Article today in the STL Post-Dispatch:
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/colu...cle_ec369ef3-c942-5fbb-9667-6794f3b0fcd6.html
SPANISH LAKE • As he watched his Trinity Catholic players practice for another game that would not be played, Cory Patterson carefully offered his opinion on his undefeated football team’s current situation.
“I don’t want to be the judge of why or how anyone else does it,” he said. “But with us, there’s no excuse. We go and play.”
Our local showing of Friday Night Lights has developed a sensitive subplot.
A flag seems overdue.
The penalty? Too few teams on the field. Or is too few players on the teams?
This week Patterson had to break the news to his players that Friday’s opponent, St. Charles, decided to forfeit instead of travel to Trinity for senior night. This came after Bishop DuBourg (0-8) forfeited its Sept. 15 game against Trinity. And that came after a scheduled game against Priory (1-7) was canceled before the season started, which ultimately left the Titans with a week-one bye, depending on which version of the story you believe.
Trinity, ranked second in the state among Class 2 teams, is about to improve to 8-0 on Friday. This will be the second win that came without the buckling of a chin strap. The Titans are not alone in that department.
Lutheran North, also undefeated and ranked No. 3 behind Trinity, was the recipient of a forfeit when Priory punted its Sept. 30 game against the Crusaders.
And earlier this season, Lutheran North wound up traveling to Indiana to play after its first game, against Clayton, was canceled. (Clayton played Priory to start the season instead, and Priory says that schedule tweak was agreed to by both Trinity and Lutheran North.)
The similarities between Trinity and Lutheran North, and the similarities between the stated explanations for the forfeits, have stirred some questions. Easy answers are hard to find.
The forfeiting teams have offered slightly different versions of the same reason: They were dealing with too many injuries to compete at the varsity level that week.
“I don’t know about saying if I believe it or not,” Patterson said.
Lutheran North coach Carl Reed was more blunt in his assessment.
“The injury thing is just not true,” he said. “It’s just not valid. If you can play the week before, and you can play the week after, you could have played against us.”
Let’s agree on some common ground. As football participation declines across the country, the lack of depth on high school teams is going to become a significant hindrance for the sport, especially at smaller schools like the ones mentioned here. And no one likes getting their tail kicked. Teams should be free to schedule opponents they can compete against. But they should be expected to play the games they agreed to play.
Call me a cynic, but it’s somewhat hard to believe a functioning high school football team — even a bad one — can’t find enough healthy players for a game. Not being able to field your best team is much different than being able to field a team. Factor in the timing, and it’s odd that such severe health crises cropped up right before games against Trinity and Lutheran North.
In the case of Priory, believe it, said athletics director Tom Fiala. He said four two-way players were unable to play the week Priory forfeited to Lutheran North. Those players were cleared for the following week, so the team played (and lost) at fifth-ranked Cardinal Ritter. Priory, which has its lowest turnout ever for football, did not feel comfortable putting the would-be replacements in a varsity game in between.
A reasonable conclusion says some struggling, battered teams that didn’t have much of a chance to beat Trinity and Lutheran North decided to rest up instead of take their lumps.
The hunt for why is where things can get messy.
Present in the chatter are complaints of the lopsided wins Trinity and Lutheran North tend to dish out, vague indictments of their “style of play,” and unproven accusations that the two programs have benefited from rule-breaking recruiting.
Patterson and Reed stiff-arm such talk.
“I coached youth football in St. Louis for 13 years,” Patterson said, pointing to practicing players he’s known since then. “People don’t know that. That’s why they make assumptions. They don’t know these kids are going to play for me anyway. I don’t have to chase people down.”
One step beyond these criticisms sits an angle that, depending on whom you ask, is either a significant factor or a reckless claim.
Trinity and Lutheran North are both dominating with young, black coaches who coach predominantly black teams.
Can the forfeits be traced back to racial divide?
“I would hope not,” Patterson said.
Reed is convinced.
“Racism is easy to identify,” Reed said. “But it’s hard to prove.”
Reed questions why Priory’s forfeit against Lutheran North led to a conversation that resulted in the two teams agreeing to not play one another in the future, despite the fact they share a conference.
He also claims St. Charles (2-6) attempted a switcheroo of sorts, and tried to schedule Normandy (1-7) in place of Friday’s forfeited game against Trinity. He said the audible fell through when Normandy didn’t agree to forfeit its game against this week’s opponent, which happened to be his Lutheran North team.
St. Charles athletics officials did not return messages Thursday.
St. Charles attempting to play Normandy instead of Trinity would challenge the argument that St. Charles is too injured to play.
“I think it’s because we are an all-African-American team with an African -American coach,” Reed said of forfeits.
“When MICDS and John Burroughs have had very, very dominant teams in this conference in recent history, teams still played them. (Priory) lost to Westminster 63-6, which is worse than we’ve ever beat them since I’ve been here, but they’re still playing them. They’re playing every team in the league that’s beating them just as badly, but they refuse to play us. Take it how you want to take it.”
There is no punishment for forfeiting. Unless the contract agreed upon includes a penalty — most don’t — nothing can be done to make up for money lost on ticket sales and concessions.
Every game not played erases an opportunity for players to impress college recruiters. But the biggest disappointment is the most obvious.
Kids are missing games.
Football is on thin ice. Safety is more important than ever before. But it can’t become a catch-all shield.
Teams that can’t find a way to fulfill their schedule commitments should re-evaluate the viability of their programs, and perhaps take a hard look at the message they are sending.
