PRH vs OHSAA part #5 Where We Go From Here?/Smoking Out the Rats

"Where We Go From Here"

I have to admit I am pleased, more that I can say, of the response I have received from old friends, coaches, athletic directors, assigners, fellow umpires/officials, parents of kids I umpired games for, and guys I coached as kids, has been outstanding...so far not one negative comment, although I am sure they are out there, and will chime in eventually...or perhaps not!  However that is their right...after~all, they have the right of Free Speech.

This all has come down so quickly there has been little time to soak it all in, but I suspect things will now slow down, and the wheels will turn slowly or perhaps come to a complete stand~still...first off this is where we go from here, and what I know.


"Forward with the Appeal"

I will appeal my suspension...I will likely inform Beau Rugg and his assistant, as well as the OHSAA Commish of that fact this weekend, thus getting it done within the 7 day requirement, and to keep my legal options open.   That is the only reason, because appealing to this bunch is akin to asking Judge Roy Beam to overturn a hanging that he has just sentenced you to...the appeal is worthless, except to keep my legal options alive.

The fact of the matter is, I will never sign a contract through the OHSAA again, regardless of any final outcome...that is not to say I won't work lower level or scrimmage games at schools...like I said, anything to put a burr in their shorts.  The facts are however, that I was ready to get out of both High School and Middle School football and basketball after this season, regardless, and although I would have kept working HS Varsity Baseball, the fact that I won't have to go out in March and April and freeze my tail off for a couple of hours 45 days out of 60, brings a smile of relief to my face....although I will likely do Summer baseball, those games are not controlled by OHSAA, and I would rather sweat than freeze.

So while I am effectively done with high school sports...I am not done with this battle, I have a view of this mess, and would like to right the wrongs, not for any money, but from myself and to clear the air for future officials and those currently being hosed by the power brokers at the Ohio High School Association.

"Smoking out the Rat{s}"

When this half baked letter of "Allegations of Unethical Conduct" was e-mailed through my G~Mail account, I was first taken aback, then pissed off, and finally I realized that I was being railroaded by Assistant Commissioner Beau Rugg...the question was "who put this train of lies on the track?"

My first thought of who the gutless Weasel was,  it appears was spot on.  Lucky for me, I have been around long enough and have enough contacts both in the OHSAA and various Official's Associations, after all I was voted in as President of the Mid~West Buckeye Umpire Association and held that position for 6 years, from 2011 through this year...

Those contacts told me the name of the Rat...let's just call him DM for lack of a being 100% sure, yea, 99% is close, but I will refrain from ratting out the rat...for now!  This guy is the poster child for the "Good Ol' Boy" system that is alive and well at the OHSAA.  He is a weak official in both basketball and football, and goes about hand picking those, whether they are qualified or not, to the top games along the Regional and Tournament trail in the two sports mentioned...that made no matter to me, I don't apply for tournaments in those two sports...don't want to freeze and travel hundreds of miles in November for football, and seldom worked the required number of Varsity Basketball games during that seasons winter months...I was content to work the Spring and Summer Baseball Tournaments, all the way to state.  The Rat really didn't have his fingers in that pie, and that was a good thing for me, and anybody that didn't have to kiss his ass to gain favor.

Well anyway, the Rat must have had a bone to pick with me....don't know or care for what reason...with enemies like him, you know you are doing something right in life.  He must have spent quite a bit of time however, gleaning through my social media accounts...accounts he had zero access to, expect via proxy...with thousands of posts, he came up with a handful or two that he was offended by...looking at the ones listed that offended, tells you more about him and his lifestyle and politics, that it does about me.  Beau Rugg's responses to me, tell you much about him as well...calling him a weak man, is being kind.

So I will move forward from here knowing regardless of how this turns out, or if it goes south, that I am right, they are wrong, and I will never have to put up with them or the OHSAA again.  After all, I was never their employee, never wanted to be, and never will be bound by them or their bloated bureaucracy again.  There is something special about being old, and being pretty free from interference in one's life, free from the OHSAA or the paid Rat's that sit in their Ivory Tower,  taking money, dishing out new guidelines that one must follow for $45 or {up to} $75 per game, while they have no intention of following them, themselves.

So I will move on...but you have not heard the last of this, I will update as needed, and hopefully will have a final report before I assume room temperature, and hopefully that will include the end of the "Good Ol' Boy" system at the Ohio High School Athletic Association;

Up Next....another bloated private bureaucracy in my Crosshairs.....VSPA, the Vietnam Security Police Association....


back later>>>>

Photos:  Me and Hall of Fame Coach Mike "Spank" Schumm "discussing" a call during a tournament Sectional game a few years ago....the 'Allegations" ...  and the "Suspension"