The IAHSAA

[zmac328]

The IAHSAA should be absolutely ashamed of themselves for their decision yesterday against East. Making East forfeit because of an online threat is unbelievable. You mean to tell me that if a school like Dowling or Valley had a gun threat, the IAHSAA would have told them to move the game or forfeit? If you think that's the case, I want some of what you're smoking because that's gotta be some pretty good stuff...


It is completely unfair to those kids at East, who have busted their ass all year long to enjoy their Senior Night, to have that taken away from them. Why was forfeiting even an option? If Ames was too fearful to make their way down to Des Moines, why shouldn't they have to forfeit?

Roosevelt played Dowling at Valley.
North played up in Sioux City.
Hoover played at Lincoln.
Three stadiums in Des Moines were available to play the game at tonight. But no, we can't do that? No. Instead, you give DMPS an ultimatum instead of coming up with an agreement.


Unbelievable pompous decision-making by the boys in Boone. That is beyond crap and the men who made this decision should be ashamed of themselves. Absolutely ashamed of themselves. I hope this completely blows up on them. The student athletes in this state deserve better than this type of garbage. That means EVERY student-athlete in this state, regardless of school location or how much money they help rake in at the gates.

Condescending, despicable, pompous GARBAGE.

 

[zmac328]

And don't give me this "safety trumps" BS as your argument. If Hoover or North or Lincoln was playing at East last night, nobody in Boone would have batted an eye.

 

[DarkThunder#61]

Can the State reverse this decision? It seems like they should, but is it really too late, or are their minds made up?

 

[zmac328]

DMPS has appealed the forfeit, it's up to the IAHSAA to accept or decline the appeal. I highly doubt it gets reversed. Someone in Boone needs to be fired.

 

[notlongago]

There were 2 other perfectly acceptable options.

Look at the other side of the coin; if something had happened, the school and association would be held liable.

 

[hawkcub]

The what if crowd loses a little bit to stand on when the DMPD investigates the threat and says there should not be an issue with playing the game. Not to mention the added police presence.

Honestly you can say there might be a problem at many 4A schools on any given night. Is a travesty what Boone did to DME.

 

[Saints85]

So the East High students who didn't go to school, because they were afraid for their safety, were excused and that was ok with the DMPS system. But for Ames not to come play was a disgrace????? Cmon man.

 

[KidSilverhair]

Originally posted by Saints85:
So the East High students who didn't go to school, because they were afraid for their safety, were excused and that was ok with the DMPS system. But for Ames not to come play was a disgrace????? Cmon man.

My wife works for a school district. Parents always have the ultimate authority on whether or not to send their kids to school when safety is an issue. You think the roads are too bad, but school isn't cancelled? You can keep your kids at home, no problem.

That's what I think the point was with attendance on Friday. I am not sure "excused" is the proper terminology, but if parents were worried about a threat, they had the right to keep their kids home. If you'll note the wording of what the school told parents, that also meant any football players who stayed home on Friday would NOT be allowed to play, so it certainly wasn't carte blanche.

Ames didn't want to come play a scheduled game at East. East was prepared to host. East felt they had taken proper security precautions. East and the Des Moines police were satisfied the threats weren't a danger. Ames still asked to move the game. Shouldn't that be East's call? If East didn't want to jack around their players and fans, because of Ames' request, shouldn't they have that right? It just doesn't seem right that East has to take the forfeit here, when Ames essentially refused to play a scheduled contest.

 

[KidSilverhair]

Originally posted by notlongago:
There were 2 other perfectly acceptable options.

Look at the other side of the coin; if something had happened, the school and association would be held liable.

"Liable"? Probably not. Did the school take appropriate and timely action to address this threat? They thought so. So did the Des Moines police department. If they had ignored or tried to cover up the threats, that would be one thing. But they took action, brought in the police, and increased security. You can't prevent everything. If you play a scheduled game in a driving rainstorm and fans on their way to the stadium crash because of the conditions, are the school and IAHSAA "liable"?

And those two options were not perfectly acceptable to East, who were the hosts. Forcing fans to pick up and travel to a game that was supposed to be home on a couple of hours notice is a big deal. Asking kids who might have weekend jobs to drop them to play football on Saturday with one day notice is a big deal. It's not like this was a no-brainer for East.

