losing team wants ref apology
 

Based on the headline: Good grief.

After reading it, this quote says it all: There is so much wrong with this assessment, I don't need to see the play. I really hope the OHSAA comes out and says it was absolutely the right call.

Looks like from the tape the defender missed the ball and hit the shooter on the arm...what about #4 waving his arms back and forth on both FT attempts.

Now could the Lead have passed on this call...high certainty foul in the last minutes of game...worst case scenerio we play an extra 4 mintues of basketball...you could make a case for this.

Apology...No!

I didn't see any contact.

To others: From 0:00 - 4:30, it is just two teams trading baskets. Skip all that. Start at 4:30 into the video, with the game tied at 51 and 0:06.6 on the clock.

Wow
 

First, horrible video!

Second, what an article and it's perspective!

Third, losing team got to the line twice for 2 shots with similar contact. The winning team is not whining about those calls.

Send in the cheese!

Looked at the replay...looks OK to me. Defender hit the shooters arm below the wrist. Easy to tell as the ball comes off the hand "funny" and almost missed the backboard.

The OHSAA rep said, correctly, that Ohio explicitly disallows protests. Every issue in a game must be resolved by the officials on the floor. End of story.

Except for local media, which will continue to cover their little "protest rallies" and whatnot.

If he would have block the ball the ball would have gone a different direction than it did.

From the article: "We have several students, parents, staff members and community members who believe the call at the end of the game was not the proper call," Principal Gerald Cox said, "and that it should not have been made given the particular circumstances — the end of the game; district final; score tied. They just felt that the foul was not blatant enough, flagrant enough.



The foul was not blatant/flagrant enough? It would have been okay at other points in the game? The particular circumstances?

I say a bunch of us should gather and throw rocks at this school.

Here is the apology...
 

"I am sorry principal Cox that you are not qualified to accurately assess the quality of a an officiating crew's body of work. Kthanksbye"

:d:d too funny!

No contact? look again. Sure looks like it to me, he clearly doesn't get any part of the ball yet the shot(10 footer) is grossly off.

Great call, and the right one.

I originally thought the disputed call was the block foul on black jersey team, I'm assuming they were in the double bonus.

The worst part, to me, is that instead of being able to use this loss as a good lesson; the adults who are in charge are blaming a referee. No, the kids aren't responsible for actually fouling the shooter or not making layups; it's all the ref's fault.

Educational Malpractice.

I'm glad the principal told us that wasn't a flagrant foul. I was pretty torn on the issue.

Nah, he said it wasn't "flagrant enough." Whatever the F*** that means.

I trust people's judgment here. I will take your word for it!

So true. I am going to send the link to this thread to the principal and losing school.

That must be the Canadian spelling. ;)

st_u. :d

I know - you just had to say something, just on principal.

Ha!

I wonder if this moron of a principal doesn't allow any answers to be marked wrong on his student's SAT tests "given the particular circumstances" — the end of the senior year; test final; score close to being too low, etc. After all, wrong answers on an SAT test aren't blatant or flagrant enough to count.

Someone should tell this breezebrain there's a reason that students, parents, staff members and community members are not the people that officiate games.

When I first saw this thread, I assumed at some point somebody would emphatically say:


But he got the/all ball!

and/or


I/He never touched him!!

But this is even worse. Apparently they all acknowledge that there was contact, and whether they acknowledge it or not, he clearly got no part of the ball. How much contact do they think it takes to qualify as a foul in this situation?

Here's an apology they could make....

We're sorry. We're sorry your a bunch of idiots. And please take this apology in the spirit in which it's given.

Respectfully,

The Crew

Well said...I am sure there aren't any other pressing issues at this high school that the princi(PAL) and the staff could be channeling their energies into.

Clearly looks like a foul to me from what we where shown. That being said the officials was in a good position and the direction of the ball does not doubt what he called.

I guess this is one of these, "The officials should not decide the game, the players should...." BS points of view.

