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Editorials

October 21, 2009

No Free Speech in OSSAA-land

Kelly Wray

I didn't mean to stump Ed Sheakley. The OSSAA stays in enough of a stupor without me confusing its director.

But you know how a question just sits there and burns a hole in your intellect? That's what I was experiencing, intellect burn.

So I fired away:

"Why is it, Ed, from a philosophical point of view, that sports officials are the only people in our society that can't be criticized without penalty?"

Silence. Five seconds.

And then this: "I'm not sure they are. Do you think you could criticize the president and get away with it?"

You mean that socialist dude in Washington who hung out with terrorists, wants to sic death panels on seniors, and may not even be an American citizen? Why, yes, Ed, I think I could.

So says Sheakley: "Let's just stick with the issue."

In case you've been living under a rock for the last week, this is the issue: Tuttle head football coach Phil Koons served a one-game suspension for making critical remarks about game officials on the KOOL 105.5-FM Saturday Morning Quarterback Show. The morning after a hard-fought, one-point victory over Clinton on Oct. 9, Koons told listeners:

"I don't know if I can get in trouble for talking about officials like in college or the pros, I know those guys get fined. It was ... those guys were cheaters last night, just blatantly cheating."

The OSSAA heard of Koons' comments -- and in what had to be the most poorly constructed multiple choice question in history, it asked the coach: Do you want to suspend yourself or do you want us to do it for you? "None of the above" apparently wasn't an option. So, Koons "suspended himself" and sat out the Tigers 21-6 victory Friday over Newcastle.

Does the OSSAA understand the plight of coaches? Imagine you're a coach. You're working 70 hours a week, watching game film and preparing and installing a game plan -- and you know to a large extent, your professional worth, right or wrong, will be valued based on the outcome of the game. Then, here comes a banker or a social worker or whatever who's earning a few extra bucks by officiating football games for a couple of hours on Friday nights. He blows some calls that influence the outcome, and you lose. A moonlighter has just blemished your work record. Wouldn't you be screaming about it?

You would if you had any sense of pride. You would be yelling about it for yourself and your players, who put in a lot of those hours right beside you.

It is America, after all. If you're wronged, don't you get to complain about it? Here's what I find interesting: Officials' performance is not beyond evaluation, even by coaches. On every Friday night in every high school football stadium, coaches yell directly at officials -- and that's OK. But you criticize officials indirectly through a medium, and it draws a suspension. I can find only parts of O-S-S-A In F-R-E-E S-P-E-E-C-H. I think they're only for it if it benefits them.

Still, let's not totally condemn the OSSAA. In this kooky, crazy world, coaches hold a powerful sway. Imagine a coach at a pep rally. He steps in front of a ravenous crowd and says, "Billy Bob and Joe Bob are gong to officiate tonight's game. They cheated us last time." All it would take is one nut to misread the coach's emotion and set out to harm the officials. Remember, Gordon Reese received death threats from Oklahoma fans after blowing a call in the 2006 OU-Oregon game even without negative comments from Coach Bob Stoops.

But I suspect this suspension had more to do with Big Brother maintaining an image than it did protecting officials. Koons didn't mention the officials' names. The Association says such critical comments about officials hurts the integrity of the sport, as if poor officiating doesn't.

I like Phil Koons. I like him because he's excellent at what he does and because he's one of that last people I know who says what he thinks. That will probably change now that the OSSAA has removed his tongue.

And I'm still awaiting an answer to my question. Why is it that coaches, players, fans, bands, cheerleaders, booster clubs, pom pom squads -- and yes, even the OSSAA -- can be criticized, but an official's performance is beyond reproach through the public airway.

Ed, are you there?



Read Kelly Wray's blog at www.chickashanews.com for more on the Koons saga.

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