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* From Governor Pritzker’s Friday press conference…
Q: Will you put it to rest? Are your doctors at IDPH talking with IHSA and their doctors about somehow bringing back soccer, football, volleyball this fall?
A: There is not an ongoing discussion about that. We have talked in the past. And then of course, we’ve put forward our, these are the rules that doctors have put forward about high, medium and low risk sports. So no, there’s not any ongoing dialogue right now. And again, it is doctors and epidemiologists that are leading the way here. It’s what I’ve done all along in this pandemic. I think it’s one of the reasons we have one of the lowest positivity rates in the Midwest, and one of the lowest in the nation. Now, I will also say that if you look at the list of states that, remember, we’ve allowed many, many sports, I want to be clear with people, we have a lot of fall sports that are being played. But if you look at just football, for example, many of the states that do not allow football today are the ones with the lowest positivity. Let’s take a look at that. New York, Massachusetts, etc. Right? They’re the ones who have the lowest positivity rates. So I think we should be striving to get to where they are. We’re not anywhere near there, by the way. We need to get there. And you know, obviously, we’re all concerned to get people back on the field. Right now, they’re able to practice, they’re able to scrimmage, they’re able to do a lot of things. They’re not able to play regular tournaments, for example, or games.
* Yesterday…
Outside pritzker’s mansion ready for the press conference pic.twitter.com/CvfqhmgoEQ
— Dave Ruggles (@ruggles_dave) September 27, 2020
* CBS 2…
This week, a group plans to level the playing field for students who depend on showcasing their skills on the field to score a college scholarship.
“Student athletes, especially those from the poorest neighborhoods, have virtually no chance to be seen in game action, and are therefore at an extreme disadvantage compared to all neighboring states with kids playing in the fall,” said plaintiff Dave Ruggles. “Scholarships will simply go to players college coaches can actually see in action, and that won’t include kids in Illinois.” […]
Ruggles and others plan to file a legal action against the Illinois High School Association on Monday.
* NBC 5…
The suit will be filed in DuPage County, according to a press release, and will list the IHSA as the primary defendant. The suit is expected to be filed this week.
A total of 20 students are expected to be listed as plaintiffs in the suit, which will seek a temporary restraining order ordering the state to allow fall sports to get underway.
The suit alleges that prohibitions on some fall sports, including football and volleyball, violates the IHSA’s constitution and bylaws, and has “caused mental health issues and financial hardships” for athletes and their families, according to the press release.
Specifically, the suit alleges that the decision to postpone fall sports will have negative financial impacts on both students and parents, as they will fall behind in their ability to compete for athletic scholarships to make college more affordable.
* Meanwhile…
"The events under investigation include multiple youth sports practices and games" pic.twitter.com/aFNfc1rjBv
— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) September 25, 2020
…Adding… Jordan Abudayyeh…
As the Governor has said many times, his top education priority is resuming in-person learning for students across the state. In order to make that a reality for our students and teachers, we must do everything possible to keep positivity rates down and reduce the risk of spreading the virus at events outside the classroom. The courts have repeatedly sided with the public health experts who have created guidance that protects the health of people across this state.
* Related…
* Wisconsin Is on the Brink of a Major Outbreak - The state’s coronavirus cases and hospitalizations are at an all-time high
posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Sep 28, 20 @ 5:42 am
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How messed-up is our school funding system, that these people think the best and apparently only way to fund an education is through athletic scholarships?
Comment by Give Us Barabbas Monday, Sep 28, 20 @ 7:14 am
=== “Student athletes, especially those from the poorest neighborhoods, have virtually no chance to be seen in game action, and are therefore at an extreme disadvantage compared to all neighboring states with kids playing in the fall,” ===
Inherently untrue, as 3 and 4 star athletes at the Division I level are more likely to already verbally committed by the end of their junior year season, and 5 star athletes continually get to choose their schools, even with their own “reveal” type press conference
I was told once by a recruiter for Power 5 schools, “if they’re good, schools will find them”, and that will include playing in the spring.
Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Sep 28, 20 @ 7:19 am
Tom Devore too busy for this one?
Comment by Bruce( no not him) Monday, Sep 28, 20 @ 8:14 am
Has anyone ever really had any luck suing the IHSA?
The IHSA has canceled championships when the courts have stepped into the IHSA’s business to avoid taking the actions the courts ordered.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1995-02-28-9502280062-story.html
Where is even the win here, does anything think the courts are going to order the IHSA to violate a state public health directive?
It would seem the right course on this would be to go after the state for the public health order, not the entity obeying it.
