Let's turn to the articles!
SB SUN:
Article #1
Little League notebook
Utah decision throws tourney into a loop
John Murphy, Staff Writer
SAN BERNARDINO -- The non-game status of Nevada vs. Utah after Utah elected not to play Sunday for religious reasons is tenuous.
Western Regional director Jim Gerstenslager has assigned Assistant Regional Director Brent Stahlnecker to confer with Little League headquarters in Williamsport, Pa., to see what the determination should be.
It's a key ruling because a forfeit to Nevada would give the Lone Mountain Little League team of Las Vegas an automatic 6-0 victory and would affect both the West Region standings and the runs-allowed ratio.
The runs-allowed aspect could come into play if Utah (0-1) or Nevada (0-1) wind up in a tie for a final semifinal spot that cannot be broken by any other means, such as head-to-head competition.
In such a case, the tournament director would calculate the total number of runs given up in all pool play games played by a team, divided by the number of half-innings played on defense in pool play. This provides the number of runs given up per half inning by a team.
It may sound complicated and arbitrary, but when all other tie-breaking procedures are exhausted, the runs-allowed ratio can mean the difference between going to Williamsport or not for a team of hopeful 11- and 12-year-olds.
However, if Utah vs. Nevada remains a non-game, then that will be a factor, too, as both teams lose a chance to capture a winnable game in a tough six-team region.
Gerstenslager expects a swift decision, with a ruling possibly coming out of Williamsport today.
``I think they've dealt with this issue in Williamsport before, so we'll see what happens,'' he said.
Another possibility, it seems, is that Nevada and Utah would simply meet early this week in a rescheduling of Sunday's non-game.
MORE UTAH
Chuck Hickey covered the regionals from 1989-2000 for The Sun. Hickey, in an e-mail Sunday night, said Utah has never refused to play on a Sunday, although it has come close. Wrote Hickey: ``It was 2000, in the last year of double elimination. Utah (Taylorsville LL) lost its first game on a Wednesday. Then it won on a Saturday, forcing it to play a Sunday game. There was talk leading up to it that they might not play, but I remember the coach said that they would leave it up to the individual kids and parents on what they wanted to do. They voted to play and beat Nevada (Reno Continental) 7-4, but lost the next day to Montana (Boulder Arrowhead LL of Billings) to get eliminated.''
Utah has played Sunday games in the past, with Taylorsville LL losing 14-1 to Green Valley LL of Henderson, Nev., in pool play in 2004; Taylorsville losing 4-1 to Aptos of Northern California in the semifinals in 2002, Taylorsville losing 4-1 to Oceanside American of Southern California in the semis in 2000; and Taylorsville-Bennion defeating Torrington, Wyo., 12-2 in 1992.
EVEN MORE UTAH
With cancellation of Sunday's Utah and Nevada West Region game came an inconvenient ripple effect from security personnel to groundskeepers and especially to those operating on-site concession stands, whose every game is equated into a margin of profit.
A walk through the concession area found the area void of fans, with most windows latched shut. Four San Bernardino Police officers, still scheduled for the game, could be seen walking their beat without the worry of crowd control.
``It will certainly affect our gross for the day,'' said Penny Morell of Hemet, who owns Penny's Concessions and Hawaiian Shaved Ice. ``Since a good portion of our gross goes to Little League, it will affect them, too.''
Morell said that Utah playing Nevada usually attracts a large crowd. Since she lost her dinner crowd for the 5 p.m. game, Morell estimated the cancellation will cost her company about $4,000 to $5,000.
``I've been doing this for a long time (14 years) and I'm kind of used to adjustments, but it's kind of sad for all the boys who worked hard to get here.''
Morell said despite an empty Al Houghton Stadium, her workers still must get paid for their time. ``It's not all bad, the break kind of gives our employees a break and a chance to regroup. They've been working hard.''
The next day (monday,) here is another article:
Article #2
Launched: 08/07/2006 11:00:00 PM PDTLittle League tournaments
Utah keeps the faith, doesn't play
John Murphy, Staff Writer
SAN BERNARDINO -- The Utah Little League all-stars, citing religious beliefs, elected not to play their 5 p.m. West Region game with Nevada on Sunday night, regional officials said.
They informed us yesterday," Western Regionals Director Jim Gerstenslager said. "We respect their decision."
The majority of the Snow Canyon Little League team from Santa Clara, Utah, is comprised of players affiliated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Gerstenslager said Mormons do not believe in participating in sports activities on Sundays.
