VoyForums
[ Show ]
Support VoyForums
[ Shrink ]
VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, [6], 7, 8, 9 ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: Tue March 22, 2005 16:18:45
Author: Smoochy
Subject: 3 good articles on the situation on Biggs
In reply to: JóDete93 's message, "Why was he disqualified and why did they have to forfeit their entire season?" on Tue March 22, 2005 14:35:29

(1). Biggs' status threatens Bosco

Just like Immaculate Heart last week, Don Bosco's chances at a State basketball title are suddenly and stunningly in jeopardy.

The New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association has postponed tonight's scheduled North Non-Public A championship game between Don Bosco and Seton Hall Prep until Thursday pending an investigation regarding the eligibility of Don Bosco senior Tyrell Biggs.

The issue centers on whether the Nanuet, N.Y., resident played high school ball as a junior high student in his hometown.

Ralph Rogo, the varsity coach at Nanuet at the time, told The Record on Tuesday that he was "99 percent sure" that Biggs played junior varsity ball in the seventh and eighth grades.

Judy Slutzky, the Nanuet athletic director at the time, also remembers Biggs playing regularly for the Nanuet High School team as an eighth grader.

Whether an eighth grader plays varsity or sub-varsity at the high school level does not matter, according to James Loper, the associate director of the NJSIAA.

"Playing high school ball is what counts as a year, not what level you play," Loper said.

Last Friday, the NJSIAA found the Immaculate Heart girls basketball team in violation of the same rule and stripped the previously undefeated Blue Eagles of 22 victories and their top seed in the North Non-Public A tournament.

IHA appealed the ruling in Superior Court in Hackensack. A decision is expected today at 1:30 p.m.

"We're going to give Don Bosco time to investigate, and we'll make a final decision no later than noon [today]," Loper said. "As Yogi Berra said, it's déjà vu all over again."

According to Loper, an e-mail received by the NJSIAA on Tuesday afternoon raised the Biggs eligibility issue, resulting in a phone call to Don Bosco athletic director Frank Rezzonico.

Rezzonico did not return several phone calls seeking comment.

Don Bosco coach Kevin Diverio referred all questions regarding Biggs' eligibility to Rezzonico. A message left for Biggs on his cellphone was not returned.

"I've known him since CYO back to the fourth grade," Rogo said. "Then he was 6-foot-3 and we were worried about kids getting hurt if he fell on them. I will tell you that he is by far the best kid I've ever seen coming out of Rockland County.

"But he played no varsity ball. We never would've used him on varsity, although he could've easily played varsity ball as a seventh grader."

The 6-foot-8, 250-pound Biggs is one of the top players in New Jersey and has signed a letter of intent to play at Pittsburgh.

Don Bosco did not practice Tuesday because of inclement weather, and Diverio said the Ironmen have not canceled their scheduled walk-through today, nor their 4 p.m. bus ride to St. Peter's College in Jersey City for the now-postponed game with Seton Hall.

"We are preparing to play Seton Hall Prep [today] at 6," Diverio said. "I'm concerned for the kids, but no matter what happens, they can't take away the season we've had."

Don Bosco upset St. Joseph in Saturday's semifinals, 49-45, beating its rival - the Bergen Jamboree champion - for the second time this season.

If Don Bosco is found in violation, Loper said the NJSIAA would ask St. Joseph to take its place against Seton Hall in Thursday's title game. He even contacted St. Joseph athletic director Tony Karcich to inform him of the possible scenario Tuesday.

"It's all speculation right now as far as I'm concerned," Karcich said. "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

(2). Don Bosco out of state basketball tournament

The Don Bosco boys basketball team has been forced to forfeit its spot in the North Non-Public A championship game for using an ineligible player, the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association ruled Wednesday.

As reported by The Record in Wednesday’s editions, the eligibility issue centers on the fact Don Bosco senior Tyrell Biggs played high school ball as an eighth grader at his hometown high school in Nanuet, N.Y.

