Up & Coming Weekly

March 17, 2020

Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.

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WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM 24 UCW MARCH 18-24, 2020 HIGH SCHOOL HIGHLIGHTS The calendar has turned to March, which in the world of high school sports can only mean one thing — basket- ball. It is time for state tournaments, March Madness and, yes, the annual rhetoric about the merits of the shot clock. For the almost one million boys and girls who partici- pate in high school basketball, there is nothing quite like the state tournament. Although there are great memories from the one-class days, led by Carr Creek's almost upset of powerhouse Ashland in Kentucky in 1928 and Milan's Cinderella victory in Indiana in 1954, today, basketball provides more opportunities for girls and boys teams to be crowned state champion than any other sport. This month, about 450 girls and boys teams will earn state basketball titles in championships conducted by NFHS member state associations. Multiple team cham- pions are crowned for both boys and girls in all states but two, with the majority of states sponsoring tournaments in 4-6 classifications for each and four states conducting state championships in seven classes. That is truly March Madness, which is appropriate since the term was first used in connection with high school basketball. Although the tag line became familiar to milli- ons on a national scale in relation to the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship, the NCAA shares a dual- use trademark with the Illinois High School Association (IHSA), thanks to H. V. Porter, the first full-time executive director of the NFHS. In his final year as IHSA executive director in 1939, Porter published his "March Madness" essay in reference to the mania surrounding the IHSA's annual state basket- ball tournament. Eight years later, in a 1947 Associated Press article, Porter said, "Naturally, we think basketball has done a lot for high school kids, but it's done somet- hing for the older people, too. It has made community life in general a lot more fun each winter." While many things have changed in the past 73 years, the value of high school sports — and especially state bas- ketball tournaments — remains as strong as ever today. In some states, seemingly the entire community will travel to the site of the state tournament in support of the high school team. As a footnote to the use of March Madness, Scott Johnson, recently retired assistant executive director of the IHSA in his book "Association Work," discovered through research that the first recorded mention of March Madness in relation to basketball occurred in 1931 by Bob Stranahan, sports editor of the New Castle Courier-Times in Indiana. While the sport remains strong and March Madness is set to begin in earnest across the nation, there is a belief by some that the addition of a shot clock would make the game even better. Although there are some arguments for implementing the shot clock, the NFHS Basketball Rules Committee, similar to the other 14 NFHS rules committees, must make decisions based on what is best for the masses — the small schools with less than 100 students as well as large urban schools with 3,000-plus students. Rule chan- ges will always be made with considerations for minimi- zing risks, containing costs and developing rules that are best for high school athletes. Nine of our member state associations have elected to use a shot clock in their states, which certainly adds to the clamor for its implementation nationally. And, we at the NFHS have read the headlines, seen the social media posts and received the phone calls advocating for the shot clock's adoption. However, the Basketball Rules Committee will continue to assess the shot clock based on the aforementioned considerations, as well its members representing all areas of the country. We encourage everyone to support their local high school teams by attending this year's exciting state basket- ball tournaments. High school shot clock debate not going away by KARISSA NIEHOFF There is an ongoing debate about shot clocks. Photo credit: NFHS. COVID-19 precautions are important for N.C. athletics by EARL VAUGHAN JR. EARL VAUGHAN JR., Sports Editor. COMMENTS? EarlUCWSports@gmail. com. 910-364-6638. The late United States Senator Bobby Kennedy made a speech in the 1960s that popularized what some claim is an ancient Chinese curse, although the real source of the phrase has been disputed over the years. The words Kennedy used were, "May you live in interesting times.'' Regardless of where the phrase came from, it cer- tainly applies to the current situation in state and local high school athletics resulting from fears over the continuing spread of the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19 as it's officially known. Over what seemed like a matter of hours, concerns over the spread of the virus led to some sweeping decisions at the state level that left the high school sports world, locally and statewide, at a standstill. The first pronouncements came from the North Carolina High School Athletic Association. The organization initially decided to restrict access to its state basketball championship games at North Carolina State's Reynolds Coliseum and North Carolina's Dean Smith Center to official team personnel and a small group of parents from the com- peting schools. Then they followed that with word that the cham- pionships had been postponed, with no guarantee they would even be played. Of course, this leaves the boys from Westover and the girls from E.E. Smith, who had qualified for the state 3-A basketball championship games at Reynolds this year, in limbo waiting to find out if they would ever get to fulfill every high school athlete's dream of chasing a state title. More bad news from the NCHSAA followed. The entire spring sports season was suspended effective at 11:59 p.m. on Friday, March 13. The ruling stated that not only competition would cease, but so would any workouts, practice or skill development sessions. The North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association followed suit shortly after that, announcing the suspension of all interscholastic games, scrimma- ges or contests on the same date as the NCHSAA. The NCISAA did leave the option of holding practices at the discretion of its member coaches. I am not a doctor. I don't pretend to understand everything that's been written and spoken about the coronavirus. But one thing I have heard loud and clear is that it's critical to stop the spread of what I've seen described as a disease with a lot of unknowns that there is currently no vaccine for nor any medication that has been truly effective at knocking it out. I respect the frustration of coaches in Cumberland County, where as of this writing there are no reported cases of the virus, as they try to understand why their teams can't play. All I can say is this decision to close schools is much like when there's a forecast of snow. Sometimes, the forecast is wrong, but officials have to make a decision based on what's best for everyone's safety. That is what is happening here, only the stakes are far higher than having a car skid into a ditch and get stuck. I am confident we will get through this, as long as we all take common sense precautions and do everything we can to prevent the disease from spreading. At the same time, let's not spread rumors. Listen to the pro- fessionals and stay safe. Over what seemed like a matter of hours, concerns over the spread of the virus led to some sweeping decisions at the state level. Photo credit: N.C. State. KARISSA NIEHOFF Executive Direc- tor National Federation of State High School Associations., COMMENTS? Ear- lUCWSports@gmail.com. 910-364-6638.

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