I see that while I was gone on vacation, more “experts” from outside the world of sports were telling the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association how to do its job.
The latest controversy involves the end of regulation between Bangor and Southwestern high schools in a Division 5 Boys Basketball Sectional Final played on March 12th. A player from Bangor made a shot at the buzzer that tied the game and sent it into overtime–where Bangor eventually prevailed 79-74 and moved on to play in the state semi-finals at the Kohl Center the next week. Video of the final few seconds shot by a local TV station is inconclusive, but apparently some disgruntled Southwestern fans produced pictures taken on their cellphones that appear to show the ball still in contact with the Bangor player’s hand when the horn sounded marking the end of regulation.
Some of those fans sent their pictures to state Representative Travis Tranel–as Southwestern High School sits in his 49th Assembly District. Tranel, who does not list his experience in officiating basketball in his state website biography or in his statement issued to the media, fired off a letter to the WIAA that includes the following phrase:
“We are requesting an official explanation by the WIAA and acknowledgement that the wrong call was made, denying Southwestern the win at the end of regulation. This would go a long way toward recognizing the hard work and self-sacrifice the student athletes of the boys’ basketball team of Southwestern High School made this season. The officials mistake cost a great group of kids a chance to move on to state and fulfill their dreams.”
There are apparently no businesses desperate for workers and all of the bridges and roads must be in A+ condition in the 49th Assembly District if Representative Tranel sees a demand for apologies from the WIAA about the result of a high school basketball game as worthy of his work time as a state lawmaker.
This kerfuffle comes on the heels of a Milwaukee County Judge ordering the WIAA to reinstate St Thomas More High School in the boys tournament after all of its players were suspended for their involvement in a bench and bleachers-clearing brawl against Fuller Academy in a Regional Semi-Final game the weekend before. The judge issued an injunction after More argued that the punishment–which is spelled out in the National Federation of High Schools basketball rulebook–was unfair and that their kids should be allowed to play. St Thomas More ended up taking advantage of this and also made it to state in Division 3–where they lost to Lake Country Lutheran in the semi-finals.
Both the controversy created by Representative Tranel’s complaining, and the Milwaukee County Judge’s ruling forced the WIAA to issue a statement of its own before the boy’s state tourney got underway last week:
“The WIAA Board of Control staunchly supports the WIAA staff and the licensed game officials. With respect to a team being put back into the tournament series by order of the court, we are committed to doing all we can to address the situation in the appropriate manner and time frame.
While it is unfortunate that this issue may cause some to question the integrity of this year’s boys’ basketball state tournament, we ask that all member schools do what they can to support the student-athletes participating. Please know that we will use any and all available options necessary to ensure that the membership rules are enforced and all tournament results are valid.”
In the past, I have been critical of the WIAA on things like what is expected from officials on the field or court, antiquated rules on amateurism, limits on who can participate in championship ceremonies with teams, corporate sponsorships of everything, and treatment of the media. But I am a member of the WIAA. I am a licensed official. I take the tests on the rules that everyone sitting in the stands without a whistle complain about. And I don’t decide what I think is fair for the athletes on the field or the court on how it makes me feel or how it might make them feel.
And I like that the WIAA pointed out the questions of integrity when it came to this year’s tournaments. De-legitimization is an epidemic in this country. Whether it be election processes, the basis of the Constitution for our form of government, enforcement of laws on our books, and capitalism as a basis of our economy. And now it is coming for our lower level sports. Representative Tranel might think the kids at Southwestern will feel better about themselves if the WIAA issues some statement that THEY should have been the ones playing at the Kohl Center–which makes the Bangor presence there immediately illegitimate. And every game that St Thomas More played after their involvement in a brawl made NFHS Rule 10, Article 5 on leaving the confines of the bench to join a fight more and more illegitimate in the eyes of everyone that will play the game going forward.
You’ve heard the public service announcements we air for the WIAA asking parents and kids to be civil while attending games, and others that encourage those that love sports to join the ranks of the officials because the number of refs and umps is critically low. And while I can handle mis-informed parents screaming that every legal pivot and jump stop is travelling, I’m not going to put up with much more of the interference from judges and state lawmakers seeking to overturn legitimate rulings and game results. And that will just bring us one step closer to not having any youth sports for you to ruin.