NJSIAA rules limit players to eight semesters of high school ball, regardless of the level.

In addition to losing its spot in the State tournament, the Ironmen will likely be forced to forfeit all games in which Biggs participated this season.

NJSIAA associate director Jim Loper told The Record on Tuesday night that if Don Bosco was found in violation of the rule, St. Joseph’s would take its place in the North Non-Public A championship game against Don Bosco.

Don Bosco defeated St. Joseph’s, 49-45, in the semifinals last Saturday.

“Know that this decision by the state association is one which, while difficult to accept, takes nothing away from the achievements of our basketball team,” Don Bosco principal John Stanczak said in a statement that was posted on the school’s Web site Wednesday afternoon.

(3).Kids hurt by unfair ruling

The basketball seasons for Immaculate Heart Academy and Don Bosco Prep ended abruptly Wednesday in court, not on one.

At the same time, a season that was already over at St. Joseph Regional was resuscitated.

Superior Court Judge Gerald C. Escala upheld the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association's previous ruling that eliminated undefeated Immaculate Heart from the North Non-Public A girls basketball tournament for using an ineligible player.


We were reminded again Wednesday why adults should stay out of kids' sports.

Two talented area high school basketball teams were tossed out of the state tournament. Each team supposedly had an ineligible player - or so the rules say, anyway.

This is not an uplifting story about how cheating athletes finally got caught. No, this is really a story of how adults missed the deeper meaning of a children's game and tarnished kids' memories in ways that will haunt them for life.

It's a story of how petty rules unfairly punished gifted student-athletes and how common sense was ignored. It's a shame.

But it begins in joy.

Immaculate Heart Academy of Washington Township and Don Bosco Prep of Ramsey fielded top-ranked basketball teams this season. IHA's girl's squad won all 24 of its games; Bosco's boys won 21 of 25.

Both teams had solid chances to win the state basketball tournament that began last week. But both were kicked out of the tournament and told to forfeit their seasons for breaking rules on the qualifications of just two players: IHA's Vanessa Holden and Bosco's Tyrell Biggs.

IHA got the word last week and lost a state Superior Court appeal Wednesday as Holden and her teammates dabbed tears from their eyes and hugged. Hours earlier, Bosco and Biggs - one of the top players in New Jersey - got the boot from the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. And late Wednesday, the Bergen Catholic's boys basketball team fessed up to having its own ineligible player.

Just what did Holden and Biggs do that was so terrible to merit this harsh treatment for them and their teammates?

They did not take steroids. They did not lie about their ages or flunk out. They did not get arrested or skip classes. No, Biggs and Holden committed the terrible sin of playing high school basketball five years ago - as eighth-graders at public schools in New York State. New Jersey's rules say athletes can play only four years of a high school sport.

Petty? You bet.

Instead of becoming mall rats like far too many teens, Holden and Biggs became gym rats. While friends wasted afternoons addicted to the idiotic mayhem of video games or the false emotions of TV soap operas, they followed a passion for sports. So what if they got picked as junior high students to play with high school teams in need of talent? They should be rewarded, not punished, especially now as they finish high school careers.

The goal of New Jersey's four-year eligibility limit is understandable - to block schools from "red shirting" or using older players who should have graduated.

Holden and Biggs do not fall into that category. This is not a high school version of the Bronx Little League team that cheated its way to a championship with an older player.

Holden and Biggs played in another state when they were too young for their current schools. What's so horrible?

On Wednesday, Superior Court Judge Gerald Escala seemed to acknowledge the unfairness of such an eligibility rule and how it was applied on the eve of the state championships after the athletic association received an anonymous phone tip and an e-mail.

"The results in the current situation are harsh and perhaps even cruel," the judge wrote.

But in applying the law, the judge backed off applying common sense. He apparently could not bring himself to let the kids play their games or to tell the adults to stop playing theirs.