The second-year director said the contest as of now will be declared a "non-game," with Nevada not receiving a forfeit victory. One regional official said it would be a violation of the concept of freedom of religion for the region to make Utah forfeit for not playing on a Sunday.
Nevada manager Dave Hernandez seemed to agree.
"This is what makes this country great," Hernandez said. "Our constitution guarantees freedom of religion. We've had teams in Nevada with a lot of players from the Church of Latter-Day Saints, so we understand."
As early as Friday, Gerstenslager was informed by Utah that the team may elect not to play on Sunday. But the director said not playing was only a possibility and that no final decision was relayed to him until about Saturday at 11 p.m. By that time, he said, it was too late to notify the media that there would be no 5 p.m. game Sunday.
Announcements were made over the public-address system during Sunday's first two games that the scheduled third game of the day would not be played, at least not on Sunday.
Gerstenslager said the pool-play matchups are done by "blind draw," making it impossible to know in advance that Utah would be saddled with a Sunday game.
By having its fate determined by the blind draw, some might argue, Utah was simply being treated like every other team.
However, tournaments outside the realm of Little League baseball have been known to make special arrangements for teams with particular religious beliefs. For instance, Loma Linda Academy is Seventh Day Adventist and doesn't believe in competing during its Sabbath, which begins at sundown on Friday. When Loma Linda was entered in the San Bernardino Kiwanis Invitational Basketball Invitational a few years ago, officials drew up the schedule so that Loma Linda didn't play on a Saturday.
It's unclear if Western Regional officials could have done this, given the tight time schedule the regional must follow and the fact there's no telling what the religious makeups are of each team or what they might find objectionable.
"There are other religions that may not want to play on certain days," Gerstenslager said. "But we can't be expected to know what all these days are."
Utah manager Kyle Frei was sent several hand-written notes requesting him to call The Sun. He could not be reached for comment.
The non-game status of Utah vs. Nevada is tenuous. Gerstenslager has assigned assistant regional director Brent Stahlnecker to confer with the Little League headquarters in Williamsport, Pennsylvania to see what the determination should be. It's a key ruling since a forfeit to Nevada would give the Lone Mountain Little League team of Las Vegas an automatic 6-0 victory and would effect both the West Region standings and the runs-allowed ratio.
The runs-allowed aspect could come into play if Utah (0-1) or Nevada (0-1) wind up in a tie for a final semifinal spot that cannot be broken by any other means, such as head-to-head competition. In such a case the tournament director would calculate the total number of runs given up in all pool play games played by a team, divided by the number of half-innings played on defense in pool play. This provides the number of runs given up per half-inning by a team.
It may sound complicated and arbitrary, but when all other tie-breaking procedures are exhausted, the runs-allowed ratio can mean the difference between going to Williamsport or not for a team of hopeful 11- and 12-year-olds.
However, if Utah vs. Nevada remains a non-game, then that will be a factor too, as both teams lose a chance to capture a winnable game in a tough six-team region.
Gerstenslager expects a swift decision, with a ruling possibly coming out of Williamsport today.
"I think they've dealt with this issue in Williamsport before, so we'll see what happens," he said.
Utah's decision is hardly unprecedented in baseball history. During the 1965 World Series, Los Angeles Dodgers ace pitcher Sandy Koufax, a Jew, elected not to pitch against the Minnesota Twins on Yom Kippur, a Jewish holiday. Don Drysdale pitched instead and won the game, and the Dodgers defeated the Twins in the World Series.
The problem of Utah playing on Sunday has emerged on occasion in years past, said longtime pressbox volunteer Larry Burch.
``Utah has told us in the past that it's a possibility (not playing on Sunday),'' Burch said. ``That's something that would be left up to them. But I don't think it's ever gotten to that point before. They've always played.''
During Sunday morning's Northern California vs. Arizona game, Nevada assistant Tony LeBaron was seated behind home plate under a bright sun, doing some scouting. He seemed to grasp both side of the argument.
``The kids are a little disappointed,'' LeBaron said. ``They were looking forward to playing. But we understand (Utah's) religious beliefs, and we respect them.''
Article #3
Utah forced to forfeit
John Murphy, Staff Writer
SAN BERNARDINO - The Utah Little League team hadn't yet taken the field Monday, and already it had lost a game.
The competition committee at Little League headquarters in Williamsport, Pa., ruled early Monday that Utah must forfeit its game with Nevada that was scheduled for Sunday at Al Houghton Stadium.
Citing religious reasons, the team from Snow Canyon LL in Santa Clara, Utah, elected not to play Nevada on Sunday. Utah, with several team members affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, informed regional directors that playing on Sunday was against their religion.
