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Everybody is weighing in on the controversial uniform issue that resulted in a technical foul and free throw that supposedly spelled the difference in North Lawndale's one-point loss to Champaign Centennial in the Class 3A semifinals on Friday in Peoria. So I guess I'll contribute a few words on the subject.
Get over it.
Blaming North Lawndale's loss on the technical foul is like blaming the Johnstown flood, as many old-time Pennsylvanians used to say, on a leaky faucet in Altoona.
As a viewer, I never even associated the final score of the game to what happened before it started until it was over.
Tell me if I'm wrong, but didn't North Lawndale blow a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter? Weren't they in complete control of the game? Weren't they acting as though they were rehearsing their post-game speeches for the trophy ceremony? Weren't they throwing the ball away as if they were playing in a Saturday morning recreation league?
There are rules to be followed, like fouls and traveling and double-dribbling and hanging on the rim. The uniform rule was written by the National High School Federation. Everybody has uniform rules, even the NCAA, NBA, NFL and Major League Baseball. I know it may sound silly but we all have to play by the rules. Or why have them at all?
In this case, it shouldn't have mattered. It isn't the first time I've seen somebody shoot free throws before the tipoff. The last time was because a team didn't appear on the floor at the specified time. Did they show up a second late or 10 seconds or 20? It didn't matter. The other team shot two free throws. I don't recall who won the game.
North Lawndale took command of the game in the second quarter and was clearly the dominant force going into the fourth quarter. Then they lost it. They lost their poise. They forgot what got them there. Even Jonathan Mills forgot how to get position on the most important rebound of the game. Oops, there goes another bad pass, another turnover.
In all of the media coverage, everybody embraced the sensational. North Lawndale lost by one point and it was scored before the game even started. They blamed the IHSA. They blamed the officials. They blamed everybody but themselves. Who approved uniforms that didn't meet specifications?
Instead, it was left to Mills and Stephen Thorpe, the son of North Lawndale coach Lewis Thorpe, to admit to what really happened. But those quotes were relegated to the closing paragraphs, after the dramatic "he said, he said" quotes that put the issue on the front page.
Of course, we wouldn't be having this discussion if North Lawndale had won the game, if they had played in the fourth quarter as they had in the second and third quarters, if they hadn't been outplayed by Champaign Centennial.
The truth is great basketball teams play under control. North Lawndale didn't and isn't.
By the way, didn't Leo blow an 11-point lead in the third quarter and lose to unranked and unappreciated Oswego on a game-winning three-point shot in the other Class 3A semifinal? Has anybody checked their uniforms?
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Absolutely right on
Typical of Taylor Bell! Point out the facts without any shades of rational comment. Yes, North Lawndale blew the game.Yes, the technical foul was not the reason North Lawndale lost. However, the technical foul call was cheap and unnecessary.The timing very suspect. Why was this issue not taken care of before the game started? Why is it that no other refs all year chose to make the same call? Why is it that IHSA executive people always seem to inject themselves into the mix? And why,Taylor Bell, can you not understand how much that call and the first possession to Champaign, affected the game? I know the answers because I have known you for years. You are a bigot with a biased viewpoint who is arrogant beyond description.You always play favorites and judge people without any understanding.I despise you Taylor Bell and always will.
you sound just as racist as the IHSA
THE COACH SAID NO ONE EVER SPOKE TO HIM ABOUT HIS UNIFORMS
IF THIS IS TRUE, WHY ASSESS HIM WITH A TECHNICAL IN THIS
GAME?
I AM ASKING FOR A CONFIRMATION ON THIS, I KNOW IT IS ALL
WATER UNDER THE BRIDGE, BUT THIS WILL STOP THIS FROM
HAPPENING TO A SCHOOL IN THE FUTURE, THE BOTTOM LINE IS
THE COACH LOST HIS COACHING BOX, HE COULDN'T COACH FROM
HIS FEET, HE HAD TO SIT THE ENTIRE CONTEST, A FEW OF HIS
PLAYER'S SAID THIS AFFECTED THEM, SINCE THEY RELIED ON
COACH THORPE FOR VALUABLE INSTRUCTIONS THROUGHOUT THE
GAME! THIS WAS A VERY AWKWARD SITUATION, IT SHOULDN'T
JUST GO AWAY, IT NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED, IT DOESN'T
DIMINISH THE TEAM THAT DEFEATED THEM, OR THE STATE
CHAMPIONSHIP, BUT THIS NEEDS TO BE INVESTIGATED PROPERLY
SO THIS WILL NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN!
HOW MANY TEAMS THIS SEASON WERE ASSESSED TECHNICALS
BEFORE A GAME?
WAS NLCP EVER ASSESSED A TECHNICAL BEFORE A GAME THIS
SEASON ABOUT THEIR UNIFORMS?
I KNOW TO SOME OF YOU, YOU SAY SOUR GRAPES, BUT THAT
WASN'T YOUR TEAM DOWNSTATE, THINGS LIKE THIS NEED TO BE
BROUGHT TO LIGHT, BECAUSE IF THEY FOOL YOU ONCE, THEY
WILL FOOL YOU TWICE!
TO NLCP CONGRATS ON A GREAT SEASON, AND PLEASE GET RID
OF THOSE UNIFORMS!
REMEMBER THIS IS THE SAME TEAM THAT HAD A PLAYER IN THE
COURT ROOM ABOUT TWO WEEKS AGO, THEY WON THE CPS CITY
CHAMPIONSHIP, THEY WON THE 2A CHAMPIONSHIP A YEAR AGO,
THIS IS A CHARTER SCHOOL UNDER THE CPS, AND RIGHT BEFORE
THE SEMI-FINAL GAME THEY ARE ASSESSED A TECHNICAL FOR
UNIFORM MALFUNCTION, AND THE COACH CAN'T GET UP THE
ENTIRE GAME, SOMETHING IS ROTTEN IN DENMARK!
I have read the rule book and the NLCP uniform doesn't meet the guidelines. Looks like the referee's in their previous games missed the boat. I saw them play twice this year and they weren't called for the violation. The biggest impact, at least to me, was that the NLCP coach could not stand up and coach his team. Once the technical was called he had to sit down.
The bottom line though, is that after crushing one team after another, for one period they forgot their brand of basketball. Which was too bad because I believed that this year they could have won the 4A championship as well, they are that good.
Thank U TJS for putting this Ass In his place...So I would not have too...Clearly He has a problem!!! To all that support NLCP we know what the team is capable of We did not make it to Peoria by chance nor win the City championship by luck Im done with it. all I have left to say is wait for Next year!!!