Leading off today: I smell an election coming up this year or next, because the politicians are grandstanding again. For all the sympathy I have for South Seneca senior Stephen Brewer, I want to reassure him that his situation isn't going to improve now that a New York state senator is involved.
Though Brewer is caught in the middle of an unfortunate situation, the question is this: What important work is the politician leaving unattended while he's busy spouting contrived outrage? Shouldn't he be championing legislation to restore the death penalty for cop-killers? Shouldn't he be going over the budget line by line to weed out waste in New York's absurdly costly health-care programs? Shouldn't he be looking for ways to hack a billion dollars of waste per year out of the state budget so that we could do away with Thruway tools?
Nah, why do that when you can grandstand instead?
Brewer, a football lineman, has missed one game and will be sidelined again today because of a state eligibility rule that does not allow time spent in military service to count toward the minimum number of practices an athlete must attend in order to play high school sports. State Sen. Michael Nozzolio (R, Fayette) wants the rule modified.
Brewer was at Fort Benning in Georgia this summer to complete basic training and become a member of the New York National Guard. He rejoined the South Seneca football team on Aug. 25, but he won't have the minimum number of practices (15) under his belt until the third varsity game of the season. The rule exists in part to ensure student-athletes are physically fit to play.
"I understand why the rule is in place, for someone who doesn't do anything all summer,' Brewer told the Democrat and Chronicle. "There should be an exception in a case like this for any sport, not just football."
Brewer's family contacted Nozzolio, who contacted the New York State Public High School Athletic Association for a waiver. You would have hoped that an elected official with a staff would have known better. While Nina Van Erk, executive director of the NYSPHSAA, agreed Brewer is almost certainly in condition, it's the state Department of Education, headed by the commissioner of education, that's tripping up Brewer. The DOE requires that athletes practice under the supervision of a certified coach, and that's out of the NYSPHSAA's hands.
It's plain and simple to almost everyone except Nozzolio, who uttered his nomination for stupid quote of the year.
