Katrina Still Battering Some
Last year, as a result of Hurricane Katrina, the Louisiana high school football state championships relocated from the Superdome to Shreveport's Independence Stadium. In the 4A championship, Bastrop High School won its first state football championship since 1927 behind the impeccable play of Randall Mackey, Bastrop's quarterback. Mackey was the best football player I saw during the state championship games (I missed Joe McKnight as the John Curtis game was on Friday afternoon during peak billable hour time). What was so shocking about Mackey's play was that he was a SOPHOMORE. He had a calm pocket presence and great touch on the ball, hitting a Bastrop receiver in stride as he streaked down the sideline with a defender maybe half a step behind him. He was impressive.
The Mackey story got even better because he was an evacuee from Port Sulphur, Louisiana. Port Sulphur was essentially blown off the map by Hurricane Katrina. Mackey and his family fled to Beaumont, Texas with nothing but a few family photographs. Bastrop entered Mackey's mind after he heard that a teammate at Port Sulphur had landed in Bastrop. It seems the teammate thought of Bastrop because of DeCarlos Holmes, a former assistant at Port Sulphur who had joined the Bastrop staff before Katrina hit. Mackey decided to head to Bastrop too, along with several other Port Sulphur teammates. All of this was perfectly legal because the LHSAA, Louisiana's high school sports governance association, enacted special rules on transfers and residence in response to Katrina.
Just how Mackey got from Beaumont to Bastrop has become a story of national scope. After an investigation that cleared Bastrop of any wrongdoing in the transfers earlier this year, the LHSAA has now decided that Bastrop illegally recruited Mackey and his teammates by sending assistant coaches to cherrypick them from shelters in Texas and Louisiana. It is alleged that Mackey and his mother were required to sign false statements about how they arrived in Bastrop. How the LHSAA switched from clearing Bastrop to now stripping them of the 2005 state championship and victories in any game in which Mackey played is as yet unexplained, but Bastrop has pointed to a rival school it beat twice last year as a source of pressure for reopening the case. The ruling also declared Mackey ineligible to play anywhere in Louisiana for the 2006 season, shutting down Mackey's junior year. As expected, Bastrop is distraught.
Today, it seems the LHSAA is backtracking hastily. I understand there were improprieties here. I understand the Bastrop may have crossed the line, if there is such a thing in post-Katrina transfers and residency changes. But to rob a splendid player of his junior season just because he wanted to play football last year strikes me as a bit harsh. If the LHSAA finds a stated rule was willfully broken by Bastrop, I have no problem with a forfeiture of the state title and victories where Mackey played. I can even live with Mackey being forced to go home to the reconstituted Port Sulphur team. But don't declare him ineligible to play anywhere.
A decision from the LHSAA is due this morning. I hope it lets Mackey play, wherever that may be.
The Mackey story got even better because he was an evacuee from Port Sulphur, Louisiana. Port Sulphur was essentially blown off the map by Hurricane Katrina. Mackey and his family fled to Beaumont, Texas with nothing but a few family photographs. Bastrop entered Mackey's mind after he heard that a teammate at Port Sulphur had landed in Bastrop. It seems the teammate thought of Bastrop because of DeCarlos Holmes, a former assistant at Port Sulphur who had joined the Bastrop staff before Katrina hit. Mackey decided to head to Bastrop too, along with several other Port Sulphur teammates. All of this was perfectly legal because the LHSAA, Louisiana's high school sports governance association, enacted special rules on transfers and residence in response to Katrina.Just how Mackey got from Beaumont to Bastrop has become a story of national scope. After an investigation that cleared Bastrop of any wrongdoing in the transfers earlier this year, the LHSAA has now decided that Bastrop illegally recruited Mackey and his teammates by sending assistant coaches to cherrypick them from shelters in Texas and Louisiana. It is alleged that Mackey and his mother were required to sign false statements about how they arrived in Bastrop. How the LHSAA switched from clearing Bastrop to now stripping them of the 2005 state championship and victories in any game in which Mackey played is as yet unexplained, but Bastrop has pointed to a rival school it beat twice last year as a source of pressure for reopening the case. The ruling also declared Mackey ineligible to play anywhere in Louisiana for the 2006 season, shutting down Mackey's junior year. As expected, Bastrop is distraught.
Today, it seems the LHSAA is backtracking hastily. I understand there were improprieties here. I understand the Bastrop may have crossed the line, if there is such a thing in post-Katrina transfers and residency changes. But to rob a splendid player of his junior season just because he wanted to play football last year strikes me as a bit harsh. If the LHSAA finds a stated rule was willfully broken by Bastrop, I have no problem with a forfeiture of the state title and victories where Mackey played. I can even live with Mackey being forced to go home to the reconstituted Port Sulphur team. But don't declare him ineligible to play anywhere.
A decision from the LHSAA is due this morning. I hope it lets Mackey play, wherever that may be.
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