Region officials initially ruled the contest a "non-game'', but said they would consult Williamsport on the matter. On Monday, Williamsport ruled against Utah, handing Nevada a 6-0 forfeit victory.
The forfeit is the first in Western Regional history.
"This is consistent with what Little League always does,'' Western Regional director Jim Gerstenslager said. "The problem with (accommodating Utah) is that it opens up a can of worms, where maybe you have a team with Seventh-Day Adventists and they can't play on Saturday or another religion can't play some other day. We have to draw the line somewhere.''
Utah manager Kyle Frei is disappointed in the ruling. He thinks Little League could have been more flexible.
Frei said when the West Region schedule came out July 15, he called Western Regional headquarters and asked them to re- schedule Utah's game with Nevada for a day other than Sunday.
"We hit a brick wall,'' Frei said. "We had our league president and district administrator call and nothing worked. We made about six calls.''
Left with no recourse, Utah's players voted not to play on July 24.
Frei said he notified Gerstenslager of the vote and the fact Utah didn't intend to play its second pool-play game. But Frei also agreed that he left the topic open, telling Gerstenslager that if anything changed, the Western Regional would be notified.
Gerstenslager, when pressed as to why he didn't alert the media prior to Sunday that there would be no game, said Utah did not absolutely say it would not compete Sunday until about 11 p.m. Saturday, too late to be published in most newspapers.
As a result, announcements were made over the public-address system throughout Sunday's first two games that the 5 p.m. between Utah and Nevada had been postponed.
Frei and those in the Utah camp hoped Little League would be flexible enough to allow for a rescheduling.
"We'll go out and play them on the asphalt if we have to,'' Frei said. "We wanted to play the game.''
But Little League is firm in its decision. Gerstenslager re-emphasized that pool play is done on a "blind draw'' and that the religious makeups of the teams and so forth are not taken into account, nor will they be in the future.
Echoing his recent statements that Little League can not pay attention to the religious makeups of teams, Gerstenslager dismissed the notion that Western Regional officials should have anticipated this problem and avoided it. Moving the game to another day would have accomplished that.
Jay Day, the father of Utah player Kenny Day, does not agree.
"They knew in plenty of time, so this should not have been a surprise to them,'' Day said. "Nevada was willing to re- schedule the game, but Williamsport would not allow us to re-schedule it.''
Opinions vary on whether Little League should have been more open-minded.
"It's an unfortunate incident,'' Washington manager Scott McGuire said. "I have no problem with what people believe or not believe (in terms of religion). But when they accepted the invitation to play here, they made a commitment. I don't think it's right that they didn't honor that commitment. And they also are taking the place of another team that could be here.''
Eric Kelly, the father of Arizona player Connor Kelly, can see both sides of the argument.
"I think they probably could have switched the game to another day,'' Kelly said. "On the other hand, Utah accepted an invitation to play here and it probably shouldn't accept if it can't honor that commitment.''
Added Kelly: "It's a very delicate situation. I'm not sure that anybody is absolutely right. You can look at it from five different angles and be justified in your perspective.''
Oregon manager Jeff Keller called it a "strange twist of fate'' and was reluctant to blame either party.
"Little League draws up the schedule as it sees fit,'' Keller said. "It has to balance out the schedule and give all the teams days to rest. I'm not really an insider on all this, but my impression is it's unfair to the kids who just want to play, but it's difficult on Little League as well.''
The forfeit loss made Utah 0-2 heading into Monday night's game with Hawaii (1-1), the state that won last year's Little League World Series title. A loss to Hawaii would all but eliminate Utah from making Thursday's semifinals.
Despite the adversity, Snow Canyon and its manager seem to feel good about their decision.
"Baseball is something that we do, it's not who we are,'' Frei said.
Another Article by the LA TIMES:
Utah Little League Team Refuses to Play Sunday
Officials rule for forfeit after players, who are primarily Mormon, choose to skip game.
By Dan Arritt, Times Staff WriterAugust 8, 2006
The Snow Canyon Little League team of Santa Clara, Utah, took a stand in support of its religious beliefs Sunday night at the Western Regional tournament in San Bernardino. Little League officials responded with a stance of their own. Snow Canyon, whose players are primarily Mormon, voted against playing its scheduled pool-play game against a team from Las Vegas. Western Regional officials then met Monday morning and ruled that Snow Canyon must forfeit the game.