He applied the law.

He missed the spirit.



Earlier in the day, the NJSIAA had found Don Bosco in violation of the same rule, forcing the Ramsey school to forfeit 21 victories and its place in the North Non-Public A boys basketball championship. After watching the proceedings with a lawyer by his side, Don Bosco Principal John Stanczak said his school would accept its punishment for now.

That decision meant Montvale's St. Joseph, which lost to the Ironmen in last weekend's semifinals, would take Don Bosco's place in the North Non-Public A title game against Seton Hall Prep scheduled for 7 tonight at the Dunn Center, Elizabeth.

"The action of the NJSIAA in enforcing that rule - even though the results in the current situation are harsh and perhaps even cruel to all these other innocent participants - cannot be said to be arbitrary or unreasonable," Escala said.

Last Friday, the NJSIAA stripped Immaculate Heart, of Washington Township, of 22 victories and its spot in the state tournament after it was determined that senior forward Vanessa Holden of Suffern, N.Y., was playing her fifth year of high school basketball.

In the case of Don Bosco, senior Tyrell Biggs played at the junior varsity level for Nanuet (N.Y.) High School while he was an eighth-grader.

New York State rules allow middle-school students to play high school sports.

NJSIAA rules limit players to eight semesters of high school ball, regardless of whether the participation is at the varsity, junior varsity or freshman levels.

On Wednesday, Bergen Catholic coach Joe Dionisio confirmed that his school turned itself in to the NJSIAA for violating the same eligibility rule this season, but refused to name the player involved.

"The purpose of the rule is to provide a level playing field for all student-athletes," NJSIAA associate director James Loper said. "The basic problem with this situation is that if a youngster lives in New York and goes to a New Jersey high school, she can play up to five, maybe six years of high school ball.

"The Jersey kids can only play four, and that makes the playing field unequal. We're talking about high school experience here, and experience is a big deal."

Several hours before the IHA verdict was announced, the NJSIAA received verification from officials at Don Bosco and Nanuet confirming that Biggs had played junior varsity ball as an eighth-grader.

Stanczak delivered the bad news to the Ironmen and head coach Kevin Diverio during a meeting at 10:30 a.m.

He also posted a statement about the decision on the school's Web site. "They were justifiably upset, but at that point, we were still hopeful," Stanczak said.

"Given the outcome of the appeal on IHA's case, though, that certainly makes it less likely that we would pursue our case any further. And I told Loper that, but I also told him I would not give him a final answer on what we would do until [today]."

IHA did not get the reprieve for which it was hoping from Escala, and the players were there to |hear what amounts to the only |loss in what had been a perfect season.

Holden, 17, sat anxiously in the front row of the courtroom, surrounded by teammates dressed in school uniform green sweaters. Parents, teachers and school administrators also attended the hearing.

Most of those on the team broke into tears and hugged one another after Escala's ruling. Holden held on to her father, Michael, for several minutes as supporters patted her back and consoled her.

"I hurt for the girls," said Giorgina Holden, the girl's mother.

"I really feel bad for them."

The Holdens said they were not aware of the eight-semester rule until last week.

Some North Jersey parochial coaches have been misinterpreting the rule.

They assumed that athletes who played for freshmen or junior varsity teams while attending middle school in New York would be eligible to play four seasons in New Jersey.

"Every time we have a kid come in from out of state, my [athletic director] asks me if he played varsity as an eighth-grader just to make sure," Don Bosco hockey coach Gene Katz said. "Now that question has to change."

Staff Writers Kibret Markos and Dan Rosen contributed to this article.

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Replies:

[ Contact Forum Admin ]

Forum timezone: GMT-5
VF Version: 3.00b, ConfDB:
Before posting please read our privacy policy.
VoyForums(tm) is a Free Service from Voyager Info-Systems.
Copyright © 1998-2019 Voyager Info-Systems. All Rights Reserved.