This story was originally published in February 2007 by the LaSalle (Illinois) NewsTribune.
By Erik Hall and Jackie Pokryfke
It had been 10 years since the La Salle-Peru boys basketball team last won a regional title in the 1996-97 season. That span without a regional will now extend into the 2007-08 season.
About 70 minutes before L-P was supposed to leave for Friday’s regional championship at the Class AA Bradley-Bourbonnais Regional, the Illinois High School Association informed L-P that it would have to forfeit its spot in the regional championship game because of the use of an ineligible player in Tuesday’s regional semifinal win against Kankakee Bishop McNamara.
“We’ve ruled that due to the school’s use of an ineligible player that they’re required to forfeit their regional win against Kankakee Bishop McNamara High School and that their season is terminated in terms of their participation in the state tournament series,” said IHSA executive director Marty Hickman.
Hickman called La Salle-Peru athletic director Greg Sarver at 2:30 p.m. Friday to inform Sarver of the IHSA’s ruling.
Friday’s regional championship was still played with Kankakee Bishop McNamara replacing La Salle-Peru. Ottawa won Friday’s regional title in a 58-52 victory.
“Well, we’re disappointed,” said L-P head boys basketball coach Luke Yaklich. “I’m disappointed for our basketball team that we don’t have a chance to prove ourselves in the postseason. But, we support the decision that was made and we understand the policy and we respect the policy.”
After he learned that L-P would not be playing his team Friday, Ottawa head boys basketball coach Mark Cooper made a quick trip over to see Yaklich. Cooper arrived at La Salle-Peru High School around 3:50 p.m. He gave Yaklich a hug and offered his condolences.
“It’s disappointing because Ottawa and L-P is a big rivalry,” Cooper said. “You hate to see a team’s season end the way it did. L-P had such a good season. They earned the right to play for a regional title.”
L-P was not allowed to play in Friday’s regional championship game because the IHSA ruled that senior guard Chris Hudson was ineligible when he played during Tuesday’s regional semifinal game. Hudson was ineligible because of previously playing a couple games in a men’s basketball league at the Illinois Valley YMCA.
Hudson scored 17 points in Tuesday’s 68-57 win against Kankakee Bishop McNamara.
“In this particular case, the standard that we utilized was what role the person played in the game,” Hickman said of the IHSA’s reasoning for the forfeit. “For example, if he had come in, in the last minute of the game and shot two free throws, committed a foul and that’s all he did and the team won by 10 or 12 points, we wouldn’t likely make this a forfeit. But, we had a situation where clearly this was an impact player in that game. Our practice is to rule the kid ineligible and require the school to forfeit. … Bishop McNamara and any other member school should expect that when a ball goes up in the air that the kids that are out there are eligible.”
Yaklich and Sarver learned Thursday morning that Hudson had played in the men’s basketball league at the YMCA. After talking with Hudson, the school reporter his violation of IHSA By-law 3.101.
That by-law states:
“During the school season for a given sport, in a school which maintains a school team in that sport, a student shall not participate on any non-school team, nor as an individual unattached in non-school competition, in that given sport or in any competition that involves the skill of the sport in question.”
It is likely that L-P will have to forfeit additional games after the IHSA completes its investigation.
“In the contests that were played after the young man played in the YMCA League, once he participated in that league, technically he becomes ineligible,” Hickman said. “We’ll then review each of those contests. With a player of his caliber, one of the factors we consider is what role did the kid play in the contest if the team were to win. In virtually every case, I’m sure we’re going to find that this young man was a significant contributor to the team’s victories. It’s likely that there will be additional forfeits.”
Hickman said he expects to make a final decision by Monday on any additional games that L-P may have to forfeit.
As of Friday, the Cavaliers have a record of 22-6 after being notified they had to forfeit Tuesday’s win.
“Wins and losses are a coach’s resume, but as far as I’m concerned, I really don’t do it for the wins and losses,” Yaklich said. “You do it for the relationships that you build with young men and the positions that their hard work puts them in. With that being taken away from us, it hurts, and that’s what I care most about — especially our eight seniors. To have it end this way is unfortunate.”
Recently, Yaklich has been mentioned frequently as a possible successor to John Beilein as head men’s basketball coach at the University of Michigan.
All the stories I wrote about Yaklich are no longer online. The LaSalle NewsTribune changed its website around 2009, and so stories from those first few years are gone.