"We weren't going to change the schedule for their sake," said Jim Gerstenslager, director of the Western Regional. "If we did that, than we'd have to do it for the Seventh-Day Adventists, for the Jewish … Pretty soon, we wouldn't be able to put on a tournament. "Snow Canyon, made up mostly of 12-year-olds, was the first team to qualify for the six-team West Regional, which is the final qualifying tournament for the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa. Kyle Frei, manager for Snow Canyon, said that shortly after his team won the state championship July 14, he learned the Utah state winner was slotted to play Sunday evening in the tournament's opening weekend. Calls were made to Western Regional headquarters in an effort to change the game time, but officials wouldn't budge."We had everyone in Utah calling and leaving messages," Frei said. "But they weren't going to change." Gerstenslager said he didn't know Snow Canyon wanted to move its game time until late Friday night. However, even if he had known about the conflict sooner, nothing would have changed.Frei was hoping Little League officials would be more flexible. The forfeit dropped Snow Canyon to 0-2 and into last place in the pool. Only the top four qualify for the semifinals."Right at the top of the brackets it says, 'Subject to change,' " Frei said. "I thought maybe we'd have the chance to get something done." Nevada Coach Dave Hernandez said he understood Utah's desire to change the game time and was more than willing to make accommodations."This country was founded on religious freedom, and we respect their decision," he said. "As far as all the stuff Little League did, it's out of my hands." John Rosengren, a Minnesota writer and author of several books about sports and religion, said Snow Canyon "is integrating a dose of sanity, but they seem to be looked at like pariahs. It makes perfect sense not to play baseball on a day that's set aside for family and worship."Sports and religion have been colliding ever since British runner Eric Liddell refused to run on the Sabbath during the 1924 Olympics, a story that was eventually told in the Oscar-winning movie "Chariots of Fire." Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax refused to pitch on the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur during the 1965 World Series, and Brigham Young offensive lineman Eli Herring passed on a large signing bonus by the Oakland Raiders and a potential lucrative NFL career because, as a Mormon, he did not wish to play on Sundays.And two years ago, Todd Miller, a BYU junior and the son of PGA legend Johnny Miller, decided not to play the final round of the Utah amateur state championships because it was scheduled on a Sunday. He hoped tournament organizers would postpone the match until the following day; Miller was forced to forfeit. Frei, 38, said his players were taking the forfeit in stride, as most 12-year-olds do. They spent Monday at Ontario Mills mall and prepared for their game Monday night against Hawaii. Tim Apple, whose son Taylor plays for Snow Canyon, said the choice was probably more stressful for the parents."There are some among the parents that want to play and some that didn't want to play," Apple said. "So, there has been kind of a wedge."
And an Article instigated by Matt:
The Spectrum:
SC Little Leaguers stand up for beliefs
In sports, competitors like to talk about "making a statement." They want their opponents and their fans to value them and their efforts.
Last Sunday, the 12-year-old players from the Snow Canyon Little League made a statement that spoke loudly. They refused to play a scheduled game against a team from Las Vegas during the Western Regionals in San Bernadino, Calif. The winner of that tournament will take another step toward the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Penn.
Tuesday, Dan Arritt of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "The Snow Canyon Little League team of Santa Clara, Utah, took a stand in support of its religious beliefs Sunday night ... ." He continued that Little League officials took a stand of their own and declared a forfeit. Buck Hurst, president of the Snow Canyon Little League, said it isn't the first time players from his league have taken such a stand.
"We've forfeited three times with teams from St. George," said Hurst, who has been involved with Little League baseball for 18 years. Another year, he said, a team from Enterprise did likewise.
"The kids vote privately," Hurst said of each situation. He noted that a couple of times girls' softball teams from St. George have voted to go ahead and play on Sunday.
When his team won the state championship in mid-July, qualifying for the tournament in San Bernadino, coach Kent Frei and Hurst began a campaign to get the schedule changed. They contacted Little League officials in California, but got no satisfaction. In fact, Jim Gerstenslager, director of the Western Regional, told the Times reporter he didn't know the Utahns wanted to move their game until late Friday night. If that were true, it would obviously be too late. However, it isn't true, Hurst said.
"Right at the top of the brackets, it says, 'Subject to change,'" Frei told the Times reporter. "I thought maybe we'd have the chance to get something done."
Monday's Las Vegas Review-Journal had an item that indicated that the game between the two teams had been postponed. It gave the impression the game could be made up Monday or Tuesday. Nevada coach Dave Hernandez said he understood Utah's desire to change the game time and was more than willing to make accommodations.
The Little League official in charge, however, was not willing. "If we did that, then we'd have to do it for the Seventh-Day Adventists, for the Jewish ... . Pretty soon, we wouldn't be able to put on a tournament," Gerstenslager told The Times.
