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Post by poweriguy on Aug 30, 2006 1:00:18 GMT -6
sports.espn.go.com/sports/news/story?id=2564897BASTROP, La. -- Bastrop High School will have to forfeit its football championship under a Louisiana High School Athletic Association ruling that it illegally recruited players and violated the residency transfer rule last year, the Morehouse Parish School Board president said.
Board president Kris McKoin confirmed Monday night that the LHSAA had ruled against Bastrop High. All of the players involved were hurricane evacuee transfers from Port Sulphur High, and all will be ineligible this coming season, McKoin said.
"Our community accepted not only these kids but hundreds of evacuees from all over the state that came from dire situations. These kids did not come from homes or schools, but shelters."
The Class 4A state football championship last year was Bastrop High School's first since 1927.
Coach Brad Bradshaw said earlier Monday that he had been told the school was receiving bad news from the LHSAA, but his only focus at this time was on his players and how the decision might affect them. He added that he expected the school to appeal the decision.
"My kids are crushed right now," Bradshaw said. "They are crying. They are hurt that their hard work is being taken away from them. They know what we did last year. They know what we accomplished."
Principal Tom Thrower said he wouldn't comment until he got the written ruling.
LHSAA commissioner Tommy Henry said Monday that he had issued a preliminary ruling, which he expected to arrive Wednesday at Morehouse Parish and the school that filed the complaint.
Both Bastrop and the complaining school will have 48 hours to file an appeal once they receive the ruling. Henry said he wouldn't comment on the investigation until after an appeal had been made or the appeal deadline had passed.
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Post by groundchuck on Aug 30, 2006 6:53:57 GMT -6
I see this one headed for the courts.
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Post by gamedog on Aug 30, 2006 12:26:14 GMT -6
They do make a pretty good argument for the kids being there. Prolly gonna be hard to keep the court system out of this one.
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Post by brunotro on Aug 30, 2006 14:59:48 GMT -6
Only in America.
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Post by groundchuck on Aug 30, 2006 17:37:32 GMT -6
With the cluster that Katrina created what can you do? I mean did the coach walk into the shelters with a bus parked outside and ask if there were any good football players looking to play this fall? In my opinion the state needed to let this one go. Kids are looking for a place to play, and some way to make sense of the disaster. Now adults want to screw it up for the kids. We had families move in around here and other northern cities. What if they won a title should the high school leagues take away thier titles too?
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Post by coachgeiser on Aug 30, 2006 18:02:09 GMT -6
In Philadelphia we are members of district 12 in the PIAA. Three young men who were displaced by Hurricane Katrina came to Philadelphia to live with distant family. Our District 12 Chairman made a humane and in my opinion a very sensible decision. The young men were considered immediately eligible at the receiving school. Two of these players were very very good football players. The compassion of all involved reached further than any football wins or losses. I'm sure in the situation in LA there were other schools which received players.
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neil
Sophomore Member
Posts: 218
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Post by neil on Aug 30, 2006 21:38:20 GMT -6
I'm in Louisiana.
What was claimed and apparently proved was that two assistant coaches got in their own vehicles to search out specific players. They asked the players, parents, and then the asst. coaches to give false testimony as to how the players got to the school from where they evacuated.
According to that, those coaches did wrong. They took advantage of the Katrina situation. I did not read the reports. I did not interview the coaches or players.
However, if they did intentionally seek out football players and disobey the guidelines set forth, then they do deserve to have their title taken away.
With that being said, the kids should not be punished that have decided to remain at the school. They were ruled ineligible for the 2006 season. It should be the coaching staff that is ruled ineligible. Not the kids!
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Post by jjkuenzel on Aug 30, 2006 23:05:55 GMT -6
Punish the coaches, but not the kids.
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Post by groundchuck on Sept 4, 2006 8:02:24 GMT -6
Seems that the state reduced the players suspensions to a a couple games.
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Post by coachbleu on Sept 6, 2006 3:55:21 GMT -6
Punish them all. They all lied. The coaches AS WELL AS THE PLAYERS signed affidavits stating that the players were not physically transported by anyone from the school. This was a complete lie. Many coaches in the state of La. took the opportunity to troll for talent in the aftermath of Katrina. I don't know that Bastrop did that, but they flat-out lied about what actually went on.
Then they had a kid on TV talking about receiving money and new cars. I think some bad things went on there besides what has been exposed. Some of it has been ignored or swept under the rug because there is no solid proof, however, the coaches and players LIED about how they got there. That should be well enough to make everyone pay.
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