I thought I’d try to find print copies of stories I’ve done on Yaklich, and I found one pretty quickly that I’ll post today.
Yaklich had a tumultuous end to his career at LaSalle-Peru High School, with the team being kicked out of the postseason by the Illinois High School Association in his final season.
Nell Wiseman (left) stands with Erik Hall on his final day in her Charleston High School classroom on May 18, 2001.
By Erik Hall
A card arrived in the mail about five weeks ago.
The Hallmark Company wrote “Wow” on the front of the card. But on the inside of the card in swooping blue ink, Nell Wiseman wrote, “I’m so proud of your accomplishment.”
I won a journalism award a couple months ago, and Mrs. Wiseman — one of my high school English teachers more than 16 years ago — got my address from my mom and sent me a card.
I called her to say thank you.
We regularly traded Christmas cards, but it had been years since I talked to her.
She instantly sounded as bubbly and full of energy as she did that first day sitting in her classroom when I was 18.
That made it all the more startling to hear a week ago about her having a stroke.
But she was a fighter. I thought — hoped — she’d get through this.
She fought for a week, but during the afternoon of Tuesday, Oct. 10, she passed away at the hospital in Springfield, Illinois.
A constant at Charleston High School for more than 50 years was gone.
Her first year teaching English at CHS was 1959, the same year John Knowles published my favorite book “A Separate Peace.”
When I entered her class in 2000, she was the first teacher in the district to treat students like adults. By that time, she only taught seniors, and she gave students a freedom similar to a college class.
If you weren’t there or you were late, it was your fault and your loss.
She didn’t take attendance.
But don’t misconstrue freedom for not caring.
She wanted to help students love writing. She encouraged each student to write about topics of interest to them.
She did it without rigidity. Spontaneously, she would take classes outside for the day, and she would be hard to keep up with as she led the class down the stairs to go outside. There was abundant vitality packed into her 5-foot-4 stature.
When I talked to her five weeks ago, she told me that she had told her current class of high school students — yep, she had started her 59th school year at CHS — about my award and how they can strive to succeed.
That meant a lot because this award was the 2017 LGBTQ Journalist of the Year. She wasn’t just telling her students you can succeed at writing and be from a small town in Illinois.
She was telling her students that you can be LGBTQ and successful.
What a powerful message to share with her final class of students.
I hope they realize how lucky they were to experience her wild, bubbly, energetic, spontaneous classroom.
NLGJA, the national association of LGBTQ journalists, announced Aug. 7 the winners of the 2017 Excellence in Journalism Awards.
Erik Hall won the 2017 Sarah Pettit Memorial Award for the LGBTQ Journalist of the Year. He is being honored because of his work writing for the website OutSports during 2016.
“We are thrilled each year by the work that is nominated for NLGJA’s Excellence in Journalism Awards,” said NLGJA President Jen Christensen, “and this year was no different. All of the award recipients are doing their fair share to advance NLGJA’s mission of promoting fair and accurate LGBTQ coverage, and it is our privilege to recognize their outstanding work.”
NLGJA has annually honored a journalist with the Sarah Pettit Memorial Award since 2003. NLGJA’s Excellence in Journalism Awards were established in 1993 to foster, recognize and reward excellence in journalism on issues related to the LGBTQ community.
The awards will be presented during the NLGJA National Convention, which takes place Sept. 7-10 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Earlier this year, the Associated Press Sports Editors honored “174 LGBT athletes from Power Five Conference schools have come out publicly” with third place in the explanatory division of its sports writing contest.
Hall has a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri School of Journalism and a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Illinois-Urbana/Champaign.
He has also worked professionally for The Roanoke (Virginia) Times, The Columbia Missourian, The San Diego (California) Union-Tribune, the Charleston (Illinois) Times-Courier, and the LaSalle (Illinois) NewsTribune.
NLGJA is an organization of journalists, news executives, media professionals, educators and students working from within the news industry to foster fair and accurate coverage of LGBTQ issues. NLGJA opposes all forms of workplace bias and provides professional development to its members.
Erik Hall won the Excellence in Journalism award in sports writing for his story “Uncle’s death motivates gay college athlete to create change.” The story about University of Portland distance runner Griffin Hay was published by OutSports.com on July 30, 2015.