Comment by OneMan Monday, Sep 28, 20 @ 8:19 am
Increasing the risk of the community at large because a few students might not get athletic scholarships hardly sounds like a winning argument. It’s not as if colleges won’t be playing next year and looking for other ways to recruit athletes. This suit seems to rooted in nothing more than “it’s not fair, other states are doing it.” But that’s been the problem with managing the pandemic from the onset. No consistency from state to state. But at the end of the day protecting the lives of people in the community is more important than a handful of kids who may or may not play football beyond high school.
Comment by Pundent Monday, Sep 28, 20 @ 8:39 am
Pundent…“protecting the lives of people on the community. “. Couldn’t agree more. Hope everyone on this blog has the same feelings when it comes to protests and protestors.
Comment by PANTHER Monday, Sep 28, 20 @ 9:07 am
=== protests and protestors===
Ah. You mean like those protesting to open things, those protesters too… that no one stops.
Ugh.
Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Sep 28, 20 @ 9:11 am
There is too much litigation in today’s society… unless you’re a conservative I guess.
It never ceases to amaze me how the most ardent conservative is often the most phony.
Comment by low level Monday, Sep 28, 20 @ 9:12 am
There are a group of football coaches learning a hard lesson that they don’t control everything, they are not the most important figures in the world and they provide nothing more than entertainment.
What makes me sick is for all their “coach talk” about overcoming challenges and being tough, they are acting like toddlers who have been told No, and they can’t deal with adversity.
In reality, they are overgrown kids who have an inflated view of their worth.
And I love Friday Night Lights.
Comment by Give Me A Break Monday, Sep 28, 20 @ 9:12 am
All protestors OW. Not that it matters to you as you are only concerned with what you spew on this blog.
Comment by PANTHER Monday, Sep 28, 20 @ 9:22 am
Years ago I worked at a software company that created a service for college sports recruiting. Our product was used by hundreds of colleges around the country.
Kids are tracked starting back when they are in AAU leagues in grade school. The kids that will eventually get the top scholarships are already identified before they even get into high school.
Our busiest day of the year was Sept 1st, when college coaches were allowed to make first contact with potential recruits. The kids who would get those recruiting contacts in the current from coaches had already been identified years before.
Ruggles knows this too. Hope he gets his story straight before he submits too many amended complaints to the court under oath.
Comment by TheInvisibleMan Monday, Sep 28, 20 @ 9:22 am
=== All protestors===
Then your “troll concern” is phony. At least you admit it.
===Not that it matters to you===
Making it about me is just mouth-breathing silliness. Wear a mask if that’s your next take.
To the post,
I think - TheInvisibleMan - has the best grasp of the phony going on here with Ruggles.
Universities are apt to get sanctioned for more contact with potential recruits than those slipping and no one knowing about them.
There are more “Uncle Rico” coaches and parents out there who felt slighted or worse about athletics than anything else ruining the extra curricular activity of all sports.
By freshman year, size, speed, the measurable are watched. By junior year, athletes are measured, rated, indexed, it’s a science and an art, but the “Uncle Ricos” think there’s a conspiracy abound.
The athletes that are being watched and recruited will be the same ones, of the very elite level, they were already on the radar. The small few left to make an impression will find that opportunity in the spring.
Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Sep 28, 20 @ 9:32 am
The win here is for the attorneys collecting fees & retainers and for conservative pander pols playing to their base. The losers are everyone else. Typical for conservatives.
Comment by Froganon Monday, Sep 28, 20 @ 9:40 am
I know people get really fired up about their kids playing sports, but filing a lawsuit just seems silly. Can’t see where any judge is going to go along eith it.
I do think that the more people that take issue with JB on a variety of topics, the more likely the fair tax amendment fails. Didn’t think that awhile back but there are a lot of people spewing venom his way.
Comment by SSL Monday, Sep 28, 20 @ 9:42 am
Good luck proving damages. How the heck are you going to show that but for the postponement your kid would have been awarded that scholarship? You can’t. It’s purely speculation. And speculation doesn’t win a lawsuit.
Comment by JoanP Monday, Sep 28, 20 @ 9:44 am
::in my best Helen Lovejoy voice::
“Won’t someone think of the letterman jacket industry.”
Comment by Jocko Monday, Sep 28, 20 @ 9:49 am
The truly gifted athletes are known already, as TheInvisibleMan notes above. People who are protesting and getting the courts involved know this too. I have no idea why they feel endangering everyone involved is a good idea, but they should think about the consequences.
Comment by Cheryl44 Monday, Sep 28, 20 @ 9:50 am
All protestors have the ability to spread the virus. But apparently not in the pick and choose world of OW. Same goes for sports. Cross country runners and golfers can get the virus and spread it like football players. Take off your tin hat and get a job OW.