Peace

If this crew has to apologize for that foul, I had better start writing because I will have a ton of apologies to send out to coaches, players, parents, staff members, mayors, common council members, janitors, school board members, landscapers, and the lunch ladies for some of the crap I have called over the past 18 years. I thought when I was watching the first 4:30 of the video that this was going to be some travesty of justice and just a horrible misapplication of the rules and then I saw the foul in question! OMG Sportsmanship starts at the top and when the top of your school are DOPES it really doesn't help anyone.

Here's a link to the HS: High School

I also e-mailed the Principal. :eek:

What does the Paper gain by publishing the officials name in the paper? They could have just said the officials call.

This just in...Mrs. Booher the principal at Centerville High School thought it was a great call!

Fixed it for you. Now it is "well said"!

I would be interested in if you get a response from this community leader.:rolleyes:

You forget...according to all parents, their kids have NEVER committed a foul!!:eek:

For a little perspective about the school.....

Google -- Trotwood Madison Probation

Sounds like the principal isn't principalling very well.

This is the principal's entire statement on the situation. What a moron or should I say typical fanboy!!! I guess it doesn't matter that his team missed free throws, had a chance to steal the ball before the shot, etc. I agree with Rut, more of that "you can't call that at that time" BS!!! To me, all videos of the incident clearly show a foul. The reporter is an idiot as well.

GERALD COX: ‘VOICE TO BE HEARD’

“We have several students, parents, staff members, community members who believe that the call at the end of the game on Saturday was not the proper call. And that it should not have been made given the particular circumstances — the end of the game; district final; score tied. They just felt that the foul was not blatant enough, flagrant enough, whatever descriptor you want to use there.

“Many of the students and many of the staff have addressed letters to the Ohio High School Athletic Association either to Commissioner (Donald B.) Ross or to (Assistant) Commissioner Henry Zaborniak, the person whose responsibility would involve the officials, to review the circumstances and take some kind of action.

“I think most people at this point believe that the action would have to be something directed at the process and perhaps at that particular official or the officials in general. I don’t think anyone at this point is expecting that they’re going to re-play the game or the last few seconds of the game or anything like that. but they would like for their voice to be heard and the situation to be reviewed and to have some kind of response.

“The students have a petition going. I haven’t seen it. I don’t know what the specific words were that they used, but I know the substance of it is they just think that the call was not the proper call to make. So they’ve got their little petition going. They’ve got hundreds of student signatures. I think they said they’ve probably about 500 student signatures. They did send a letter off to the commissioner. They did have a secretary send that off for them earlier today.

“I’m addressing a letter to the commissioner myself and I believe our central administration is addressing a letter as well. Those are the district things that I am aware of. I also got word that several other members of the community were drafting or crafting some kinds of letters that they wanted to send off as well.

“News people came out and met with us today, and talked with myself, Coach (Mark) Baker, some student spokespeople. We had one member of the basketball team, senior Aaron Robinson, talk, and then the two young ladies who were coordinating that effort with the signatures and so forth spoke as well. And I thought everybody did a pretty nice job.

“I thought they represented themselves real well and were very clear about the fact that they bear Centerville no ill will. A couple of them actually congratulated Centerville on the victory and wished them well for the remainder of the season, and just focused on what they thought was the unfairness of the situation given the call that the official made. That’s pretty much what happened today. They’re asking for some kind of response, whatever that response is. Everyone is pretty unified in that.

“I think I would be happy if someone acknowledged that perhaps it was not the correct call to make and that they will, in fact, make sure that’s a part of the process that the officials go through. My understanding is the officials did huddle up with 6.6 seconds left in the game, and they did talk through that. They did say, ‘Hey, unless there’s a flagrant foul, we do not call a foul. This game goes to overtime.’

“I would like to think that officials do have that as part of their process and that they do, in fact, implement that when the time comes. I’m not sure why that didn’t happen. It was an official who told us that that’s the process they followed. And I’m not sure why they didn’t. I would like to see some acknowledgement that, ‘Yeah, that’s what should happen and that’s what we should have done. We made an error there. There was an error in judgement.’ Or something of that nature.