Griffin Hay, Portland cross country
A collection of Erik Hall’s work for OutSports led to him receiving runner-up for LGBT Journalist of the Year from the NLGJA — the association for LGBT journalists.
Stories that contributed to him receiving the LGBT Journalist of the Year recognition were the following:
I previously wrote about Tanner Wilfong’s former synchronized diving partner Conor Murphy, and Conor suggested I contact Tanner and write a story about him.
One of the people I interviewed for the story about Andrew Goodman was Griffin Hay’s former high school teammate Jeff Abbey, which is how I learned about Griffin.
This weekend is Pride in Roanoke, Virginia, so I don’t expect anyone in Roanoke to do much reading this weekend. But for everyone else, here are the top LGBT sports stories I’ve read recently.
1. “Thanks for Reading”
By Israel Gutierrez
Gutierrez, an ESPN columnist, tells his story of accepting himself as a gay man. It’s the first time for him talking publicly about his sexuality, and it’s compelling to read his journey. The notes that rung true most to me were him talking about a confidence barrier playing sports when young, wishing on his birthday cake to not be gay, and circling gay bars before going there the first time. (Reading time: 8 minutes)
2. “Guinness tells athletes’ dark stories in gripping ads for rugby’s World Cup”
By David Gianatasio
Ironically just a few days after Gutierrez credits Gareth Thomas with helping him accept his sexuality, Guinness releases a four-minute commercial where Thomas talks about deciding to come out. The ad is timed to coincide with the rugby World Cup. It’s worth watching to the end of the video, because the way Thomas tells his coming out story is touching. (Reading & commercial watching time: 7 minutes)
3. “These Div. 1 swimmers love their gay teammate, go to him for fashion advice”
By Ayrton Kasemets
This is a nice light-hearted, first-person coming out story from this Oakland University men’s swimmer. He tells some cute stories about interactions with his teammates, but the best part is the detail that when he came out to his dad was on a trip to Ace Hardware. (Reading time: 5 minutes)
4. “Everyman’s story: Bobby Petrino Jr’s Coming Out”
By Remy Sisk
I enjoyed the story. It’s a little heavy on quotes. Nothing really new or particularly compelling about what he went through, and it doesn’t really even talk about his relationship with his dad that much. Still, it’s quite a get by the author, and congrats to Bobby Petrino, Jr. (Reading time: 13 minutes)
Three big LGBT sports stories hit in less than 48 hours over the weekend — Michael Sam abruptly left the Montreal Alouettes, Keegan Hirst became the first openly gay British rugby player, and David Denson became the first minor leaguer to announce he is gay. Those stories led to a slew of commentary the last few days. Here are the most interesting articles I read.
1. “Coaches and coming out”
By Scott Gleeson and Erik Brady, USA Today
This is an incredibly well-reported article. These authors had clearly been working on this story for some time and used David Denson’s coming out as a catalyst to publish the article. There’s a great anecdote about how a coach put a player at ease by stopping homophobic language. My favorite part is the perspective shared by Anthony Nicodemo, the gay high school boys basketball coach in New York. (Reading time: 9 minutes)
2. “Chance we can believe in: The importance of Brewers minor leaguer David Denson’s decision to come out”
By Michael Baumann, Grantland
Exquisite writing from Baumann. He tackles the topic of why it matters that gay athletes come out, and I love that he points out he’s a straight, white, cisgender, male pointing out these facts. He gets a little off track defending Michael Sam, but overall, it’s great stuff. (Reading time: 7 minutes)
The message Hochman sends of “Don’t be a jerk to gay people,” is a great message. The item I found most interesting was the quote he got from Denver Broncos player Shane Ray, who played with Michael Sam at the University of Missouri. Ray presents an indifference to Sam’s sexuality, not necessarily the glowing acceptance that has traditionally been projected on the Tigers. (Reading time: 3 minutes)
Interesting comments in this Q&A with Montreal Alouettes general manager Jim Popp. He says he didn’t know Michael Sam wasn’t going to show up to the game he missed until after the game. He says Montreal didn’t get Sam’s full effort. He also seems receptive to Sam returning to the team. (Reading time: 6 minutes)
5. “David Denson’s huge leap conceals pro sports’ problem with gay players”
By Les Carpenter, The Guardian
A strong article that looks at the struggle Michael Sam faced by coming out, and the struggle David Denson faces now by coming out. My favorite line in the article is, “Now he [Denson] will have to prove he can hit while most likely being the most famous player on his team.” The article doesn’t shy away that being out is a tough challenge, which maybe cost Michael Sam his career. (Reading time: 4 minutes)
An insightful and introspective look at the conflict Michael Sam caused the writer with his actions since coming out. I know I felt many of the same things the writer experienced. This story has the balance that the later mentioned Kate Fagan piece lacks. (Reading time: 4 minutes)
7. “Can Keegan Hirst’s courage help to level the playing field?”
