IHSA Continues To Bend The Knee
As winter sports remains in limbo, the IHSA's failures become more apparent
A subplot from the movie “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” best describes the Illinois High School Association’s relationship with the Governor’s office.
In the movie, Ferris gets out of school by convincing his parents he is sick. The rumor mill kicks into high gear around campus to the point where Ferris’s classmates believe he is seriously ill. A collection can circulates in the hallways with the sole purpose of raising funds to ‘Save Ferris’ from his terminal disease.
One of the ‘Shermerites’ stops Ferris’s sister, Jeannie, in the hallway, clutching an empty Pepsi can:
Shermerite : Save Ferris? Save Ferris?
Shermerite : Save Ferris?
Jeannie : Excuse me?
Shermerite : Well, a group of us are collecting money to buy Ferris Bueller a new kidney. They run about 50 g's, so if you wouldn't mind helping out...
Jeannie : Go piss up a flagpole.
Shermerite : I'm sorry?
Jeannie : You should be (knocks the Pepsi can out of the kids hand)
Shermerite : You heartless wench!
Of course, the whole thing is a hilarious farce, with Ferris manipulating all parties to his benefit, spending his ‘sick day’ in Chicago visiting the art museum and Wrigley Field.
If we apply the Ferris analogy to the parties involved in the #ReturnToPlay movement, whom is playing what role?
I’d say Gov. Pritzker is Ferris. He’s the operator, pulling the strings like a puppet master, his intentions not fully transparent.
Ferris’s parents, the school dean, nurses and teachers? The ones unknowingly victimized by Ferris’s shenanigans, whom just want to do their jobs and feel prideful about their performances and their school?
They are the student-athletes.
The Shermerites? The nerdy freshman who want to please the older, wiser Ferris so they can feel cool?
They are Craig Anderson and the IHSA.
Monday, the IHSA released a statement about winter sports.
On Nov. 16, basketball (as well as wrestling and other winter sports) is scheduled to begin official practices.
Here’s what was written, the quote attributed to Anderson:
We understand that student-athletes, coaches, parents, officials, and fans are anxious to learn more details about the plans for IHSA winter sports. We feel like we are making positive strides in our discussions with the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) to be allowed to conduct IHSA winter sports as scheduled. We believe we have a plan to do so safely and want to provide IDPH with ample time to review the winter sports plans, and supportive data, we have provided them. We expect to have a response from IDPH with final recommendations for winter sport plans, including any accommodations and postseason plans, by October 26. We will then reconvene our Board to officially vote and announce that information shortly thereafter
In one respect, it was good to hear from the IHSA about the winter season. The fact they acknowledge the anxiety being felt all over the state reveals a modicum of awareness outside of their own bubble. The ‘positive strides’ comment is about as strong a language as we’ve gotten from them about conversations with the IDPH.
But doesn’t the tone of the comment reek of desperation? And as usual, completely devoid of any specifics?
What is the ‘supportive data’ Anderson is speaking of?
Last week, the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association released results of a survey done with the support of hundreds of basketball programs across the state. Data collected from the survey showed how the contact days in the summer and fall have been conducted safely and with minimal virus-related issues. It is almost certain that basketball-playing activity had nothing to do with the few positive cases reported in the survey.
A source confirmed Tuesday that the survey data was sent to the IDPH by the IHSA. Exactly what ‘supportive data’ the IHSA is sharing with the IDPH is unclear. Of course, the IHSA can’t control what public health officials do with any information it passes along.
But why can’t the IHSA be more unclouded in how it is conducting its business?
We are ferociously scrapping for any shard of data we can get our hands on. Gov. Pritzker and his public health subordinates refuse to explain the numbers they are analyzing. Rather, they spout fear-based anecdotes that only compound anxiety. When told other states are playing athletics safely, he denounces them for not caring about the safety of their citizens, as if he knows better than other elected officials (there’s a George Carlin-inspired punchline to be made here). The arrogant posturing creates a reason and logic gap, which could be partly filled by the IHSA by providing numbers and data it is using to state its case for why sports should be played this winter and spring.
Instead, they play the part of a Shermerite, meagerly asking for donations so the kids can #ReturnToPlay.
This is in the IHSA statement:
“…want to provide IDPH with ample time to review the winter sports plans, and supportive data, we have provided them”
Ample time? Or else what?
I have a vision of Pritzker and Dr. Ezike driving in a Ferrari 250GT, the same car used in “Ferris Bueller”, driving down LaSalle St. on their way to The Cut steakhouse for lunch.
Pritzker: What are you looking at?
Ezike: (staring at phone) An email from the ISAH? IS-AH or something? Do you know who they are?
Pritzker: I hear the cajun grouper tacos are fabulous at this place.
The dynamic between the IHSA and the governor forever changed in July.
That’s when a sports camp in Lake Zurich turned into a propaganda event for coronabro media members and the IHSA handed over its authority. Rather than be the hammer, it became the nail in the relationship. When it should be sending out press releases or doing interviews about how it will implement health and safety guidelines for the upcoming winter season, the IHSA plays the part of the pimple-faced younger sibling, using damp-candied Skittles as collateral so one of the older kids will give them a ride home after practice.
Pritzker is a tyrant and I’ve written plenty about his actions. But the draconian motivations for what he does should not be as impactful as they are for the thousands of athletes, coaches and parents who make youth and high school sports run in Illinois. They should not be in such a twisted state, not knowing whether they can participate for their chosen team in athletic competition, one of the most tried and true personal freedoms we share in this country.
Much of blame falls at the feet of the IHSA. They could have stood up to Pritzker many times, and failed to do so. Monday’s flimsy statement proves they continue to bend the knee, or like the Shermerites in “Ferris Bueller,” pass the tin cup.
Everyone else is left to wait.