“And then perhaps that that one official is actually dealt with. And by dealt with, obviously I’m not talking about firing the official or anything. But I’d like to think that when an employee of mine does something that I believe is against district protocol, that I talk with him, document the conversation. You know, those kinds of things. I’d like to hear that.”

He without guilt cast the first stone
 

Ah, Mr Cox, seems like you have a little history here.

JJHuddle.com - OHSAA places Trotwood-Madison football program on two years probation, suspends coach

This letter brings to light a bigger issue...why is this guy a prinicpal?

What a Tool!

I watched the play. It was a good call, one that I hope I would make in the exact same scenario.

And I'll keep it unanimous -- the principal and the fans "protesting" are all tools.

Another article on it...........like the Nicklaus quote.

I'm trying to figure out how the guy can rationalize that the other team can be put at a disadvantage and the call should not have been made.


DaytonDailyNews: Dayton, Ohio, news and information

This article is great.

The 'beat' goes on
 

Good grief...
 

I was expecting to see some extremely erroneous rule application. What I saw was a routine judgment call.

And this is from the chief educator at the school. Pathetic!

Parental malpractice.

My gawd! I sure as hell hope they don't say that when they huddle up.

Money Quote:
Dominique Reed said he had endured enough verbal abuse by Graham prior to the fight.

"I've got to work on my temper," Dominique said, "but I've never been one to put up with people calling me out by my name. It was in front of all my teammates, and I can't let nobody think that I'm soft.

"So when we get to the locker room, Coach (Baker) was like, 'Go ahead, bang it out.'

OK - here's the definitive criteria. Apparently, according to this schmuck, having an official call a foul when a player gets fouled is against district protocol. I guess this state's association is not an NF member and does not use NF rules. Why didn't they just say so in the first place?

This guy is indicative of what's wrong with public education these days. I think the official in question should offer to trade places with this guy. He should tell him, "You come out on the court and call the game and I'll talk to the media like an a$$hole."

I know the official who made this call. We belong to same local association here. I have seen him work enough to know that he would have made that call whether it happened as it did here in the last second of the game or the first second of the game, which is really all you can ask of an official. Isn't consistency what most "fans" scream for? They want it called the "same at both ends" and they want the 4th quarter called the same way as the first.

Ironically, that is exactly what seems to be the issue here. There is a message board devoted to discussion of high school sports here in southwest Ohio. You can imagine the type of discussion going on over there on this matter. It seems that the consensus there is that there was contact on the arm, it may or may not have altered the shot, but by rule it was a foul. Their issue is however, that it should not have been called with less than a second remaining in a tied game and should not have decided the game. Where in the rule book does it define the list of exceptions to the rules when the game is on the line in the last minute? A foul is a foul! How moronic!

Also, someone mentioned earlier the fact that the newspaper published the official's name. Absolutely nothing was accomplished by doing this, and in my opinion that is the epitome of irresponsible journalism. I realize it's not likely to happen, but I would like nothing more than to see the OHSAA pull this paper's credentials for the remainder of the tournament!

Ahhh..........the old reflexive pronoun, just remove the other two names and see if it sounds correct.

Where did you ever get these ideas? Fans want the game called with bias favoring their team and they want the 4th quarter called to favor their team, just like the 1st, 2nd and 3rd quarters. When a coach or spectator yells, "Call it both ways" they mean "Call it our way". The only "consistency" they want is a constant favoring of their team.

That is what they say, but when it comes to actual practice, those cries fall short when you are dealing with actual situations. And this very situation proves that theory. Because if the foul was not called, I bet if the winning team lost in overtime, they would have spend time trying to suggest the officials "swallowed their whistle" at the wrong time.

Peace

At least protest rallies give your students something to do when you are done playing basketball for the year and waiting for Track to start.

I hope you let him know that we all support him, and I thought it was a great call.

Dear Mr. Cox....