By Grant Woodward, The Yorkshire Post
The most interesting element is the juxtaposition of newly out rugby player Keegan Hirst to former soccer player Justin Fashanu, who I previously knew little about. Pointing to Tom Daley as one of the few English LGBT athletes shows maybe the U.S. isn’t behind other countries in LGBT acceptance. Also beware, they vaguely refer to Michael Sam’s football career making it seem like he played in the NFL this year. (Reading time: 3 minutes)
8. “Michael Sam needed to put all his focus on football to succeed on the field”
By Kate Fagan, ESPNW
I don’t agree with most of Fagan’s article, and I think most of it’s unfair — just like the “Around the Horn” rant she did Aug. 19 about Sam. I’ve never seen anything to indicate she spent anytime closely following Sam in St. Louis, Dallas or Montreal. This article is mostly lobbing grenades from afar. But then her third-to-last and second-to-last paragraphs appear about what faces the next high-profile LGBT athlete, and she makes an incredible point. My advice, just read those two graphs. It’s good stuff. (Reading time — for the whole story: 4 minutes)
By Mike Abou-Mechrek, The Leader-Post (Regina, Saskatchewan)
This article takes the unfairness of Fagan’s article and multiplies it by 10. Read this article to see the shallow-minded views out there on mental health. Now, I can’t say his football analysis is wrong. He is a former CFL player. But it could be staunch homophobia, too. The unfairness of this article makes it hard to believe he’s being fair with his football analysis. (Reading time: 3 minutes)
Big news for the rugby world this weekend with Keegan Hirst announcing publicly that he is gay. It’s one of many stories worth reading about LGBT sports. Take some time to read these.
1.“Rugby league star Keegan Hirst becomes first Brit player to come out as gay”
By Patrick Hill, Sunday Mirror
Appropriately published in the mirror, because Hirst’s struggles reflect those of so many LGBT athletes. The difference, he was previously married to a woman. Hill appropriately addresses those struggles high in the story. As a writer, it’s too bad Hill didn’t get a chance to do something more in-depth. It reads like he got one interview with Hirst and had to write it from that. Hirst is the only person quoted in the story. (Reading time: 7 minutes)
2. “Married couple on same team may be 1st in North American sports”
By David Bateman, The Toronto Star
Houston Dash women’s soccer player Erin McLeod and Ella Masar got married in early July. This article has a cool interview with McLeod, revealing how the couple decided to get married and how little their coaches knew about their relationship before the marriage. Kudos to Bateman. (Reading time: 3 minutes)
3. “NCAA members slow to adopt transgender athlete guidelines”
By Zolan V Kanno-Youngs, USA Today
Interesting look at what college athletics departments are doing to prepare for if they have an athlete come out. The cool part in the story is Bowling Green has a transgender athlete — though no name is revealed. (Reading time: 6 minutes)
4. “Kentucky high school omits gay basketball player from yearbook page, school says was innocent mistake”
By Cyd Zeigler, OutSports
This story has taken a couple different forms since OutSports initially reported it. Was the school malicious or the yearbook staff incompetent? You be the judge. (Reading time: 4 minutes)
There’s clearly no love lost here between Zurkowsky and Michael Sam. This is a biting rebuke of the former University of Missouri star and St. Louis Rams draft pick, who left the team to deal with his “mental health” about a week after this was published. (Reading time: 3 minutes)
6. “Gay football play ‘Colossal’ reflects NFL’s battered culture of masculinity”
By Matthew Lawrence, Unicorn Booty
So, I’d never heard of the website Unicorn Booty before stumbling across this story. But it’s a well-written article that looks at the masculinity of football in relation to a play being performed in Boston about a gay football player. Definitely worth a read. (Reading time: 3 minutes)
Impressed to see James Corden talk about LGBT issues on “The Late Late Show” on Wednesday, August 12, 2015. It’s so terrible what happened to Dalton Maldonado.