Comment by PANTHER Monday, Sep 28, 20 @ 9:50 am
===Inherently untrue===
OW is absolutely correct here. The idea that one season is going to negatively a prospect that is looking at a full ride at a competitive program is really far fetched. This is perhaps the first time that bloated athletic departments have demonstrated a good thing.
If anything, missing senior year football reduces the likelihood of that excellent athlete from getting injured.
But, sure, whatever passes for recruiting at the local community college might be negatively impacted.
Comment by Candy Dogood Monday, Sep 28, 20 @ 9:54 am
=== Same goes for sports.===
Wait, wasn’t the idea that football would be going through some sort of covid-19 protocols?
I mean, even college football has strict covid-19 protocols, and without every single high school and every football player doing that, college football said they wouldn’t even be playing.
Yikes, that’s pathetic on its face.
===Cross country runners and golfers can get the virus and spread it like football players.===
You must never played sports.
Playing both golf and football, I can safely say they aren’t the same risks.
I’m fine, thanks, looking forward to a hot pocket for lunch, new mix in the slurpee machine, and I’m sure that cross country and football are not equivalent
Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Sep 28, 20 @ 9:56 am
Keeping in mind that these lawsuits are parents and coaches saying they are fine with students, or their child, being infected with what was described by the President, when only taking to Woodward, as “Deadly”
It’s.. wow.
Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Sep 28, 20 @ 10:00 am
Willy - not all athletes are 3, 4, or 5 star recruits. Those who go to small colleges face stiff competition for athletic money. Some are late bloomers who can get substantial money from these smaller schools IF THEY CAN BE SEEN playing. There are thousands of these kids out there. If they can’t qualify for academic money athletics is how they go to college.
Comment by Captain Obvious Monday, Sep 28, 20 @ 10:04 am
=== Cross country runners and golfers can get the virus and spread it like football players.===
What small colleges are playing football now?
Didn’t the NCAA stop fall sports, less “Bowl” league football programs?
What schools are you currently talking about? The ones that aren’t playing too?
Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Sep 28, 20 @ 10:06 am
=== Some are late bloomers who can get substantial money from these smaller schools IF THEY CAN BE SEEN playing.===
If a kid was 5’ 10”, 230 and is now 6’ 3”, 295 and has the reps on the bench and a good 40 time, he’ll be found.
The late bloomers will get a chance in the spring.
You can’t “play” … what “size”, speed and height are baked in, they are who they are.
Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Sep 28, 20 @ 10:09 am
I agree entirely with the IHSA’s decision to not play high school sports.
For the record, athletes recruited to play Division II and Division III athletics are not always the obvious recruits and many times play on teams and at schools that are smaller than their high school. Lots of “average Joe’s” on D II and D III teams. Lots.
Comment by This Just In Monday, Sep 28, 20 @ 10:22 am
===Lots of “average Joe’s” on D II and D III teams. Lots.===
And all of them with any possibility of getting a scholarship are known to their respective DII and DIII athletic departments long before the year they are finally recruited.
Even in sports like lacrosse, the coach already has a list of hundreds or thousands of kids across the country in their list of prospects they are waiting to contact when the NCAA prohibition of contacting children passes in September.
I don’t know what people are insisting college sports are some kind of fly by night operation where prospects are only identified the day before they are contacted. It’s not 1930 anymore where a recruiter physically has to sit in the stands and watch every single kid play across the country. Well it kinda is 1930 in the mind of some people, but not in the aspect of sports recruiting.
Comment by TheInvisibleMan Monday, Sep 28, 20 @ 10:29 am
Captain Oblivious, what small college athletic scholarships are you referencing? Small colleges are Division III.
Comment by Barrington Monday, Sep 28, 20 @ 10:32 am
=Barrington=
Not sure what you are asking. Of course they are small colleges. Simply suggesting that they may well be the last bastion of actual “student/athletes” and that they are very substantially less skilled than 3, 4, and 5 star recruits. Many play multiple sports for these colleges.
Comment by This Just In Monday, Sep 28, 20 @ 10:35 am
Sports have a certain value…as does life.
Comment by Dotnonymous Monday, Sep 28, 20 @ 10:46 am
These same parents will be the ones suing the schools when their little darlings bring the plague home and kill grandma.
Comment by striketoo Monday, Sep 28, 20 @ 10:55 am
Why am I not surprised that a guy who runs travel team sports would file this case? But at least he’s been doing it for all the kids in the “poorest neighborhoods” of Wheaton, Hinsdale, & Downers Grove. https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/ct-wht-sports-tl-0128-20160125-story.html
Comment by Gerard2 Monday, Sep 28, 20 @ 10:55 am
=Those who go to small colleges face stiff competition for athletic money.=
NCAA D III schools do not offer athletic scholarships. They may offer “grants and aid” but that is not the same thing. And these kids still pay big money at the private small schools to play sports. While being expected to dedicate the same time as a scholarship D1 school. It may make it less expensive to go, but not much and with nearly no opportunity for anything beyond the school.BTW- the NAIA schools offer scholarships.