Confuscious once say...

Better to let people think you are an idiot, rather than to open your mouth and prove them right.

I suppose at the end of baseball season they will want to organize another protest rally because their last batter in the bottom of the 9th of the district final got caught looking at strike 3 and they thought the pitch was 1/2" off the plate.

Yeh, but you don't call that, it has to be right down Broadway.

Seriously, that's a great analogy. Does it have to be MORE of a strike? Why should it be MORE of a foul.

There was definitely a foul on that play. As other have stated through out this discussion that the jumper came out funny because of the contact on the shooting arm. I think it was the proper call.

I also saw that a few people saying that the lead passed on it. I think the lead passed on it because there was no clear cut angle or postioning to see the contact if anything the "C" or "T" had the call in which I feel it was the proper call.

It is just a shame another school complaining because the officials did something wrong in the game. When in reality it is the school blowing the whole thing up in proportion about it. I didn't see anything in the article about the coach wanting to do anything about it, all I saw was the principal making a statement. I do understand that the principal acts as a spokesperson for the school but what ever happen to leaving everything on the floor. It seems like both teams had done that, but the fans, students, parents, and administration wants to go a step further. I commend the players on a hard though game, but I commed the Ohio Athletic Assocation for sticking true about everything and sticking to their by-laws.

JB

Watch the clip again. The call was made from the lead. The center and trail, both being behind the play had a similar look as we have in this video clip. I would argue that the lead was the only one that could have made the call, because he was the only one with the angle to see the contact and make a determination on the affect the contact had on the shot.

In real speed from the other end of the court this looked like a foul to me. What kid in a state championship game misses a 12-foot jumper that badly to the right?

The zoom in shows that the defender clearly did NOT hit the ball and makes contact with the shooter's arm.

Protect the shooter. This is a foul. End of story. Tough cookies.

Amazing the lengths that some parents, administrators, and fans will go to to try to make sure that their kids always win. I wish thy would instead take it as an opportunity to tell the kids, "Well, maybe you got screwed, maybe you didn't. Life isn't fair. Pick yourself up and go back out there and do your best."

In this case I don't think it's even close -- it's a foul. Some fans interpret, "The officials shouldn't decide the game" as "The officials should put away their whistles"

Looks to me that the school has alot of problems and are trying to blame other people.

I thought it was a great call.
If he hadn't of made it then the other team is going to be doing the same thing. The foul affected the shot, it didn't even hit the rim.

Last season, my football crew worked a game that went overtime. On the visiting team's first play from scrimmage, the RB went around the left end who dragged down the defender. U didn't hesitate and threw a holding flag. TD called back, team didn't score, lost game. As the referee, I took 90% of the grief even though I didn't throw the flag.

They rated us a 1 (the lowest rating). They screamed at us as we left the field that you don't make that call in overtime.

They can rate us however they want. Sad thing is that other crews who couldn't hold our knickers (if you're British, that's funny) will be rated higher and actually think they're better officials than us -- mainly because they try to disappear when they hit the field and see how long they can go without making any calls anyone hates.

Far as I'm concerned, that call is MOST important in the key situation and to not call it there means you may as not call it anytime. If you're afraid of a little attention, maybe it's time to stop working the games.

Great job by the lead in the video. No brainer foul. To not call it would be a travesty. And cowardly, IMO (if a deliberate decision to pass on it).

I wonder how he would feel if someone acknowledged that perhaps it WAS the correct call. I couldn't tell from 75 feet away, but we protect the shooter and it looks like there might have been some contact. At least it wasn't 83 feet away from the basket where I (gulp) called one a couple of years ago.

I completely agree. I wonder if the losing team somehow thinks it would have been fair to the shooting team if they hadn't called the foul or is every game/call only about them?

