NJ's No.1 girls team DQ'd from state tournament

[EStreetJoe]

http://www.nj.com/hssports/ledger/index.ssf?/base/sports-0/1172554838283840.xml&coll=1

Shabazz, the No. 1 high school girls basketball team, received a crushing blow yesterday by getting booted from the state tournament for playing too many regular-season games.

The ruling by the New Jersey Interscholastic Athletic Association came just a couple hours before the state tournament was set to tip off. It denied Shabazz a chance to extend a two-year, in-state unbeaten streak, defend The Star-Ledger Top 20 Trophy it won last season and win its fourth NJSIAA Group 3 and Tournament of Champions titles in five years.

"I was familiar with the rule and have to deal with the mistake that was made," said Shabazz coach Vanessa Watson, who has led Shabazz to five state titles and 10 Essex County Tournament titles in 24 seasons. "But honestly it's not something that I thought about greatly -- or stopped to ask how many games do I have because I do so much making sure that the kids are being taken care of."

The school refused to make players available yesterday, and school administrators declined requests to be interviewed.

But Watson painted a picture of a team that was distraught behind the closed doors of the locker room. She questioned why athletic director Yakik Rumley didn't catch the infraction and declined to speculate whether the school will sue the NJSIAA to keep its eligibility in a tournament it was a favorite to win.

 

[Football_Bat]

Crushing blow, hell.

Highland Park had to forfeit its Texas wrestling championship yesterday and I did a cartwheel.

 

[alleyallen]

Tough blow for those girls but it's hard to argue because of the rules. That being said, why would the association put a limit on the number of games a team can play?

 

[alleyallen]

Crushing blow, hell.

Highland Park had to forfeit its Texas wrestling championship yesterday and I did a cartwheel.

No Pass, No Play has led to the downfall of many a team in the state of Texas.

 

[spnited]

Further into the story, the coach -- who should know the rules -- lays it all on the AD for overscheduling.
She acts like an innocent here when they're both idiots.

 

[Trouser_Buddah]

Won't somebody think of the children?

 

[EStreetJoe]

Here's a good follow-up column on the situation
http://www.nj.com/columns/ledger/politi/index.ssf?/base/columns-0/1172641458286130.xml&coll=1&thispage=1

 

[playthrough]

Tough blow for those girls but it's hard to argue because of the rules. That being said, why would the association put a limit on the number of games a team can play?

Because some coaches want to run their teams all over the world in the name of "exposure" and "experience". Forget school and actually attending classes, there's this tournament, that tournament, the multi-state shindig in Metropolis where three of the top seven teams in the USA Today rankings are playing, with college coaches all over.

 

[alleyallen]

Tough blow for those girls but it's hard to argue because of the rules. That being said, why would the association put a limit on the number of games a team can play?

Because some coaches want to run their teams all over the world in the name of "exposure" and "experience". Forget school and actually attending classes, there's this tournament, that tournament, the multi-state shindig in Metropolis where three of the top seven teams in the USA Today rankings are playing, with college coaches all over.

I'm green with that idea.

 

[Mystery_Meat]

I like the name Shabazz for a high school.

And of course it's a crushing blow. They were kicked out of the tournament. I'm pretty sure that statement can stand on its own.

 

[fmrsped]

Further into the story, the coach -- who should know the rules -- lays it all on the AD for overscheduling.
She acts like an innocent here when they're both idiots.

This story definitely matters. If it were in Northeast Ohio, however, it would irrelevant. ;D

Edited to add the smiley face so as to not beat a dead horse into the ground and hopefully make spnited laugh.

 

[spnited]

Further into the story, the coach -- who should know the rules -- lays it all on the AD for overscheduling.
She acts like an innocent here when they're both idiots.

This story definitely matters. If it were in Northeast Ohio, however, it would irrelevant.

Amazing how some douchebag assholes can throw irrelevant comments onto any thread and think they're being funny.

Don't you have some poor losing Cleveland team to cry about today, asshole.

 

[fmrsped]

Damn, too late on the edit.

I'll repeat again: I like the Cavs. I'm not a Cleveland fanboy. But your NJ/NY-centric existence is the most pathetic thing I've ever seen.

No smilies on this one.

 

[LiveStrong]

so, do you think i'll be able to get my money back from the bookie?

 

[Hammer Pants]

Why punish the kids? That sucks ... Suspend the coach or AD, or both ... Why do the kids deserve this?

 

[spnited]

Damn, too late on the edit.

I'll repeat again: I like the Cavs. I'm not a Cleveland fanboy. But your NJ/NY-centric existence is the most pathetic thing I've ever seen.

No smilies on this one.

If you're too ****ing stupid to notice, I did not start the thread. I made one comment about one point in the story.
This is not a bunch of fanboy loosers whining over "only in Cleveland," this is about a very good girls basketball getting screwed by stupid adults.

My NY-NJ centric existence might seem pathetic to you, but given what a stupid asshole you are, your opinon doesn't mean **** to me.

 

[da el g]

Damn, too late on the edit.

I'll repeat again: I like the Cavs. I'm not a Cleveland fanboy. But your NJ/NY-centric existence is the most pathetic thing I've ever seen.

No smilies on this one.

If you're too ****ing stupid to notice, I did not start the thread. I made one comment about one point in the story.
This is not a bunch of fanboy loosers whining over "only in Cleveland," this is about a very good girls basketball getting screwed by stupid adults.

My NY-NJ centric existence might seem pathetic to you, but given what a stupid asshole you are, your opinon doesn't mean **** to me.

Just have a seat here, sir. Relax and I will be right back with your beer. I will put your walker in the corner.

 

[JayFarrar]

Prep teams getting the boot happen all the time, not to get caught in a pissing match, but my metro had a prep story about a team getting DQed from the state tournament since the team had violated a transfer rule and didn't know it.
It wasn't posted on here, even though the team was a state title favorite and regarded as one of the best small-school programs in the region.

 

[spnited]

da el g:
I did not start this stupidity...the ****ing looser frmsped did.

As for your lame age joke, you, too, can go **** yourself, asshole.

Now may we please get back to the topic. Thank you.

 

[hondo]

Take a chill pill sp ... as usual, you're a class act.

Now, back to the topic:

1. How in the hell can a coach, or AD or principal lose track of whether they played 20 games or not? Are these people so moronic they can't count?
2. As usual in a situation like this, they're all backpedaling and blaming someone else. There was a good point in the column: if one of the kids made a mistake, such as breaking curfew, etc., and they trotted out this lame crap, the adults would be all over them even more.
3. The only way to punish a school for this has to involve punishing the kids. I know they didn't do anything, but there has to be some punishment or sanctions. Let me know when you think of a way that punishes the school, but not the kids.