Oklahoma might have a protest rule oh my

[cmathews]

We got this article from our state association in Wyoming....oh my...


Oklahoma's highest court asked to uphold prep QB's suspension
By RON JENKINS
Associated Press Writer
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- It isn't exactly instant replay, but the Oklahoma Supreme Court will be reviewing film of a high school playoff game to determine if a quarterback should be suspended for kicking an opposing player.
The Oklahoma Class 5A playoffs are on hold until the court rules.
The state's highest court agreed Tuesday to take the case and expedite a ruling on an appeal of a lower court opinion that reinstated Shawnee quarterback Tucker Brown.
Gov. Brad Henry, a graduate of Shawnee High School, even weighed in on the controversy, saying a court fight could have been avoided by some "reasonable officiating."
Under an order signed Tuesday by Chief Justice Joseph M. Watt, Dec. 10 is the earliest a Class 5A playoff game between Shawnee and Tulsa East Central High School could be played, a two-week delay.
Danny Rennels, executive director of the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association, canceled last weekend's semifinal game between the two teams after a judge's order blocked the association from enforcing its suspension policy against Brown.
Mark Grossman, attorney for the OSSAA, said Pottawatomie County Judge Paul Vassar made a bad call in overturning the two-game suspension.
"Neither the association nor the court are supposed to be acting like an instant replay official here," Grossman said.
Brown, son of Shawnee coach Billy Brown, was ejected for violating the OSSAA's anti-fighting rule with 19 seconds left in Shawnee's Nov. 19 game in which Shawnee defeated Tulsa Washington, 14-10.
Brown was kneeling in an effort to run out the clock when Washington's Jermaine Holmes jumped over the line of scrimmage, grabbed Brown's helmet and pulled him to the ground. Brown responded by kicking Holmes.
Rennels said the rule is "indisputable. If you kick someone ... you sit out. It's just that simple."
Vassar ruled against the OSSAA in a case brought by Suzanne Leigh Brown, the quarterback's mother.
Henry, who watched the game, said he understood the OSSAA "has a need to uphold the ruling of their officials" but implied that officials overreacted by ejecting Brown.
"It's just sad. It's a shame that this ended up in the courts and it probably could have all been avoided by just some reasonable officiating at the end. That's all I'm going to say," the governor said.

[Texas Aggie]

From what I can gather, the crux of the issue is the Oklahoma State Assn's term, "regularly scheduled game," or a term very similar to that (regular = regularly; etc.). In other words, the team with the kicking QB is saying, "yes, he's suspended, but only for regularly scheduled, i.e. regular season, games. However, this is wrong. If they had intended "regular season" they would have used that term.

To me, an attorney, this is a no-brainer. A playoff game IS a regularly scheduled game, assuming there are time periods (i.e. days) set out for the playoff round and the brackets are formed -- whether they are published or not. Does anyone have any information that would suggest Oklahoma makes things up, playoff wise, as they go along? Besides, courts are generally big in not reading legislative intent into laws where the terms used is unambiguous. Here, it clearly is.

I'm also extremely concerned with a District Court judge getting involved in a matter over which he has no real jurisdiction. There is no constitutional (Federal or State) right that I'm aware of in play here, so whatever athletic rules there are, the assn is free to enforce them as they see fit. The US Supreme Court set an extremely dangerous precedent with the Casey Martin case, effectively telling sports leagues that the courts can and will litigate disputes. Which is entirely inconsistent with the courts' normal practice of weeding cases out on jurisdiction to clear their docket.

I can forsee a time in my life when one of my (or your) pass interference calls is litigated. I sincerely hope the OSC b!tch slaps the district judge, but I'm not terribly optimistic.

[Edited by Texas Aggie on Nov 30th, 2005 at 11:50 PM]

[BktBallRef]

cmatt, did you fall off the planet? We've been talking about this for a week!

Where ya been, man?

[Edited by BktBallRef on Dec 1st, 2005 at 12:46 AM]

[cmathews]

BBR,
I have a new job that has me away from my desk more often...I looked briefly through the threads and didn't see anything, my bad...Then again, it is sad that it just made it to wyoming this week as well LOL....well the season starts for us, out here in the sticks, tonite hope it is a good one for all....