Wow...this is just so low...here's what I would write if my crew had to come up with that letter:

Dear LOSERS,

We hesitantly apologize that our actions were not in line with your demented expectations resulting from a lack of knowledge and understanding of the rules of basketball and the mechanics whereby our actions are arranged. We hope this situation will awaken you to the fact that we are the authorities on the rules as evidenced by our experience and knowledge gained from years of doing the games and all the meetings and testings we've had to endure. Thank you and we hope you get a set of officials next year that will definitely make you forget us!

(Secretly, inside, I'm feeling a bit evil, yet serene!) :cool:

I'll volunteer to supply the envelope and postage stamp!

I think you should send it as a Candygram, except with sour grapes.

As a former principal, I must say that it is totally unprofessional and uncalled for to have a principal make a public comment about officiating.

He should stick to academics and teaching life lessons like to how to win and lose with dignity and class.

Also, do we still have "disconcerting the FT shooter" in the rules? Check out the guys on the right side of the FT lane.

Sorry Trotwood-Madison!
 

Sorry Trotwood-Madison but as I read a very biased article and watch tape of this play I too think your guy fouled him! I am reminded about the first words of every pre-game coaches meeting-"Coaches, sportsmanship starts with you.Coach your kids and not us!" This school should be ashamed of their behavior. Think about this question:"Was it the officials who made your kids miss shots or free throws in this game?Was it the officials who could not come up with a defensive stop late to force the overtime?"No, it was your kids,all they had to do was play straight up fundamental defense and not go for the block. They didn't, your opponent made the free throw, so move on!
:mad::mad::mad:

Here's an article about a regional game in Southern California where the losing coach did the same thing!

King coach blames refs

12:13 AM PDT on Sunday, March 15, 2009

By JIM ALEXANDER
The Press-Enterprise

LOS ANGELES - It is customary, after being defeated in a big game, to congratulate your opponents, bemoan your own mistakes and downplay any disagreements you might have with the officials.

That may be because in most leagues and associations, when you criticize the refs it costs you money.

Evidently, however, high school basketball coaches aren't subject to getting fined. Or if they are, Riverside King coach Tim Sweeney Jr. has a rainy-day fund he can dip into.

In the wake of his team's 53-39 pasting by LA Westchester in Saturday night's Southern California Division 1 regional final at Pauley Pavilion, Sweeney laid the ultimate responsibility on the officiating crew.

Those three officials, whose names were not listed in the official box score, actually called more fouls on Westchester than they did on King, and the Wolves shot almost twice as many free throws (and missed 10 of 23).

The officials did, however, call a technical foul before the game began, citing sophomore Adam Smith for dunking in warmups.

And as the game wore on and his team slipped further behind, Sweeney received a technical two minutes into the second quarter, and then was ejected before the start of the fourth for what he said was a private conversation involving two of his assistant coaches.

"It's a travesty to play in an event like this and have that happen," Sweeney said afterward, knowing full well his words would be printed.

"Some people should be fired for assigning referees. Why did we even go play these (regional) games this week, is what I ask the state of California. Why did we play the games? We were better off ending it at Mater Dei, if you're not gonna give kids a fair shot. Period."

Sweeney was asked if he'd had problems with those officials before.

"Never," he said. "I want to know who assigns them. I think I know who but I'm not going to say anything.

"First off, they started with a phantom technical foul, on a slam dunk that did not happen. My coach was just standing there. Their guys are down there doing the same layup drill that we are, OK?

"The last technical, on which I got thrown out, my dad (Tim Sweeney Sr.) and Dr. Powers (assistant coach Fred Powers) are standing towards the huddle, and the guy (the official) is standing outside, and they're talking to each other, and they called a technical on them for talking to each other.

"They never gave our kids a chance from the get-go. They never let us play against Westchester. This game was decided before the ball was tipped up tonight, and that's a shame. I never, ever, in my whole career, said a thing in the newspaper about officials. But everybody in here saw it tonight. There was something wrong. There's something wrong with that."

With the naked eye, King's 11-for-43 shooting seemed more of a factor. Or their dismal foul shooting. Or the fact that besides forward Kawhi Leonard (16 points, 12 rebounds, three blocks, three steals), no one else in a white jersey stepped up against a longer, quicker, more athletic Westchester team.