Hurst, who was in Beaverton, Ore., attending a son's tournament in the Junior Little League (for boys ages 13 and 14), noted that the Utah teams were not scheduled to play on Sunday in two tournaments in 2005 nor in this year's tournament.
"I manipulated the schedule two years in a row," said Gary Rowell, the District 4 (Oregon) administrator. "I will not schedule Utah on Sunday."
Rowell said he made the decision to ensure that no Utah team would be scheduled on Sunday after a situation in which another Utah team had only nine players because three others elected not to play. He said that occurred three years ago and didn't remember where the team was from. Rowell said he posts his schedules on the Internet in March each year.
"We feel good about our decision not to play on Sunday," Zach Frei, the coach's son, told John Murphy of the San Bernadino Sun.
"You've got to respect the team decision not to play," said Matt Brower, the Santa Clara city manager, whose son Kyler plays on the team. "But I understand that we are guests here. I can see both perspectives."
"This country was founded on religious freedom, and we respect their decision," said Las Vegas coach Hernandez. "As far as the stuff Little League did, it's out of our hands."
From my perspective, Little League did the young men from Snow Canyon a disservice from a baseball sense, but it provided them an opportunity to stand up for their individual beliefs, something we all should be thankful for. Whenever I think about religion, I remember that the root is from the Latin. Religio means "I believe." If you believe as I do, "great." If you believe differently, that, too, is great so long as you are willing to stand up for those beliefs.
My congratulations go to the young men who stood up for their beliefs. They are true champions in my book.
One item of note: The team, which is 0-3, plays its final game of the tournament today. Attempts to reach coach Frei or his players were unsuccessful because they were preparing for that game.
Originally published August 9, 2006
And Finally: Little Leagues Ruling:
Monday, August 7
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT!!!!
The Utah State Championship team was scheduled to play at 5 p.m. game on Sunday, August 6, 2006, against the Nevada State Champions in the Little Legaue Baseball West Region Tournament at San Bernardino, California.For religious reason, the leadership of the Utah team chose not to play the game.Decision:While the Committee respects the rights of any individual to practice any religion they choose, the Rules, Regulations and Policies of Little League cannot be altered to suit a particular religious view or practice.The Tournament Committee has, as has been the case in previous events of this nature, forfeited the game in favor of the Nevada team based on the Utah team's decision not to play the game at the scheduled time and date. The final score is 6-0 in six innings.Little League Baseball and SoftballTournament CommitteeAugust 7, 2006
Notice that all those Sunday plays listed in the SB SUN were done by TAYLORSVILLE!
Yet again we are haunted by Taylorville!!! J/K
The 14 year old boys (snow canyon,) played in Oregon while we were in California, there was an article about how they have never scheduled utah to play on Sunday, knowing that they wouldn't play if scheduled, why can't California do the same thing???? (see the Spectrum article.)
Now the real story is that our coaches informed us, that they had talked to San Bernadino officials right after the boys voted to see if they would change our day since we were the only state to have our tournament play finished, but the said no! So of course the point of the director saying that we didn't tell them until Friday is bogus. But I guess that is all covered in the article too!
The boys have handled it well, but some of the parents (not me of course,) have been really ugly about it (see a Tim Apple's quote- even though that didn't need to be told to an outsider.)
One mother, who has spent alot of money and time on her kid begged the four parents to make an exception during our parents meeting, in response one of the 4 told her that the mother begging that she may have put alot of time into baseball with her son, but that she (the other mother,) had spent a lot of time not just building a ball player but also a man and believed that her son had done the right thing by voting not to play, all of a sudden the meeting we were at got way out of hand and too emotional. So logical me stated that everyone has a right to their beliefs, the boys have voted, they are moving on and it is now time to support the boys, look forward to the adventure of the games and just be tickled pink to have the boys playing 3 exciting games (or in other words, what I would really like to have said was: get over it, move on and stop being ugly about it, it won't change, there is nothing we can do about it so move along! To me, I sounded like the preachers wife in Footloose, when Ren gets up to talk to the city council and one of the audience tells him to sit down, ) I mean come on, Kyler voted to play, I would have really like him to have that opportunity, since Nevada was the one team that the coaches thought we could beat! We can't pick on others feelings about religion so what does playing the emotion card get, nothing but defenseive feelings from those opposed to playing and each side is going to support their kid, so lets just drop the whole thing, it really was solving nothing to spend 30 minutes arguing!
Okay, enough of the downer stuff onto the fun that we get to do because we are not playing on Sunday...
THE BEACH!
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