Tossing Out Decision-by-the-Book in Favor of Common Sense

Those scowling over the fact that Garden Grove High was granted entry last week into the Southern Section football playoffs are now invited to sit back, relax and meditate on the issue. The burning of incense, of course, is entirely up to you.

First, let’s contemplate reality: Garden Grove, due to its use of an ineligible player, had to forfeit four Garden Grove League games last week. With that, the league title Garden Grove would have shared with Rancho Alamitos turned-- poof --into a sixth-place tie with Santiago.

But because the league constitution allows its principals to choose the three teams they think will best represent the league in the playoffs, the principals voted to send Garden Grove--with its 2-5 post-forfeit record--to the playoffs anyway.

Wait. I feel bad vibes. Am I going too fast? Or is this just too hellish for all you scowlers to live through again? Do yourself a favor. Think yin, think yang. All right, let’s continue.

Now some say this decision-making business by the league principals was all a hoax. Sure, the principals claim to have spent nearly five hours debating the issue. But how do we know? Where’s their proof? For all we know, they were all out roller-blading. Or playing miniature golf. Or stationed behind tables and chairs in the school cafeteria for one hellacious food fight. You know, Cheez Whiz up the nose. Jell-O down the back. Chunks of Spam flying everywhere. . . .

Of course, it really doesn’t matter how the principals’ decision was reached. The fact is, it angered people who believe rules are rules and that’s that. What are we teaching the kids, they ask, when we reward a team for breaking the rules?

It’s a good point--most of the time. In this case, however, the decision wasn’t by the book but through common sense--and good sense. The principals gathered all the information they could and talked it out. They went back and forth, debating all the what ifs and should haves. And in the end, though they didn’t follow set disciplinary guidelines, they made the right decision. Which was their right.

Garden Grove used an ineligible player, a boy who didn’t meet the section’s requirement of having a 2.0 or higher grade-point average. No one, not even Garden Grove, is disputing that. The boy had little or no impact on the outcome of the four games in which he played. The rules say it shouldn’t matter. The rules say an ineligible player is an ineligible player, whether he’s a third-string face in the crowd or a superstar.

Hardliners say the fact that the principals are letting Garden Grove off easy--or worse, rewarding the team for its mistake--will no doubt cause future havoc with the rules. Coaches will start going after big, strong kids with a distaste for schoolwork and send them in, play after play, hoping that if they get caught the penalty will be a slight slap on the playbook, at worst.

The next thing you know, this thinking goes, coaches won’t even care if their athletes are eligible. Sure, they’ll say, go out, have fun and hey make sure you don’t do your homework! Next stop, high school sports apocalypse. Please.

Pacifica Coach Bill Craven, whose team finished fourth in the league’s revised standings, was not pleased with the principals’ decision. Pacifica might have qualified for the playoffs as an at-large team had Garden Grove not been allowed to advance.

“There were no infractions in our program,” Craven said. “What lessons are we teaching our kids?”

Maybe, that not everything in life falls into neat little categories? Or that there are still some people out there who take the time to make an informed, responsible decision?

Sure, the principals could have immediately placed the case into the Official Ineligible Player Equation and--boom--Garden Grove would be staying home Friday. But they saw gray, not black or white. They saw good reason in this case to take a careful look and think things out instead of being hasty or judgmental.

Certainly, other variables might have played into their decision--the sportsmanlike reputation of Garden Grove Coach Jeff Buenafe probably didn’t hurt--but most of all, the principals were able to show that they could do what others in their situations have not: Show a little compassion; put the kids’ feelings first.

Every time an ineligible player case comes up, there are cries from all sides that the kids (on the forfeiting side) shouldn’t be made to suffer. The violation often results from an administrative error, as it is said to have with Garden Grove. Somebody--the coach, the athletic director, whoever is in charge of such details--forgot to check the kid’s grades. Suddenly--wham. Games are forfeited. Seasons are lost. Teen-age boys cry.

It shouldn’t be that way, but most times it is. Surely, there are those who want to see some sort of disciplinary action taken, whether the violation was intentional or not. Maybe the coach should be made to miss a game or two. Maybe the school should be made to donate part of its athletic budget to an academic scholarship fund.

Maybe, for a while anyway, the athlete in question should bring homework to practice instead of his uniform.