Leading off today: It's beginning to look as though you can count the number of rules-compliant Section 5 football programs on one hand of a bad woodshop teacher.
Just hours after citing five schools as having violated the rule against using pads or blocking sleds during the first three days of practice, the Democrat and Chronicle added two more teams. Squads from Aquinas, Canandaigua, Greece Olympia, Rush-Henrietta, Victor, Webster Schroeder and Webster Thomas have been shown in Democrat and Chronicle images online or in print in shoulder pads or using blocking sleds or hand shields before Thursday, the paper reported this morning.
Section 5 and NYSPHSAA football chairman Dick Cerone said he has also received complaints about a number of teams from across the state having violated the rule.
"I wasn't aware using hand shields was against the rules," Rush-Henrietta football coach Joe Montesano said. "I thought I knew the rules, but I wasn't as clear on that rule as I should have been. Now, we all are."
The rule has been on the books for at least 25 years according to Cerone and is designed to ease players into the practice routine, an approach that some think might be outdated in an era in which many players are participating in conditioning programs and camps throughout the summer.
"The rule was put into place for the right reason 30 years ago," Montesano said, "but most of the kids we have now are ready to go from day one and don't need that transition period."
West Seneca tragedy: Twin brothers Thomas and Mark Sokolowski, 17, died Friday morning in a car crash following soccer practice. Their 1993 Honda Civic was heavily damaged after leaving the road while passing another car and striking a tree.
They were a week away from starting their senior year at West Seneca East. The were also avid hockey players.
Televised games: I missed the season-opening telecast today between Indiana's Carmel and Cathedral highs,