Ames was the one requesting accommodation. If they didn't get it, it is they who should take the loss, not East.

 

[DSMan]

if they were worried about crime they could play during the day. I recall Dowling playing East on a Saturday afternoon during the 1990s as a way to ensure safety. Also, DM is not Camden. Stop pretending like it is.

 

[super_tecmo_bowl]

Interesting comments from both sides in the linked Ames Tribune article.





This post was edited on 10/18 11:30 AM by super_tecmo_bowl

Ames Tribune Article

 

[super_tecmo_bowl]

.

WHO TV News - East/Ames

 

[KidSilverhair]

A couple of takeaways from that Ames Trib article:

- The IAHSAA is saying they did not "force" East to forfeit the game. While I guess it's technically correct that the state gave them a choice between playing or forfeiting, the choice was also between playing (Saturday or Monday, or take your home Senior Night to Ames) and forfeiting. So it's all in your definition of "force."

- The Ames superintendent makes it clear it was his decision to not play the game at East, as scheduled, on Friday night.

I continue to strongly believe East got hosed here by taking the forfeit loss. As I've said before, if Ames was so worried for the safety of their players and fans, even after being presented with the facts that East and the Des Moines police believed to have security well in hand, then AMES needed to say, "No thanks, our players' safety comes first. We aren't coming, so we forfeit." Letting Ames have a win here just seems backwards.

Now that the state has set the precedent, all East has to do is claim they fear violence by roving South Dakota gang members in Sioux City this Friday. If the IAHSAA goes by last week's decision, East should be handed the win (and a playoff spot) by forfeit. Isn't that the way it works now?

 

[RamBling]

Nice job by Bryce Miller of the Register today - IMHO he is spot on with his thoughts and views:

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/sports/columnists/bryce-miller/2014/10/18/bryce-miller-east-unfairly-put-win-situation-by-state-in-ames-forfeit/17501089/

 

[screwloose]

I heard about these gangbangers from Sioux Falls coming to Sioux City this Friday. They wear blue and hate anybody that wears red...Des Moines East better be on the lookout! If I were a fan, athlete, parent or student from East making that trip to Sioux City, I'd be terrified...fearing for my life. They better call the state and ask that Sioux City North forfeits immediately. I read a separate post on an Islamic website that ISIS was planning something big.

*** PLEASE NOTE THIS POST WAS DONE COMPLETELY IN SATIRE AND IN JEST TO THE HYPOCRISY THAT THE IHSAA OPERATES ***

 

[KidSilverhair]

 

[zmac328]

Screwloose, I am not taking my football team to Ames because it is an unlawful town plagued by annual riots.

 

[uncylenced]

I believe the Saturday day game between Dowling and East was 1985 or 6.
This post was edited on 10/19 3:42 PM by uncylenced

 

[loco60]

The Iowa High School Athletic Association should be able to link their actions to their by-laws. The Ames Superintendent should be able to outline the actions taken to assess the situation with Des Moines officials, including law enforcement.

Both officials should not worry about using too much soap in the shower, not much to clean.

In two years some of these footballers will be in the Middle East while the officials involved will not.

 

[tnobd]

Is the threat at East great enough for the IHSAA to move either DM East or Ames to another district next year?

 

[hawkod]

No one deserves preferential treatment, but it's clear there was reverse discrimination against East in this case. Something smells bad up in Ames on this, even though they've got convenient excuses. There's no reason someone in the athletic department in Ames couldn't have said, "Wait a minute, there's a better way to make this happen than a forfeit." This isn't the NFL...have a little compassion for the East community--they've got enough stress already with this threat.

 

[loco60]

Hats off to the East folks and DMPS folks for arguing based on facts! I don't think I'd like the Ames Superintendent by my side in a tough situation.

As to the Iowa High School Athletic Association, get out the lysol and open up the windows, let some of that stink out.

 

[On Wings of Eagles]

At worse, I don't think it should have been handled any differently than a bomb threat. There was enough advance time that the police considered it unfounded and even offered more support. Still had enough time to have the game at East.

 

[loco60]

I watched the DMPS superintendent explain it on a video clip. I think the Iowa High School Athletic Association has really messed up.