Cleveland Heights wins court ruling over OHSAA

[bdubya]

Thursday decision in Cuyahoga County Commons Pleas Court ruling on Thursday.

http://highschoolsports.cleveland.com/n ... rt-ruling/

[A-Town Big Dog]

Wow, what a mess this is going to be. I'm not usually short on opinions but I see both sides of this argument and I really don't know which teams deserve to play more in this situation. It is unfortunate that this hasn't been settled sooner, these teams and their communities are in a really tough situation.

[N4da'score]

Question: Isn't the OHSAA the governing body over Ohio High School Sports not the courts? If this is the case, then why have the OSHAA rules in place and let the courts decide who plays in the playoffs............. year in and year out....CRAZY!!!!! Just another reason why the courts needs to keep out of this ...........JMO!

[Paladin]

I had a sneaky suspiscion this might happen..................

[93Bulldog]

Question: Isn't the OHSAA the governing body over Ohio High School Sports not the courts? If this is the case, then why have the OSHAA rules in place and let the courts decide who plays in the playoffs............. year in and year out....CRAZY!!!!! Just another reason why the courts needs to keep out of this ...........JMO!

The NFL is a governing body - but I watched Jonathan Vilma play last week after a court overturned his suspension.

If you feel you have been wronged - its the only option in situations like that.

I'm not saying I agree with it by any means - but if I felt like my school was cheated - you bet your a** I would want them to have it fixed by someone or something.

[Paladin]

Here is the ugly truth -- many Ohio teams over the years have attempted to bend the rules to fit them. All that is needed is a freindly local judge sensitive to the "electorate" who will vote for or against him in the next election. The schools lawyer shoots for an injunction or a TRO. Either , filed late in the week is often all thats needed to play tjhe game. Win or lose the team is in the playoffs. In this case. I expect the OHSAA to be aggresive and go after the rulings in court and have the Supreme Court take jurisdiction. This too may set a presedent for future rulings and disputes. Un offically, , Cleveland Hts has a very nice team but would expect them tpo get beat in their game with the Private school. Ditto the match up for Beachwood who would play #1 seed Brookfield , who would wipe the field with them. Neither team has any chance of moving on, but are atempting to sneak into the playoffs anyway.

If the Supremes take the case, as I expexct they will, look for them to come down HARD and make a BROAD ruling which may kill future legal moves such as this.

[maniac66]

sad situation hate the rules or love them that is the purpose of rules.
To give stability when you allow that to be taken away then you allow chaos to reign.
What's next taking the OHSAA to court for not allowing you 0-10 team not to make playoffs because they never peaked at the right time.

[C-Bolt]

OHSAA has indicated they are going to fight it with its legal teams, but I don't see how they can get anything done with the playoffs starting tomorrow night.One is for sure somebody will get screwed bigtime,probably won't recognize heights as playoff qualifier in its records at the end of it all, if heights does play.STO just reported three teams are going to be showing up for a game tomorrow night in Brookfield what a mess

[93Bulldog]

that does sound like a mess!

[ohbuckeye2]

I just read an article where Ashtabula Judge ordered Ashtabula Edgewood back in the Playoffs as of 8 pm this evening.
So which Judges ruling will go in effect now?

www.wfmj.com/global/story.asp?s=19978341

[bdubya]

So which Judges ruling will go in effect now?

Coin flip. Paper-rock-scissors. Tic-tac-toe.

How about a pistol duel or a cage match between the judges?

What a mess, indeed.

[the_onlooker]

Hey guys, i don't usually respond on here I just like to read the banter and get scouting reports for southern Ohio schools but I wanted to respond to something Paladin said. While I agree Cleveland Heights probably has no chance of beating St. Eds, they are definitely a better team than Mayfield, and probably deserve the spot.. if these teams played on a nuetral field, my guess is Cleveland Heights beats them by at least two touchdowns. I'm basing that judgment on seeing both teams play. Also, I have a good friend who is an asst. coach at Beachwood and I have seen them multiple times this year. They would not get destroyed by Brookfield.. in fact it would be one of my few 8 over 1 specials. If you look at Beachwood's schedule they lost to 9-1 Cuyahoga Heights on a fluke play by the quarterback who was getting sacked and flung the football up for grabs and his receiver went and got it for a crucial first down in the 4th quarter. They took Kirtland to overtime who is probably one of the top 3 or 4 teams in D-5.. The Kirtland coach didn't practice his team for 2 days after that game because of how physically beat up they were after their affiar with Beachwood. This situation is a mess by far but if we are truly rewarding strength of schedule and getting the best 8 teams in and there is a basis for this court action... Cleveland Hts and Beachwood are far better than the teams currently slated ahead of them, and I mean that with all due respect to Mayfield and Edgewood. I'll get off my soap box now! If anyone wants some info on Northern Ohio teams let me know, I've seen plenty of them this year.

[93Bulldog]

Paladin making statements without any real info or facts ... surprise, surprise ...

[maniac66]

I can see the playoffs being halted then played quickly in order to fix this I can see cle. Hgts and beachwood having a play in game to settle this and setting the playoffs back and then pushing then in to catch up it wount be fair to the other teams no doubt but I don't see another option for this mess.

[Paladin]

Hilarious ! Never saw Mayfield play this year so can't comment on them except to lump them together with Cleveland Hts in saying neither would be able to beat Eds or Iggy, who are the best in the region. But Beachwood ? While everyone is entitled to an opinion, lets look at Beachwood. And forget your opinion of "how tough" they are. First, they are a D-IV team and play a lot of smaller school -- 5 D-V and 1 D-VI. Then the schedule produced 6 losing teams , one of which the Bison lost to and a 500. team. Yet they didn't beat those smaller school that made the playoffs. Not that strong of an endorsement . Now no one is here defending Edgewood -- they were murdered by Brookfield during the regular season. But Beachwood beating Brookfield is a MAJOR stretch and I have seen them. Size , speed, talent and very physical. In fact , they dominated almost everyone in brusing, physical fashion running up big scores. The bottom line is a weak Edgewood team and their weak schule beat out a "tough" (?) Beachwood team with a schedule producing little points either.

I'm still expecting Edgewood- Brookfield ( and the game has been moved to neighboring Girard's artifical turf field since Brookfield is a swamp).

[the_onlooker]

And I think those are valid points.. All I'm saying is I can't discount the fact they played Kirtland into overtime who most people on this site would probably put them only below Ursuline and coldwater. I also can't agree that the differences between d-5 and d-4 is so large that it means they should have beaten cuyahoga hts and kirtland strictly bc they are a larger school.. How would Brookfield do against kirtland? I have no idea.. And I know they're a great team.. All I'm saying is that beachwood will give Brookfield a much tougher test and are clearly the better team to make the playoffs as is Cleveland hts.

[the_onlooker]

there will be no Beachwood and Brookfield game.. per an asst. coach from Beachwood.

[Paladin]

Yes ....... my understanding is the Edgewood-Brookfield game is on, as I expected. But "play-in" game for Cleveland Hts. - Mayfield ? Winner takes on Eds .

[Paladin]

Nope, final resolution is the Edgewood & Mayfield teams are in and the complaining team of Cleveland Hts and Beachwood are out. The judge reversed himself and recinded his order. Something tells me this one is rotten as he11. But if a piece of work like Rotsky is slapped down, its a great day !

[C-Bolt]

A judge reversing his own ruling hum,them OHSAA attorneys must be pretty persuasive