DM East-Ames Forfeit

[KidSilverhair]

Nobody's had this here yet?

Here's what I've gathered: there were rumors of gang violence/shootings coming around East High this week. The school apparently took the threats seriously enough to look kindly on parents who chose to keep their kids home from school today (I saw a tweet from the school saying players had to have attended at least half the day to play, but students out the whole day could still attend the game).

Ames was scheduled to play at East tonight. Ames apparently brought their safety concerns to the IAHSAA, who informed East they needed to either switch the game to Ames or play Saturday during the day. East said, "Screw that, we have kids with weekend jobs and families that can't make that trip with three hours notice. We forfeit." The Des Moines Public Schools then sent out a scathing press release taking both the IAHSAA and Ames to task for disrespecting East's ability to control things tonight.

What do you all think? While safety is paramount, and caution is laudatory, I think the IAHSAA's reaction was overly harsh and knee-jerkish. How much credence should we give to internet rumors? How quickly do we cave in the face of "possible" trouble? It's not like East was unaware of the situation and not taking action - I'm sure they felt they could handle it with increased security.

Look at it this way - if it were Ames at Ankeny, and there were rumors of an upcoming fight in the parking lot with firearms mentioned, would this outcome have been the same? I am not positive about that.

 

[KidSilverhair]

Even more info coming on this story:

-Apparently it was Ames' first inclination to simply cancel the game. They called East to ask about that, then offered the options of moving the game site or time. Neither of those was acceptable to East.

- East had brought the Des Moines police in on the threats as soon as they were aware of them. There was an increased police presence on the campus today, with increased security planned for the game tonight. Nothing came of the threats during the day today, and the police claim their investigation showed there wasn't much behind those threats in the first place.

- Des Moines schools spokesman Phil Roeder had a good comment about the IAHSAA's reaction: "If the state athletic association is going to react this way every time some punks put up some threats ... they've opened up a can of worms," he said.

- Todd Tharp of the IAHSAA said they can't force a school to travel into a situation they feel is unsafe, that safety has to come first. Uh, okay - if that's truly the issue, wouldn't Ames have to put their money where their justifications are and take the forfeit themselves? If a school truly believes safety is at risk, it seems to me they should be the ones to take the forfeit. East was prepared to host. East felt they had security in hand. Des Moines police were backing East. So why are they saddled with the forfeit when Ames refuses to come play a scheduled game?

 

[DodgerAlum]

Totally agree with the last comment. East had taken steps to make sure the game was safe. Ames chose not to come. Not sure why East is being forced to forfeit?

 

[yorgy10]

WOW

 

[gg2224]

According to the Des Moines Regisiter:

East was given three options by Boone:

1) play the game on Saturday at East during daylight hours
2) play the game in Ames Friday night
3) forfeit

East chose #3.

 

[franky1967]

Ames calls DM East to cancel the Game, DM East contacts the Athletic Association and they are charged with a Forfeit.
If I were a "Judge", sorry ames you forfeited the game 1st. Victory should be for DM East.

 

[VerbumDei]

History shows that there is a better chance of civil unrest in Ames than the East side. Ames (and the boys in Boone) should grow a pair

 

[iceland]

Wow, this situation is pathetic, embarrassing, disturbing. Cancel a game because of social media rumors and fear? What a terrible lesson to teach kids. I lived in Ames for a few years and have family in the DM area. I have been to many DM public school football games. I have since lived in Minneapolis and MIlwaukee and been to tons of games at different kinds of schools, including many at "inner city" schools and in places a lot "scarier" than Williams Stadium in Des Moines. Fear and actions like this are one of the big reasons I don't have any interest in living in Iowa again, where I grew up and lived for eight years after college. I have a multiracial family and sure, Iowa is pretty accepting and places like Ames, DM, IC, CR are getting more diverse. But the perspectives of so many Iowans is still so skewed and unrealistic. Shame on the Ames school leaders, and shame on the IHSAA. The forfeit should clearly be on Ames.

 

[maxstabs13]

To the comment on Ankeny vs. Ames same situation. I think given the issues across the country with school shooting that any threat has to be taken seriously. It is no different than when they lock down a school for a bomb threat. It may be all smoke and mirrors, but who is taking the blame if it actually happens. I would expect them to react the same way. You're are implying that they would treat it differently in comparatively poor community instead of a rich community. Some of the worst shooting have come in rich communities.

I don't know the whole situation and could really care less because had they played we know what the outcome would have been.

I do know in Waterloo that they had issues with East and West fights during games and they made it so you can no longer go to the opponents stands during the game and I believe you must show student ID's for games and school events in Waterloo as well. So, no West kids are allowed at East prom etc...

If this was DM East and Roosevelt/Hoover and Roosevelt/Hoover felt unsafe would they treat the situation differently then they would with it being Ames?

 

[iceland]

Where I live in Milwaukee now you have to go through a wand metal detector when you come into a game in the city public schools. It seems stupid but so be it. You know that there is pretty unlikely to be anyone with a gun or knife.

Drunken rowdies at Major League Baseball games and Division I college football games scare me a lot more than anything that happens at a high school football game. I also agree that Ames probably would not have reacted the same way if the game was at Ankeny or Johnston, even though the crowds would have been much larger at places like that.

 

[Dragon7678]

It's an unfortunate situation all around, while Des Moines contention is their was no credible threat it must have been credible enough to have an increased police presence on campus today and send an email to parents yesterday informing them of the threat. I don't think Ames overreacted, if the game was played and something did occur what would people say then? Fact of the matter is they were given three options and the district superintendent Tom Ahart made the choice to forfeit. Personally if I was coach schoon I would have found some busses and taken my team to Ames tonight.. Why wasn't the decision left up to the team and coaches?

 

[zmac328]

This is absolute crap out of the IAHSAA. Absolute crap. I didn't agree with East forfeiting the game, but please please PLEASE don't tell me the guys in Boone would have forced an ultimatum on a school like Valley or Dowling or any other suburban school to play away or forfeit.


That's just pompous decision making from the IAHSAA. How fair is it to the kids at East that bust their asses all week and all season to enjoy Senior Night on their own field and the IAHSAA takes that away from them?


Absolute crap. ABSOLUTE pompous crap out of Boone. Shame on them.

 

[zmac328]

This is so wrong. So so so wrong.

 

[loco60]

I think people should calmly wake up and move forward with accountability for the Iowa High School Athletic Association.

It is time for an independent review, by-law by by-law, of the formative principles of the organization.

Through policy enactment, and particularly weak governance, policies but in place have weakened the core of communities that the organization is supposed to serve.

I realize this is just a message board. Go to the by-laws and try to reconcile their policies and actions...there are some very difficult examples.

Time for the disinfectant of sunshine. This is the last straw.

The Ames school district needs some help too.

I actually thought that the DMPS were moribund and deficient, but some of their public statements are encouraging.

 

[uncylenced]

Dowling[-Indianola at Williams in the first round, does East get the concessions?
If that's the case I'm wondering if we might see a game there in the second and possibly quarters as well.