches.

The Wahkiakum School District, recognizing a “real problem” with athlete use of drugs and alcohol, started, in 1999, a program that randomly tested athletes in order to look for the used of alcohol and drugs. Aaron and Abraham York and Tristan Schneider played sports for Wahkiakum High School, agreed to the policy, and were tested. Their parents, with the help of the ACLU, filed suit against the District stating that the Washington State Constitution did not allow the searches without a warrant.

The Washington Superior Court sided with the school district although they stated that the policy "approached the tolerance limit" of the State Constitution. The case was later accepted for review by the State Supreme Court.

Although the United States Supreme Court has ruled that such random drug testing is legal, the Washington Court found that their State Constitution was more limiting on such behavior.

There does not seem to be much doubt the program at Wahkiakum and a number of other communities was helping to reduce the drug and alcohol use among athletes. The Lake Stevens District, for example saw a twenty percent decrease in suspensions after implementing testing in 2005.

Although the Washington case applies only to the state of Washington (as a result of their Constitution), much of the rest of the country is still free to implement testing of athletes.

What do you think about such testing? Is it a tool to help young people make better decisions about the daily use of drugs and alcohol or is it an unreasonable tactic by those who control athletic programs?

There are eleven new Head Lacrosse Coaches in Section Five this season for ten teams. With a more than thirty percent turnover rate, we must ask, "How Come?"

Gone are Joe Hussar at Batavia, replaced by Chuck Hammon, Logan Roberts at Churchville-Chili replaced by David Child, Tom MacMillan at HFL replaced by Todd Morgan and Sam Cassarino at Arcadia/Olympia replaced by John Kleehamer. Brett Wood has replaced John Sciera at Livonia and Paul Jordan takes over for Scott Bryson at McQuaid.

Joe Hill takes over for Enzo Falso at Pal-Mac while Jim DeWald steps up for Mike Gottko at Rush-Henrietta.

Henry Kuperus and Matt Groot will be Co-Head Coaches as they assume the leadership position from Bill Kirnie at Newark. Jack Beaney will be the first Head Coach at a combined Bloomfield-Honeoye team this season.

That's quite a bit of turnover in one year. One would ask why so many in one year. Is it because the job is draining, or because there are so many responsibilities? Is it parents issues, or lack of commitment by players? Do young coaches leave when they learn how much there is to do? Are we expecting to see shorter tenure among new coaches?

I have a feeling that all of the above are factors, but also know that experience, that comes only with many seasons, makes a difference when trying to help young players learn the game, and the value of the game.

Why do you think we are seeing the turnover and what do you think needs to be done to help give new coaches the time they need?