COMMENTARY: Ire against Gorman stirred by jealousy
No name is more polarizing in high school sports throughout Nevada. It appears in a newspaper story, and Web hits multiply by the second. Emotions rise. Opinions are vast. There is no middle ground.
That’s what Bishop Gorman does to others.
That’s the truth winning creates.
I won’t confuse arrogance with fairness, because if you ever have been a writer on deadline attempting to cover a Bishop Gorman football game with mighty ESPN in town, you know the level of eliteness some wearing blue and orange can offer.
No one ever has accused those at Bishop Gorman for being overly modest about anything. They tend to like themselves a lot.
But conceit has no place in this showdown with the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association and its desire to have Bishop Gorman accept an “affiliate status,” which would allow the Gaels to compete against other Nevada schools but not for state, region or league titles.
In a word, ludicrous.
Where are the student-athletes in this? What is their opinion? How many want to stop competing against and trying to beat Bishop Gorman? The only ones talking are the suits, the administrators, those who apparently don’t coach or play but can’t stand the idea of losing.
Which makes me wonder what lessons are being taught by those who are supposed to champion values of hard work and never quitting and overcoming adversity and being the best you can be.
Or are those merely ideals to promote when things are going your way?
“What the (NIAA) is telling kids is, 'Let’s not play Bishop Gorman for fear we might get beat,’ ” said Grey Ruegamer, an NFL veteran of five teams who won Super Bowls with the Patriots and Giants. “What a terrible message.
“Sports are not fair. Life is not fair. You’re going to have good teams and bad ones. What happened to wanting to be that team to knock someone from the mountaintop, that badge of honor when you rise up and beat the best? These things are cyclical. Bishop Gorman won’t always be the best. But the lessons being taught here are all the wrong ones.”
It’s important to note Ruegamer has a rooting interest in the debate. He attended Bishop Gorman in the early-to-mid 1990s, back when the campus was located on Maryland Parkway and not in a $93 million, 36-acre picturesque setting of Summerlin, back when the weight room and athletic facilities were of high school quality and not those that resemble a Bowl Championship Series school.
He also played football for the Gaels when they couldn’t keep up with the Eldorados and Ranchos of the town, when they were a dead-flat average program that couldn’t qualify for the playoffs, much less win a state championship game 72-28.
Recruiting always will be the main charge of those who no longer want Bishop Gorman invited to the party. It’s not about sticking one’s head in the sand and disbelieving such tactics go on, but as Ruegamer also points out, show the proof.
This newspaper employs some terrific reporters who follow leads and tips and other charges, and if tangible evidence existed, or those who say they have it came forward, those reporters would be all over it.
Until then, as Lou Holtz likes to say, you can say it because you can’t prove it. Or choose not to for fear of something.
Bishop Gorman enjoys immense athletic advantages others don’t. That’s obvious. It’s a private, wealthy school supported by powerful names. It has athletic facilities, now and those being built, that would make countless colleges jealous. Kids want to play there. Parents desire the best advantages for them. These are not original concepts when it comes to private schools and promising athletes.
But short of trying to balance competition with the impending realignment of schools, a good and reasonable decision, the NIAA and those pushing an anti-Gorman stance are coming off short-sided and small-minded.
Would it be OK if Bishop Gorman was banned from competing for state titles and Palo Verde then won the next five in football by outrageous scores?
Would it be OK to play the part of tackling dummy against the Panthers each week simply because it’s a public school with like characteristics as your own?
What is this about?
Fairness or jealousy?
Like I said, you can smell the arrogance around Bishop Gorman miles from campus, and upon arriving at it, well, it’s dripping from every corner of every state-of-the-art building.
But to say the Gaels should be excluded from competing for athletic titles because they have become too big and too powerful and too good ... ludicrous.
The NIAA suits and those in their corner need a reality check.
Not to mention a reminder about all those values they’re supposed to be teaching young athletes.