"I don't want to take anything away from Westchester," Sweeney said. "Westchester is a great team and will represent well. Coach (Ed) Azzam and his players should be very proud. But it was not allowed to be decided on the floor tonight."

And just how did the officiating lead to what -- again to the naked eye -- seemed like a woeful effort by King?

"I could not stand up and coach my team because of the (early) technical foul," Sweeney said. "Talk about an unbelievable advantage, communicating to your ballclub. I cannot even begin to explain. I can't call the plays, I can't get up, I can't get them in helpside defense, I can't instruct from sitting from the bench.

"That factor alone, my team knew. The communication factor right from the beginning was just (missing), and then just the whole rhythm and flow of the ballgame was affected before it even went up. Questionable calls to say the least ... not the same on the other end.

"And that's not to take away from Westchester. They did what they needed to do. My team was not tired. It was not fatigue. This was completely a ballclub being taken out of their rhythm of being able to play basketball like they're supposed to be able to play."

But Sweeney's words, while powerful, were also hollow. The scoreboard, after all, never lies.

Reach Jim Alexander at 951-368-9543 or [email protected]

:mad::mad::mad:

The princiPAL is your PAL. Especially for the players and coaches in this school! :)

I bet you own that one. :cool:

To Whom it May Concern-

I'm sorry to inform you that in the game of basketball, there is a team that must lose and a team that must win. Furthermore, a team is not always fortunate enough to be the team that wins.

Kudos to the author of the article for telling it like it is. This coach should be locked in a closet with Earl Strom's ghost for about 30 minutes. That would take care of him.

Too bad you didn't mention Mendy R. That might have brought JR out of the woodwork...

I think I read in Earl's book that one year, the league (and coaches) wanted him and Mendy to work the entire NBA final series. Incredible.

Looks like that writer stuck it to that coach pretty good. :D

The best way to end this whole fiasco would be for the TM Coach, who played at Ohio State, to give a quote to the newspaper...

"We didn't lose the game because of the foul at the end of the game. We lost because of the following reasons: we fell behind at the beginning 22-8, we missed easy shots in the 4th quarter, we didn't make all of our free throws, etc. etc. etc. It was a great basketball game and I wish Centerville well."

End of story.

I have been on the floor with both of these team. They are both very good and for the most part, very well coached. I've worked with two of the officials and would gladly take the floor with them in any game in the future.

The camera angle I've seen sucks. I'd like to see a better angle. However, the officials on the floor saw what they saw. The lead had a good angle. He decided it was a foul. We do that every time we're on the floor...we judge contact to be a foul or to let it go. None of us can say for sure if it was a good or bad call. We have to trust the officials on the floor. I do and I respect their integrity. I can say with certainty, they do not care who wins the game.

Probably any official on this board would love to be on the floor in such a meaningful game. I also think that most of us on the board would not back down from making (or passing) on a play at the end of the game.

As someone said earlier, the OHSAA should pull the Dayton Daily News credentials for the rest of the tournament for publishing one of the officials names.

As for publishing the official's name, I can say that if I were the official, I wouldn't really care.

They get printed at the NCAA level if its D-3. Why not the FED level if its a championship game?

ESPECIALLY, if I knew I got it right.

Mine was almost printed last year over a baseball rules incident. The reporter used the word "controversy" but then correctly wrote what happened and what was enforced. Anyone who cared to open a rule book knew I was right. A bit different with a judgment call, but who cares?

If you want to remain unbiased, you have to let all this slide off your shoulders. Who cares what anyone thought? You saw what you saw, you called what you called. IMO, being upset if your name is printed would be the first step to becoming a soft official.

That being said, I passed on an 83 footer at the buzzer last night who might have gotten brushed on a run by, but I didn't lose any sleep over it...

Anyone hear back for our principal friend? As a future educator, that stuff makes me even more pissed...

Get a response from the princiPAL yet?