[FGallie22]

Hey, if you want to read and see game film go to NewsOK.com

[Tulsa Line Judge]

http://newsok.com/video/1688115/

This is a link to a video interview with OSSAA's attorney.

[BktBallRef]

Originally posted by cmathews
BBR,
I have a new job that has me away from my desk more often...I looked briefly through the threads and didn't see anything, my bad...Then again, it is sad that it just made it to wyoming this week as well LOL....well the season starts for us, out here in the sticks, tonite hope it is a good one for all....

Actually, we've discussed it but it was on McGriff.

Basketball has started but I still have two football games left.

[Edited by BktBallRef on Dec 3rd, 2005 at 11:04 PM]

[NoTrumpKing]

I believe one of Coach Brown's issues is that another player on the field was also fighting, but not flagged. Since the official mised the call, the petitioner argues that his team, as an entity, has been deprived of due process; the remedy: post facto & out-of-time review of the contest and second-guessing the officials.
If this is indicative of the extent to which Oaklahomans go to win, then I'm extrodinarily thankful that I played in Ma & Al, now officiate in Ky.

No choice ... no democracy

[Tulsa Line Judge]

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- The state Supreme Court Thursday upheld the suspension of Shawnee High School quarterback Tucker Brown.

The court says the Oklahoma Secondary Schools Activities Association acted reasonably in suspending Brown for fighting and that the penalty was made in good faith.

The ruling means Brown will not be allowed to play in Shawnee's Class 5A state semifinal game against Tulsa East Central. Brown also won't be allowed to play in the finals against Bixby if Shawnee wins the semifinal.

Brown was suspended for two games by the OSSAA after he was thrown out of the November 19th state quarterfinal game for kicking a Tulsa Washington player.

The incident came in the final seconds as Brown was taking a knee to run out the clock. A Tulsa Washington player jumped over the line and pulled Brown to the ground by the helmet and Brown responded by kicking the player.

Brown's mother challenged the suspension in court and a district judge overturned the suspension.

The OSSAA then postponed the scheduled November 26th semifinal game against East Central while it appealed the ruling to the state Supreme Court.

[Texas Aggie]

Even though the suspension was upheld, this isn't a good decision. The court accepted jurisdiction here in spite of not really having any. Next time, they could rule differently.

[Jim S]

Aggie. What you may not know is that the ruling as handed down by the court said that the courts COULD NOT get involved with this situation. They vacated the lower judges ruling thereby upholding the suspension. But it was buried within the 16 page ruling.

Of course Daddy (Coach) immediately said this was "punishing the whole team!".
So why don't you kick your kid DAD?

[Edited by Jim S on Dec 8th, 2005 at 05:28 PM]

[Mike L]

when will coaches & players learn it is not the officials who are punishing the team? It's the player or coach who just did something pretty stupid who is punishing the team.

[Texas Aggie]

I read the opinion. In part, it concludes:

We cannot, under these facts, interfere with the internal affairs of a voluntary membership association. It would be inconsistent to determine that the Shawnee School District, which entered into a voluntary agreement to be bound by Association rules and recognizing the finality of the Association's decisions, could seek judicial relief when the Association has not acted unreasonably or arbitrarily.

Essentially the court made the finding that the "Association" did not act "unreasonably or arbitrarily." What difference would it have made if they had?

The SC should have never heard arguments on this, but simply have vacated the restraining order. By holding hearings and writing an opinion, they are encouraging similar litigation in the future with attorneys simply trying to argue how their set of facts is different from these.

[cowbyfan1]

I don't see it being an issue. There were something like 54 ejections this fall and this is the only one appealed to the courts. One thing they were arguing is the player that "leaped" the line and grabbed the QB by the helmet as he was taking a knee should have been thrown out the play before for throwing a punch. The officials said they did not see it. Coach says they did.

On the side, Shawnee lost to East Central (Tulsa) 34-0 in the semi-final game. I seriously doubt the QB being there would have made a difference. If anything they gave East Central's best running back time to get over an injury by going to the courts.

[NoTrumpKing]

CowBoy Fan has it right!

In this case no greedy deed goes unpunished.

How often has an innocent movement been misinterpretted by an amateur observing from the wrong perspective? --- Coach's complaint of punch thrown.
Mechanics, mechanics, mechanics