The state is right to do what they are doing. The lawsuit is frivolous at best.
Comment by JS Mill Monday, Sep 28, 20 @ 11:11 am
Is it time to join Helicopter Parents Anonymous? Some folks are getting a bit salty in comments today.
Comment by Rudy’s teeth Monday, Sep 28, 20 @ 11:25 am
- PANTHER - Monday, Sep 28, 20 @ 9:07 am:
Pundent…“protecting the lives of people on the community. “. Couldn’t agree more. Hope everyone on this blog has the same feelings when it comes to protests and protestors.
Everyone on this blog wants you to go…wait a minute… I don’t know what everyone “feels”…just me.
Comment by Dotnonymous Monday, Sep 28, 20 @ 11:41 am
The court will very likely hear the legal arguments via Zoom.
Comment by Hamlet's Ghost Monday, Sep 28, 20 @ 12:51 pm
why is 7 on 7 adult flag football leagues in Lincoln Park allowed given the rules on high school football? Seems inconsistent.
Comment by 1st Ward Monday, Sep 28, 20 @ 1:58 pm
===why is 7 on 7 adult flag football leagues in Lincoln Park allowed given the rules===
Are they also governed by the IHSA?
Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Sep 28, 20 @ 2:00 pm
Are there down linemen in flag football? I thought the pass rushers just counted to five out loud than ran toward the QB.
Comment by Proud Sucker Monday, Sep 28, 20 @ 3:07 pm
OW, it is a little bit disingenuous to ask “What small colleges are playing football?” when 39 states, including every state within 500 miles of Illinois, are playing high school football, with no significant covid incidents.
Why can Indiana play and not Illinois? Why can Ohio and Kentucky play, but not us? Why can Iowa, Missouri, and Wisconsin all play high school football? That question has still not been satisfactorily answered.
Comment by ajjacksson Monday, Sep 28, 20 @ 4:05 pm
=== with no significant covid incidents.===
“I’m willing to sacrifice my child for football”
Not a great argument. I’m sure parents sacrificing their students are the … heroes… here?
=== Why can Indiana play and not Illinois? Why can Ohio and Kentucky play, but not us? Why can Iowa, Missouri, and Wisconsin all play high school football?===
Ask President Trump.
He says it’s up to states. Don’t ask me.
=== That question has still not been satisfactorily answered.===
It has. You don’t like the answer. So, here you are.
POTUS says the states decide their responses.
Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Sep 28, 20 @ 4:08 pm
They should probably sue in Clay County. After all, the Judge there thinks fishing is a Constitutional right. Surely high school sports are too.
Comment by Demoralized Monday, Sep 28, 20 @ 4:29 pm
==That question has still not been satisfactorily answered.==
Maybe not to your satisfaction but it has been answered multiple times.
Comment by Demoralized Monday, Sep 28, 20 @ 4:30 pm
OW, I respect you. Frequently I agree with you. Even when I don’t, you generally have good reasons for your viewpoint.
This is an exception.
To say that we care more about our kids than any other state around us….that’s just not logical.
Comment by ajjacksson Monday, Sep 28, 20 @ 5:53 pm
Division II schools and NAIA students both are eligible for athletic money. While Division III does not award athletic money, they can make use of other discretionary scholarships to attract athletes. I was unaware of all that till my daughter went to college 12 years ago. Not saying it is wrong to not play football or soccer for safety, just pointing out it is not just a few kids who are affected and wanted to educate Willy, but I dont think it took…
Comment by Captain Obvious Monday, Sep 28, 20 @ 5:55 pm
- ajjacksson -
And with the same caveats and with the real respect given as you have, the extra curricular activity can increase the possibly of infection, and at all levels of sports the idea of greater testing and need for quarantine and isolation, outside the real risks, yes, it points to greater risk, and choosing that is…
===To say that we care more about our kids than any other state around us….that’s just not logical.===
Read that sentence, we are doing that in Illinois. You’re indicating that’s wrong.
Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Sep 28, 20 @ 6:00 pm
=== Not saying it is wrong to not play football or soccer for safety, just pointing out it is not just a few kids who are affected and wanted to educate Willy, but I dont think it took…===
“Not saying it is wrong to not play football or soccer for safety…”
If they’re playing in the spring, what education do I need? You can’t even agree with yourself if it’s right or wrong.
Stay well, football will be here, in the spring, and opportunities will be around too.
Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Sep 28, 20 @ 9:23 pm