NYT Article On CT 50 Point Rule

[KFDM COOP]

NYT article on Connecticut's 50 point rule

This article was in the New York Times today. Connecticut has a rule implemented in May which calls for disciplining a coach who wins by more than 50.

September 19, 2006

Coach Could Face Suspension for Blowout

By BILL FINLEY

Sharp on offense and unrelenting on defense, Bridgeport Central High School’s football team played a terrific game Friday night to win its season opener against its city rival Bassick, 56-0. Now, the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference will decide if Bridgeport Central played too well.

Bridgeport Central’s coach, Dave Cadelina, is the first Connecticut high school football coach to face a possible one-game suspension for violating a rule implemented in May that prohibits teams from winning by more than 50 points. Cadelina has appealed his impending suspension, and his case may be heard as early as today by a three-member panel representing the C.I.A.C., which governs high school sports in Connecticut.

“We have had some real blowouts, and in our judgment, there was no reason for it,†said Tony Mosa, the assistant executive director of the C.I.A.C. “There were enough scores in that 50-, 60-point range where we were concerned and thought we needed to do something about it.

“We had one game last year that was 90-0. We felt that kids should not be humiliated, nor should they humiliate others. That’s not what the mission of high school sports should be. If a coach attempts to blow out another team, we regard that as an unsportsmanlike act, just as we would if a coach got in a fight in a game.â€

Last season, New London High School, coached by Jack Cochran, defeated Griswold, 90-0, and won four games by 50 or more points. During halftime of what became a 60-0 New London victory over Tourtellotte/Ellis Tech last season, the losing team’s coach, Tim Panteleakos, was suspected of hitting a New London security officer and trying to punch a New London assistant coach. Panteleakos, apparently outraged that Cochran had called a timeout just before halftime, was arrested on a charge of breach of the peace. The charge was later dropped, The Norwich Bulletin reported.

It is widely believed that the rule was directed at Cochran, who built a reputation for championship teams and lopsided victories in previous head-coaching positions at Bloomfield and New Britain. Cochran resigned as New London coach in August after he was charged with breach of the peace for being suspected of punching a rival coach while their teams were taking part in an off-season weight-lifting event.

Against Bassick, a team that has not won since 2001, Bridgeport Central had a 35-0 lead at the end of the first quarter. By the second quarter, Cadelina was already emptying his bench, but Bridgeport Central took a 49-0 lead into halftime. With the starters long removed from the game and with the team no longer passing, Bridgeport scored again, going ahead, 56-0, in the third quarter.

Cadelina could have avoided a suspension had he told his team not to tackle opposing players, allowing them to run into the end zone unimpeded and making the final score closer. He said that never crossed his mind.

“My third-string guys work just as hard as everyone else to get the opportunity to go out there,†he said. “We’re constantly telling them in practice how to tackle, block, execute, and we tell them to go hard to the whistle. What kind of respect would they have for me or the game if we told them to go out there and lay down? On the opposite side, if I were losing by a large margin? Well, there’s not a player I have ever coached that would want the other team to lay down. That makes a mockery of the game.â€

The Bassick coach, George Loughrey, said he supported Cadelina.

“He did everything he could not to run up the score on us,†Loughrey said. “I don’t care for this rule. I’m in a league where I have been on the bottom for a long time, and nobody has ever run the score up on my team. We didn’t need this rule. I’m glad he didn’t lay down. That would have embarrassed my kids.â€

Cadelina said: “If the intent of this rule is to protect kids from unsportsmanlike conduct from an opposing coach, then I shouldn’t have anything to worry about. I just worry that since I’m the first one, they’ll want to make an example out of me. But I have the opposing coach saying I didn’t do anything wrong, and the referee also said he would try to help me out.â€

It will be up to the three-person panel to decide whether Cadelina should be suspended, but Mosa said that Cadelina’s efforts to keep the score down would be considered.

“This certainly is not cut and dried,†Mosa said. “We will encourage both the offending coach and the opposing coach to give us their testimony. We will want to know what the coach did to manage the score. Yes, there is a gray area here.â€

Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company

[L-Town Stunners]

Sounds like to me that maybe they ought to put a version of a run rule in effect. Like 35 point lead after three quarters.

[Castor27]

Seems like even the coaches involved have a lot of the same concerns I had when we first heard about this.

Here is the original link to see the discussion we had on this last May:

http://www.setxsports.com/forum/index.php?topic=3958.0

[AHUDDLESTON]

How about suspending the losing coach for not teaching how to block and tackle. We simply let our linemen run the ball if it gets out of hand.

[Razor]

That is absolutely the most ridiculous rule I have ever heard of...bar none!!! We are we teaching kids these days?? This societal notion of everbody's a winner and keeping people's self esteem in check is not reflective of the real world.

[Guest Kelly Football]

Typical Yankees.

[bronco1]

Sometimes teams are just bad, the only way to not score is to walk off the field. Thats not an option, so what are you gonna do?