Contact lense stoppage

[Mark Dexter]

Originally posted by WinterWillie

Mark

I just went thru the IAABO Connecticut State Board of Basketball Officals Annual Directory for the State of Connecticut 2003-2004 and I also went thru the IAABO National Directory of Basketball Officials-High School Edition. I did
not see you listed in either publication. Are you a basketball official?

Nope - but I know quite a few who are listed in those directories.

I think everyone got it right about my CT status (I am still a legal resident).

Of course, as to what school I attend . . . . . . . . Tony, I'm looking in your direction . . .

[BktBallRef]

Originally posted by Mark Dexter
O course, as to what school I attend . . . . . . . Tony, I'm looking in your direction . . .

LOL!

I guess that means it's GW!

But just to verify, have you ever seen a CIAC official request that this information be put in the book?

[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

I have officiated close to 200 hundred games with CT basketball officials and I have never had one do this. I just don't know where WinterWillie is coming from.

MTD, Sr.

[WinterWillie]

Originally posted by Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.
I have officiated close to 200 hundred games with CT basketball officials and I have never had one do this. I just don't know where WinterWillie is coming from.

MTD, Sr.

You obviously do not officiate games in my state. Each year, every basketball official in the state is required to attend mandatory interpretation meetings (with severe penalties for non attendance) where all rules the state association
instituted are discussed. The IAABO state interpreter (who also happens to be the local interpreter for my board) is the person who goes over these rules. The CAS/CIAC has been known to impose very stringent restrictions upon the public schools with in the state. The most recent controversy with the CAS/CIAC happened this weekend when three HS girls (varsity basketball players) attended an alumni game at a local HS and because of a shortage of players, were asked to participate by one of their coaches. The CAS/CIAC has declared these three HS ineligible and banned them from competiton for the rest of the basketball season. (Read the following article which was in todays newspaper)

CIAC lacks compassion

Wednesday, January 14, 2004

MILLS COLUMN

It is a clear-cut violation. They broke the rules. Ignorance is no defense.

Three basketball players from Lewis Mills High School, a junior and two sophomores, have been told to hand in their uniforms. They played for a matter of minutes in an alumni basketball game. Not enough alums showed up so a few athletes came out of the stands to help. They took a couple of turns around the floor. They never broke a sweat. They gave a couple of geezers a rest. That is the sum total of their violation.

But then the bureaucrats in the fancy suits and the plush offices decided this behavior to be so heinous that these three players have been banned from playing basketball for their high school team for the rest of the season. Think about that. This is only a game. It is an extracurricular activity designed to augment a teenager's educational experience. But these players, so it is judged, no longer merit that experience. All the wonderful things we associate with playing a simple game is now denied to them.

If the story wasn't so tragic it would almost make you laugh.

The lords of high school sports, the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference are just doing their

job. But I wonder, are they doing their job well? We've beaten them up in the past over similar issues. It is a pointless exercise, really, but we do it because we hope that someday they'll realize that they love their rules too much, that the worship of legal jargon has blinded them to justice.

To be fair, this eligibility rule grew out of need. Once upon a time young athletes, who understood only the love of a game, were pawns in the hands of powerful men. Young men played games on weekends for club teams, and they played under assumed names. The athletes were simply in pursuit of another chance to play a game. Dishonest men and crooked coaches used the innocent to earn glory.

Eligibility rules are a necessary part of the scholastic sports equation. Every team deserves a fair and equal opportunity to achieve success. That's why the CIAC established rules for when you can start training, when you can play and, most importantly it seems, when you cannot play.

If you hang out around high school sports long enough, you begin to understand clearly that there is no such thing as fair and equal in this world. There are high school baseball teams that go south for a week of spring training. There are swim teams that train in warmer climates over the holidays. Wrestling teams, cross country teams, softball teams, you name the sport, there are schools that benefit from a huge competitive advantage because they aggressively raise funds to attend camps, or buy better equipment, or higher more coaches.

And yet the best the CIAC can do to level the proverbial playing field is banish three kids for three months. Does anyone believe that those few minutes of court time will give these players a competitive advantage over the rest of the Berkshire League?

Basketball players dream about pick-up games the way oil barons dream about gushers. A pick-up game played in a schoolyard does not violate CIAC rules. But donating your time to a charity event, or in this case, just being a good kid who wanted to help, carries with it a death penalty.

Here's the awful truth about this so-called violation: If the scoreboard hadn't been turned on, if no one kept a score book, the game wouldn't have been "official." If it isn't official, rules were not broken.

But instead, they've branded three players as cheaters. Professional athletes take illegal substances, college athletes who don't have jobs drive around in fancy sports cars, and yet a couple of kids from Lewis Mills are banned for the season. How dumb is that?

