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There is a Chinese proverb that says, “A wise man makes his own decisions. An ignorant man follows public opinion.”
The past two weeks, Pennsylvania athletes, parents, fans, and coaches were hoping they would get some direction towards how the state was going to proceed with high school athletics. They received direction for sure, but it appeared no one was going to the same place.
Let’s start with the PIAA, the governing body of Pennsylvania high school sports. They “decided” to leave the decision of when and how to play up to the individual schools. In other words, they decided to let others decide.
So the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference met and they “decided” to wait four weeks to make their decision.
Next up was the Colonial League. They made a decision. Fall sports would go on as scheduled. There would be no postponement – no delay. They might revamp the schedule a bit, but sports would be played on time. Wow! A decision was made.
The very next day, Governor Wolf made a recommendation that all fall sports be canceled. This came not as a planned directive, but at the very end of a press conference with no elaboration as to the evidence that went into this “recommendation”. It was not a decision. That implied the actual decision made by the Colonial League would now need to be reconsidered.
The very next day after the Governor’s comment, the PIAA met again and decided to push their “decision” back two weeks before they make another recommendation. Therefore, the Colonial League was forced to push their “decision” back two weeks. In other words, the only real decision that was made now became indecisive. Are you getting the picture here? No one wants to make a decision, primarily because of the consequences they will face from public opinion.
It is time for someone, perhaps the Governor to say yea or nay to the high school fall season. The decision will most certainly be met with anger – play and health experts and some parents may crucify you; don’t allow play and the backlash by fans, parents, coaches, and certainly players will be loud and clear.
“A wise man makes his own decisions.” We are desperately in search of a wise man!
ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)
1. Have you noticed the irony that exists in the MLB standings? The team that caused the most consternation in week one because so many of the players contracted Covid-19, the Miami Marlins, got off to the best start in baseball. That’s right; despite losing a large portion of their roster they started 7-1. They did then lose their next two games. But 7-3 with a much depleted lineup is a good start.
2. The Flyers did it. They won the NHL round robin tournament and now have the #1 seed in the AHL East and are playing like a true Stanley Cup contender.
3. I told you TV watching for a sports fan was going to be tough. Over the weekend you could watch the Sixers, Flyers, Phillies, PGA golf, and many other sports that you like, but it really became hard to watch them all.
4. Speaking of watching sports, do you like prime time golf? With the PGA being playing in San Francisco, golf was on from 4:00-10:00pm Thursday through Saturday and Noon-9:00pm on Sunday. I hope there have not been too many fights over the TV.
5. Local high school baseball seniors and their teammates got one final chance to exhibit their talents this past week. A local non-affiliated tournament took place from August 3-11 with 32 teams participating. Congratulations to the Parkland Trojans and the Emmaus Green Hornets who made it to the tournament championship game. It was a nice send-off to all 32 teams and especially the high school seniors. Forty-five-year baseball coach (36 as a head coach at Bethlehem Catholic) Mike Grasso was honored on the championship day as he retired from coaching. He will be missed in uniform, but I truly expect to see him at football games, basketball games, and baseball games. Just look for his smile!
