MHSAA stands by its age rule despite pressure

A story that came across the wire today. Thoughts?

ISHPEMING, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan high school is hoping for a rule change that would allow a student with Down syndrome to play football and basketball next season with an age-limit waiver.

That would require the Michigan High School Athletic Association to change its constitution, which states that students who turn 19 before Sept. 1 are ineligible to play sports for the full school year. Eric Dompierre, who started school late because of his disability, turned 19 earlier in the school year.

MHSAA associate director Tom Rashid said a third request from Ishpeming High School. to have member schools vote on the matter was received Tuesday. Two-thirds of member schools would have to vote in favor of allowing students with disabilities to apply for a waiver.

Rashid said the MHSAA’s representative council has decided against the change, adding that feedback from other schools has been in favor of keeping the universal application of the absolute rule.

“The council has had a very open and thoughtful discussion about this, going back to Dec. 2010, and has decided not to advance the issue to the point of voting on a constitutional change,” Rashid said Wednesday. “Schools expressed concerns about the difficulty of dealing with the broadening definition of a disability and whether a student’s age could become an unfair competitive advantage.”

The age rule, according to the MHSAA, has survived every legal challenge.

Dean Dompierre has attempted to gain support for the change that would help his son and other children with disabilities by starting an online petition that has collected 7,000-plus signatures.

“I’ve been blown away from the support we’ve gotten across the country,” he said. “If you read the comments on the petition page, it’s really heart-warming.”

Dompierre said his next step is to get support from other schools across the state to vote for a change.

“We’re a proud member of the MHSAA, which makes the right decision 99.9 percent of the time,” he said. “We just think in this particular instance, the MHSAA has misread the amount of support there is to help kids with disabilities.”

His son ecently told WLUC-TV said he just wants to keep playing ball with his teammates.

“I’d be sad if I couldn’t play with them and not have them in my life,” Eric Dompierre told the Upper Peninsula TV station. “They want me to play, and I want to play with them.”

Schave takes control

Todd Schave is the only person, out of 57 who played this year to have his Final Four intact. He has taken command of the Huron Daily Tribune Sports Blog/Facebook Contest, but he doesn't have it wrapped up just yet.
Rob Atwood is the only player who can catch Schave. 
Good luck to Todd and Rob next weekend. To everyone else, thank you for playing. 

Spartans lose...brackets busted

Michigan State was stunned by Louisville and the Spartans took many brackets with them. 
Nearly everyone in our contest this year had MSU in the Final Four, 15 of them had the Spartans winning the championship. It's pretty likely, those who had them winning are done. 
I have checked some of the remaining brackets and there are a couple that have Florida and Louisville in the Final Four. 
Drew Brining and Martin Baker are currently tied for the lead, but both had MSU winning the championship. 
Rob Atwood is in fourth, but has Florida making his Final Four, along with Kentucky, Ohio State and Kansas. 
Todd Schave is tied for 10th, but has Louisville, Kentucky, Ohio State and Kanas in the Final Four.
Others that are still in the hunt to score 90 or more points are: John Thorpe, Brad Susalla, Chad Wingert and Paul Adams. 

Crowded at the top at after first weekend

Despite a number of upsets during the first four days of the NCAA Tournament, there are plenty of contenders for the Huron Daily Tribune Sports Blog/Facebook Contest.
There is a tie at the top, with Drew Brining and Martin Baker. They each have 50 points. 
Jill Susalla, the 2010 champion, is in second with 49 points, but had Duke winning her bracket. 
Day 2 leaders Brandon Deacons and Scott Buchman are third with 47 points. Deacons, though, has lost two of his Final Four. 
Sports editor Paul Adams is having one of his better brackets in years, tied for 14th, with 43 point

Brag or Whine

This is a brag or whine about your bracket post. Just let it all out right now before you ruin yours and everyone elses day today by either bragging about your bracket or whining about it. I am, of course, going to whine.

Every upset I pick doesn't materialize, every upset I don't pick materializes and every game that comes down to the wire doesn't go my way. This morning I woke up and went straight out to my punching bag and just beat the hell out of it; and then had a good cry. You couldn't purposely pick as bad as I have so far. Deep breath.....There, I'm done whining about it.

Happy St. Patty's Day people.

Deacons grabs Day 1 lead

From the message board in our Blog/Facebook Bracket Contest...

Day 1 of the Big Dance is in the books and Brandon Deacons turned in a solid day, only dropping one game to rack up 15 points.
There is a four-way tie for second place while nearly everyone else has eight 13 or 12 points. 
Sports Editor Paul Adams (thanks to CBS’ auto selections) has 13 points while sports writer and NCAA Tournament fanatic Seth Stapleton struggled a little with 11 points.
Our old friend Rick Glaza finds himself in last with only 10 points. Rick took a big hit with UNLV’s comeback falling short. He had the Runnin’ Rebels in the Elite 8. 

Greatest Sports Day?

Hey everyone. In my column today...

http://www.michigansthumb.com/articles/2012/03/15/sports/sports_columns/doc4f61e457e8392134587942.txt

...I ramble on and on about how the opening two days of March Madness are the greatest two sports days of the year. Although I am pretty sure of this, I am also sure that others may have a differing opinion on the matter.

So with that said, I'd like to know what YOU think is the greatest sports day(s) of the year? It could be the Superbowl, Sunday at the Masters, MLB opening day, etc. Let us know what you think, and if you'd like, let us know why. Thanks.

Seth