The decision will be appealed. On occasion the CIAC has changed a ruling. There seems little chance that this will be one of those occasions. As we said at the top, a rule was broken. We can only hope that someday our beloved rules will be administered with compassion.

Joe Palladino is a Republican-American staff writer. He can be e-mailed at [email protected]

The lords of HS sports, the CIAC, don't tell me what they can
and cannot do.

[WinterWillie]

Originally posted by BktBallRef

LOL!

I guess that means it's GW!

But just to verify, have you ever seen a CIAC official request that this information be put in the book?

We are not CIAC officials. We are IAABO officials. The CIAC is the governing body for high school sports in the state and establishes the rules concerning high school sports. (see newsparper article posted in reply to Mark DeNucci, Sr.)

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally posted by WinterWillie

We are not CIAC officials. We are IAABO officials. The CIAC is the governing body for high school sports in the state and establishes the rules concerning high school sports. (see newsparper article posted in reply to Mark DeNucci, Sr.)
[/B]

Willie, you still didn't answer Mark's question.

Is it MANDATED by the CIAC through your IAABO state interpreter that coaches MUST designate players who wear contact lenses in the score book before the game starts, and if they don't a time-out will be charged to that team if that player loses a contact and needs to replace it?

Just tell us "yes" or "no". If "yes", I'm sure that Mark can contact your state IAABO rep and confirm that. Mark's on several IAABO committees, and has many contacts.

[Dan_ref]

Originally posted by Jurassic Referee
...Mark's on several IAABO committees, and has many contacts.

Do you mean he wears many contacts (more than 2 anyway) at any particular time or do you mean he owns many sets of contacts...anyway I do not see how Mark is an authority simply because he wears contacts...

(Sorry, I couldn't stop myself.)

[BktBallRef]

Originally posted by WinterWillie

We are not CIAC officials. We are IAABO officials. The CIAC is the governing body for high school sports in the state and establishes the rules concerning high school sports. (see newsparper article posted in reply to Mark DeNucci, Sr.)

Without regard to whether you're an IAABO, a CIAC, or an ABCDEFG official, I have now heard from 1 scorer and 3 other officials who officiate basketball in the state of Connecticut. All four tell me that they've NEVER been told, nor have they ever seen another official rquire the information to be placed in the book.

Evidently, you're the only official in the entire state who does this.

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally posted by Dan_ref

Do you mean he wears many contacts (more than 2 anyway) at any particular time or do you mean he owns many sets of contacts...anyway I do not see how Mark is an authority simply because he wears contacts...

(Sorry, I couldn't stop myself.)

I'm sorry that you couldn't stop yourself too.

Jerry Krause??

[Edited by Jurassic Referee on Jan 14th, 2004 at 11:03 AM]

[Dan_ref]

Originally posted by Jurassic Referee

I'm sorry that you couldn't stop yourself too.

Gonna take your walk today? Make it a nice long one!

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally posted by Dan_ref
[/B]

Gonna take your walk today? Make it a nice long one!

[/B][/QUOTE]Believe it or not, on ol' CrankyA$$' agenda this afternoon is making a snowman with his granddaughter. She's doing the heavy lifting and I'm helping with the decorating.

Of course,that's after her and I have a walk. She insists on that(gramma got to her). Oh well,maybe we'll see a robin.

We do snow angels too!

[Dan_ref]

Originally posted by Jurassic Referee

Jerry Krause??

[Edited by Jurassic Referee on Jan 14th, 2004 at 11:03 AM]

Hey, he was coming to NY one way or the other, only question was would George or Isiah pay for the move.

[BktBallRef]

Originally posted by Jurassic Referee
Believe it or not, on ol' CrankyA$$' agenda this afternoon is making a snowman with his granddaughter. She's doing the heavy lifting and I'm helping with the decorating.

Of course,that's after her and I have a walk. She insists on that(gramma got to her). Oh well,maybe we'll see a robin.

We do snow angels too!

Stay away from the yellow snow!

Anybody who hires Jerry Krause is an idiot. I guess that means George will probably get to him first.

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally posted by BktBallRef
[/B]

Anybody who hires Jerry Krause is an idiot. I guess that means George will probably get to him first.

[/B][/QUOTE]He already has. The Yankee's hired him as a scout yesterday.

[WinterWillie]

Originally posted by Jurassic Referee

Willie, you still didn't answer Mark's question.

Is it MANDATED by the CIAC through your IAABO state interpreter that coaches MUST designate players who wear contact lenses in the score book before the game starts, and if they don't a time-out will be charged to that team if that player loses a contact and needs to replace it?

Just tell us "yes" or "no". If "yes", I'm sure that Mark can contact your state IAABO rep and confirm that. Mark's on several IAABO committees, and has many contacts.
[/B]

You obviously don't believe me so go to the source:
http://www.casciac.org

In what state are you an official?