I AM a campus administrator . . . and that princi(PAL) is certainly UNPRINCIPLED!!! I absolutely cannot stand when a high-profile community representative makes a complete A$$ of themselves for all the world to see. S.T.H.U. and start taking care of your school and your kids. This nonsense in no way demonstrates anything sporting or sportsmanlike. Sad, Sad, Sad.

Also, there were TWO players waving arms on the first attempt, and FOUR waving their arms on the second. I do believe that is disconcertion.

If you want to send an e-mail . . . here ya go . . . [email protected]

BTW, the foul call which can be more clearly seen in this video was the right call. Kudos to that official!! (Video is about 1/2-way down the page.)

OH, and that princi(PAL), as well as the (not so super)rintendent, CLEARLY have some leadership and accountability issues. Maybe on his way to that press conference, he might look in the mirror and see where it all starts and ends!!

Not only is the guy stupid, he's passive aggressive too.

Some of the traits of someone who's passive aggressive that fit this situation:

- Blaming others, unable to accept blame
- Complaining
- Making excuses (This sort of individual will usually not agree with the particular reason you provide for their mistake but will create their own reason. This is part of the control aspect of passive aggressiveness)
- Prideful
- Victim Mentality

I'm assuming play was run to that side?

No need for a better camera angle, it was a foul and they saw it clearer than we did. Watch the replay, if you don't see the foul in slo-mo, along with the misdirection of a 10 footer..........

Perfect
 

So this is where the kids get it from, complain and you can get whatever you want!

They should suspend them from tournament play if they don't drop it now for next season. Who even thinks about haivng a protest rally?



A "protest rally" — scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Tuesday in the high school gymnasium — was canceled. Instead, a news conference took place at 10:30 a.m. Representatives of the student body, who gathered about 500 student signatures on a petition to the OHSAA, spoke out.

"We have several students, parents, staff members and community members who believe the call at the end of the game was not the proper call," Principal Gerald Cox said, "and that it should not have been made given the particular circumstances — the end of the game; district final; score tied. They just felt that the foul was not blatant enough, flagrant enough

Reply received. He simply thanked me for the communication, and wished a blessing in my future endeavors.

The OHSAA needs to open up a can of whup *** on this school and put them in their place once and for all. This type of behavior should not be tolerated. God help the officials who work for that school in the future.

Interesting....

Curious if he is realizing this is a lose-lose situation for himself or someone has told him to keep quiet

-Josh

the Principle response from the Principal
 

Thank you for your communication. May God continue to bless you in all of your endeavors.

Gerald Cox, Principal

Gotta love form letters; he must have talked to an attorney. Or, conversely, the OHSAA made him an offer he couldn't refuse.

Is this a public HS? :confused:

What difference does it make?

You really don't get it? This guy is spouting religion in his official capacity as a principal of a public HS (if it is public - that's why I asked).

I think that's a stretch, personally. It's a private email and he's not representing the state. Even if it is an "official" correspondence, "God bless you" is hardly spouting religion, IMHO.

sending god bless you to one person isn't a big deal. if he did it say, in a school wide email then yeah there would be a problem there. If it is a public school. hopefully the school has stopped whining because they have looked like really sore losers.

Of course.

My guess (at least I hope), is that Mark is not necessarily saying <B>he</B> is upset with the use of the term "God" in that context, but rather that <B>someone</B> will be.

I agree with scrappy. There's nothing in "God Bless You" that "establishes" any religion over another. It's extremely generic; not isolated to any particular faith or denomination. I think you'd be hard pressed to find even an atheist who's offended by it unless they were trolling for a lawsuit.

See below.

Exactly. I'm the biggest church/state separationist you'll meet and that didn't even register on my radar. He's not broadcasting it school-wide, he's not saying anything in the presence of students. I see nothing wrong with it.

Had to ask, I've seen it called miles away.

Gee, the kids pay for lunch with "in God we trust" money. I don't think a God bless you is cause for a demonstration.

Wasn't the country built on a Christian understanding?