3A Playoffs

Salisbury Post Article ER vs Tuscola

http://www.salisburypost.com/Sports/052810-East-baseball
Who comes up with these dates? The NCHSAA has to do a better job with this mess! Tuscola has a 6 hr roundtrip bus ride on a school night plus 2-1/2 hrs for a game and then they have to do it again tomorrow? Tonight was probably the advantage they had, after ER played last night.

 

I agree with the trips that Tuscola has to make. Huge disadvantage for them. Probably hard to find a hotel with race week going on, but putting them on the bus for 3 hours back to Waynesville and then 3 hours right back to Granite Quarry is crazy.

 

It is my understanding that the AD at Tuscola did not give them a choice to stay the night last night. He told them if they weren't in school at 8:00 this morning they could not play the game tonight. That is CRAZY!

 

If this is true what the Tuscola AD said, then this is just a perfect example of a non-baseball person making a baseball decision. Because thats just stupid.

Those baseball players (while school is important) are called STUDENT-ATHLETES for a reason, and they are representing Tuscola High School. Their actions and behaviors, as well as their success and failure is all a reflection on Tuscola High School. They can bring positive news to the high school, or negative news. At anytime during the season, but especially this week given the NCHSAA's recent rule change making THS have to be the visitors for all 3 games, the THS school officials should be WORKING WITH the team, not against them.

They should've been allowed to miss school on Friday and even with the big race-week going on, they could've found a motel somewhere closer than a 3-hour drive.

However just to be clear, this is in no-way an excuse if East Rowan wins the series, because there were "some" who believed ER would win before this issue came up, it didn't matter if they had played in Waynesville. The travel and the fact that nobody seems to be working with them, is just unfortunate for the Tuscola players.

 

I worry for the boys safety. If the coach is driving the bus, as many do, he is operating on a less than optimum schedule. Especially with tough race traffic coming in, and I'm sure he will be both physically and mentally for the return trip. The boys could also be effected on the field, Reaction times slow with lack of sleep. With the level these kids play, the ball jumps off the bat and the arms are solid. Makes for a bad combination.

 

The whole reason the NCHSAA is playing all 3 games at one site is to cut down on the long travel back and forth for the schools. The NCHSAA wanted these visiting schools to stay in a hotel to keep them off the road. I guess Tuscola's AD doesn't want the NCHSAA telling him what to do.

 

Does the NCHSAA pay the expense for the team to stay in a hotel? How long will it be before the NCHSAA does the same things as tournament directors do and require the team to stay in certain hotels so they can get a cut of that money too? If the kids have gotton this far they shouldn't be penalized by some idiot behind a desk.

 

We were told by some of the Tuscola parents that the coach had made arrangement for the Hotel, but the AD nixed that plan. They do have a nice charter bus, so the coach is not driving. Poor discission to not stay overnight.

 

Horse Hockey

Much like the Reynolds/Porter Ridge 7-inning mess, the NCHSAA shouldn't have put them in this situation in the first place. Why does this organization exist? HS in NCHSAA does not stand for High School - it stands for Horse S....

 

Well apparently the issue is not only who would pay for motel rooms, but also this genius Tuscola AD must have a problem with the boys missing "ONE DAY" of class too for a state-sanctioned playoff event.

I wonder, did he allow the team to leave school early back in March when they had a long drive to an away game and starting times were 4:30?

If all this is true about the team having to drive 6 hours roundtrip everyday, I'd say the NCHSAA will probably address this issue asap. In making this change so late in the game, obviously they didn't anticipate the fact that you have to literally draw some people a map for everything that they do...