You won't believe this one. A high school football game with a blown call that affected the outcome of the ball game and the school on the short end of that game has gone to court to get things rectified
From the NY Times
LOCUST
GROVE, Okla. — The marquee at the Quik Shop in this rural town says,
"Go Pirates Win State." It seems a reasonable expectation for undefeated
and top-ranked Locust Grove High School, considering its star
quarterback has thrown 65 touchdown passes this season and only five
interceptions.
Yet,
the Class 3A playoffs for Oklahoma's midsize schools are being delayed
in a state that takes football as seriously as the weather. The next
play will be made in a courtroom, not on the field.
On
Wednesday, a district judge is scheduled to affirm or invalidate Locust
Grove's disputed 20-19 quarterfinal victory Nov. 28 over Frederick A.
Douglass High School of Oklahoma City. Douglass is seeking to have the
final 64 seconds or the entire game replayed because of an admitted and
crucial mistake made by the referees in negating a late touchdown.
At issue, essentially, is whether the mistake should be corrected or
whether human error should be allowed to stand as one of life's harsh
but unavoidable lessons.
Legal experts said they could not recall a high school game being replayed for legal reasons.
"The
courts are very sensitive to the fact that if they start to utilize
their powers to overturn decisions of officials -- whether they're right
or wrong -- then you would basically have athletic competition decided
in the courtroom and not on the field," said Alan S. Goldberger, a New
Jersey lawyer who specializes in sports law and who is the author of
"Sports Officiating: A Legal Guide." "That would kind of be a full-time
job in some places."
With
1 minute 4 seconds remaining in the Oklahoma playoff game last month,
Douglass High School scored on a remarkable 58-yard yard touchdown pass
and seemed to take a 25-20 lead over Locust Grove.
Receiver Qua'Sean
Sims caught a short pass near the sideline on fourth down, whirled
toward the middle of the field and wove elusively to the end zone.
Video
shows a Douglass coach running excitedly along the sideline and
appearing to unintentionally impede or bump one of the referees.
Earlier, Douglass had received a warning for a similar infraction. This
time the referee threw a flag.
The
violation is considered minor; rules call for a 5-yard penalty to be
assessed on the extra-point attempt or the ensuing kickoff. Instead, the
referees wrongly annulled the go-ahead touchdown, infuriating the
Douglass coaches and some fans.
The
Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association later apologized to
Douglass, calling the referees' mistake "inexcusable." But the
association also said that state and national bylaws did not permit
protesting the outcome of a game because of an official's ruling on the
field.
Oklahoma
City public school officials disagreed and are seeking in court to have
some or all of the game replayed. Last week, Judge Bernard M. Jones II
of District Court in Oklahoma City issued a temporary restraining order,
prohibiting Locust Grove from playing its scheduled semifinal playoff
game.
During
the hearing, though, Judge Jones expressed some skepticism about courts
intervening in the results of athletic contests, noting that a decision
to order a replay would be extraordinary.
"I know of no other court that has been asked to do what has been asked here," he said, according to The Associated Press.
But the Oklahoma City school district, in support of Douglass High, says it is only fair to remedy a correctable mistake.
"Adults
in a split second can negate months and years of hard work by kids,"
Keith Sinor, the athletic director of Oklahoma City public schools, said
Monday. "Our kids shouldn't be held accountable for those mistakes --
especially in a situation where they can be corrected."
Brandon
Carey, the general counsel for Oklahoma City public schools, said that
the Douglass case presented a "very unique and different situation." The
school district is not questioning the referees' judgment in calling a
penalty, Mr. Carey said, but seeking redress because the referees did
not know the rules about assessing the penalty.
"The
ruling negated a touchdown in the final 64 seconds and probably
completely changed the outcome," he said. Referring to a potential
replay of the Douglass-Locust Grove game, Mr. Carey added, "Just because
it hasn't been done doesn't mean it's not the right thing to do."
Among
supporters of a replay is Barry Switzer, who won three national
championships coaching the University of Oklahoma and a Super Bowl title
coaching the Dallas Cowboys.
"Let the play on the field determine who won the ballgame," Mr. Switzer told reporters.
In
1972, a state football semifinal between two Louisiana schools was
replayed in its entirety, not for legal reasons but because the score
was 0-0, the tiebreakers remained even and there was no provision for
overtime.
It
has grown increasingly common over the past two decades for courts to
address issues of eligibility for high school players and teams in state
playoffs. In 2005, a high school quarterback from Oklahoma challenged a
two-game suspension for kicking an opponent during a playoff game.
Eventually, the Oklahoma Supreme Court upheld the suspension.
While
some attempts to replay games have succeeded in lower courts, they have
been reversed by appellate courts, said Mr. Goldberger, the sports law
expert.
He
cited a 1981 case in which the Georgia Supreme Court overturned a
lower-court ruling to replay the final seven minutes of a high school
football game there because of a referee's mistake.
Playing
sports is not a constitutional right, Mr. Goldberger said, adding that
the legal system "is not designed to correct every mistake that is made
in life."
Lawyers
for Douglass High intend to cite a recent case involving college
volleyball teams. Last month, the N.C.A.A. permitted a replay of a
portion of a women's volleyball game between Iowa State and Texas Tech
because a referee misapplied a rule.
Mark
Grossman, the lawyer representing the Oklahoma Secondary School
Activities Association, said there was a crucial difference between the
Douglass-Locust Grove playoff game and the N.C.A.A. volleyball match, a
regular-season meeting in which a portion of the protested fifth set was
replayed: N.C.A.A. rules specifically allow for such a do-over, while
high school rules do not.
The
Oklahoma schools association, Mr. Grossman added, was also concerned
that an extended football season might interfere with final exams as the
holiday break approaches and, at smaller schools, could disrupt the
beginning of basketball and wrestling seasons with many athletes playing
several sports.
"You potentially put everything on hold," Mr. Grossman said.
In
Locust Grove, a town of 1,400 in northeast Oklahoma, Coach Matt Hennesy
said his team was preparing for a semifinal game this weekend and
presumed Judge Jones would rule in the school's favor.
"It
would be a travesty for high school athletics -- maybe all of athletics
-- if we're going to let the courts get involved every time there's a
bad call," Mr. Hennesy said Sunday. "In football, you deal with the
elements, turnovers, injuries, officials' bad calls. That's part of the
game."
Yet
one school is certain not to be happy with Judge Jones's ruling
Wednesday. Appeals are possible, even likely, and the playoffs could be
further delayed.
Cushing
High School has reached the championship game on the other side of
Oklahoma's Class 3A bracket -- made up of schools with about 500
students -- but now must sit and wait for an opponent. So must Heritage
Hall High School, which will face either Locust Grove or Douglass in the
semifinals.
Anyone
hoping for a quick resolution might consider this: In the spring of
2013, the Class 1A baseball playoffs in Oklahoma were held up for a
month as one team fought an ineligibility ruling in court. The delay
became so lengthy, Mr. Grossman said, that a player graduated and left
for military duty.
Andy
Bogert, the football coach at Heritage Hall, said Monday: "We are most
certainly in limbo. If something doesn't get settled on Wednesday, we
might be playing in January."
