Try envisioning an autumn in South Bend, Ind., without football being played on the University of Notre Dame campus. Or a winter with no Kentucky Wildcats basketball in Lexington, Ky.
It amounts to overload for the mind; fans are too used to the rich traditions to imagine what the communities would be like minus their trademark sports. Re-calibrate your standards downward one notch and you can begin to appreciate what’s going on at Gowanda, a small Western New York school with a big tradition in boys lacrosse. The varsity and JV seasons came to an abrupt end two weeks ago due to rough play, not on the field, but rather in the locker room.
School superintendent Charles Rinaldi made the decision after consulting with school board members. The school board will hear appeals from players and parents this week, but any change of heart by the administration would have to be swift because Section VI will seed its tournament over the weekend.
Rinaldi made his ruling after learning that two JV players engaged in a brief "boxing match" after practice April 29 in the locker room while an estimated two dozen of the school’s 40 players players cheered them on and recorded the activity. The video reportedly made its way onto YouTube before being removed at the request of district officials.
The video showed the two players, both apparently willing participants, wearing boxing gloves during the impromptu bout, which ended when the brother of one of the fighters intervened after a hard blow knocked one of the students into a wall. The two combatants were kicked off the team and the third student received a five-day school suspension. A subsequent special meeting was held for parents, at which time Rinaldi and the school board canceled the rest of the season.
Gowanda is a 12-time Section VI champion. Though the Panthers slumped to a 33-44 mark over four seasons beginning in 2005, they went 15-5 a year ago and lost to upstart Silver Creek in the sectional Class C final. Gowanda's last game was an 18-16 loss to Silver Creek on April 30 that dropped the team to 6-3; three scheduled games since were forfeited.
"Parents were upset," Rinaldi told The Buffalo News. "There were different arguments as to whether I was right ... I can say honestly, I was sympathetic to the issues the parents brought up."
The significance of the sport to the community was no small consideration before Rinaldi ruled.
"It’s very big because it goes back a long time, and it’s a very important sport to our Native American students," he said. Almost 30 percent of the district’s students are Native American.
"It’s a way of life here," said Lisa Maybee, whose son plays on the junior varsity team.
Baseball: PSAL coach eclipses major milestone
Monroe baseball coach Mike Turo, who has sent over 300 players to college and has had 21 drafted, picked up his 1,000th victory last week in an 8-3 win over host DeWitt Clinton.
"I just love working with the kids to get out of The Bronx, to get to a better place," he told The New York Post. "I feel I’m helping more here."
Eagles players presented Turo, 54, with a plaque and a signed commemorative jersey as he joined Archbishop Molloy’s Jack Curran as the only members of the quadruple-digit club. Turo started his career at Monroe in 1977 and has become a PSAL institution. He has led Monroe to five overall city championships and 27 Bronx PSAL crowns.
"He spends more time with us than his family," pitching coach and former player Jose Bautista told the newspaper. "This is his life. He puts this in front of everybody."
Also last week, 22nd-year Pearl River baseball coach Bruce Miller earned his 300th career win with a 10-9 victory over Brewster. Matt Burke hit a grand slam, and Mike Davis and Mike Girling each banged out three hits for the Pirates.
More on coaches: Two basketball fixtures retiring
Ogdensburg Free Academy boys basketball coach Bill Merna announced his retirement last week after 599 wins at Hammond and OFA, tied for sixth on the state's all-time list. Merna had retired from teaching in 2008.
In Rochester, Wilson Magnet boys coach Chris Connell, 59, is stepping down. Connell launched the program in 1983 and compiled a record of 347-262, mostly against larger City-Catholic League schools, with six sectional titles and a NYSPHSAA championship.
Highlights and heroes
* Colonie sophomore Kyle Plante broke the Section II girls record in the 400-meter hurdles at the 70th annual Eddy Games at Union College. Plante's time of 59.95 seconds beat the 1983 sectional mark of 1:00.80 by Mt. Pleasant's Rhonda Phillips. Plante also won the 200 meters in :25.66. Madalayne Smith led Saratoga to the girls team title by winning the 100 dash and 100 hurdles.
* Harrison senior attacker Melissa Shulman scored seven goals to go over 200 in her career during a 17-2 lacrosse victory against Keio Academy.
* Manhasset senior Matt Demitroff broke the New York State Public High School Athletic Association record for career stolen bases by swiping second base in the third inning of a 6-5 loss to Mineola. The fifth-year varsity player has 134 stolen bases, eclipsing Brenden Myers, who had 133 stolen bases for S.S. Seward from 2002-06.
Close call for track athlete
North Rockland junior Darius Favors is recovering from a most improbable and nearly catastrophic injury suffered at track practice. Favors was hit by a discus on April 29, sustaining a fractured skull and a concussion, The Journal News reported. He was taken to Nyack Hospital, where he was found to have bleeding on the brain. Treatment continued at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, where doctors operated to relieve the pressure caused by the pooling blood.
"It was touch-and-go the next day, but he really came around the day after, so the prognosis is excellent," coach Gene Dall said.
Favors, who competes in the weight events and has gone over 51 feet in the shot already, has been out of school since the accident.
John Schiano, who has written about high school sports in western and central New York for more than 25 years, covers New York for MaxPreps. He may be reached at johnschianosports@gmail.com.