There continue to be interesting stories about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender athletes all over. Today, I have a contribution.
1. “Uncle’s death motivates gay college athlete to create change”
By Erik Hall, OutSports
University of Portland runner Griffin Hay never got to say goodbye to his uncle Kevin Gilbert, and Hay never got to tell him he’s gay either. It still eats at him. (Reading time: 16 minutes)
2. “The Olympics and ‘gay propaganda’ in Kazakhstan”
By Kyle Knight, Huffington Post
Kazakhstan and China are the two countries bidding for the 2022 Winter Olympics, and this story portrays the climate for LGBT acceptance in Kazakhstan before Friday’s announcement about who will host the 2022 games. (Reading time: 6 minutes)
3. “39 years after gold, track and field ready to welcome back Caitlyn Jenner”
By Christopher Chavez, Sports Illustrated
U.S. Olympic track athletes Dan O’Brien and Nick Symmonds discuss the possibility of Caitlyn Jenner having a future role with U.S. Track and Field. O’Brien seems quite condescending of Jenner, while Symmonds encourages Jenner to be part of the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials — the 40th anniversary of her decathlon Olympic gold medal. (Reading time: 5 minutes)
4. “Experience Blake Skjellerup’s beautiful island wedding with the couple’s personal photos”
By Queerty
The first photos from the wedding of Olympic speed skater Blake Skjellerup to Saul Carrasco that took place in Hawaii on July 4. Blake and Saul share their memories of the day, too. (Reading time: 3 minutes)
5. “2 gay NFL players would come out if media wouldn’t make a big deal out of it, report says”
By Jim Buzinski, OutSports
A radio host in Denver says he was told by two gay NFL players they were ready to come out, but they’re afraid of the media. Buzinski carves up this stance by the NFL players. (Reading time: 4 minutes)
6. “Out mixed-martial artist Jessica Aguilar of Fort Lauderdale to fight Saturday in Brazil”
By Rodolfo Roman, Miami Herald
UFC’s Jessica Aguilar comes across as a strong person. She must be strong physically to be fighting UFC, but she displays a strong drive and personality in her statements for this article. (Reading time: 3 minutes)
Found some excellent stories the last few days on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender athletes and their involvement in sports. Take time to read these. They are worth it.
1. “Is MLB ready for gay player? First open pro Sean Conroy discusses concerns”
By Scott Gleeson, USA Today
It’s interesting to read how Conroy has approached coming out to his teammates in the past. He was an early bloomer, too, coming out to his family at 16, which surely helps him feel comfortable in his skin by now. (Reading time: 4 minutes)
2. “Swimmer learned life lessons at LGBTQ Summer Camp”
By Lauren Elizabeth Neidigh, OutSports
The part that fascinated me was Neidigh talking about how she felt about swimming once she accepted her sexuality. The former Florida and Arizona swimmer says she resented swimming because she felt it made her hide her sexuality longer than she otherwise would have hid it. (Reading time: 5 minutes)
Nice story about Olympic gold-medal swimmer Mark Tewksbury, who clearly sees the bigger picture. This seems like a truly self-less act. There’s a short video, too. (Reading time: Less than 2 minutes)
It’s a nice, fun question and answer piece with Sweden’s openly gay professional soccer player Anton Hysen. He talks about being on Sweden’s version of “Dancing with the Stars” and what he likes about visiting Sweden’s capital. (Reading time: 4 minutes)
Bonus non-sports recommendation:Take time to listen to the Nerdist podcast interview with Sir Ian McKellen. They have an incredibly insightful discussion of LGBT issues. LINK: http://nerdist.com/nerdist-podcast-sir-ian-mckellen/
A topic I enjoy trying to read and stay informed about are lesbian, bisexual, gay and transgender athletes. I found five articles this week that I found particularly interesting, and I want to share them.
1. “Tom Daley: ‘I always knew I was attracted to guys’”
By Simon Hattenstone, The Guardian
This is the most I’ve seen Tom Daley open up about himself since his 2012 autobiography “My Story.” He talks about his relationship with boyfriend Dustin Lance Black, his chances are of winning at the 2016 Olympics and how he describes his sexuality.
By Bob Padecky, The Press Democrat in Santa Rosa, California
Professional bowler Scott Norton talks about his experience the past four years since coming out in May 2011. He hasn’t been treated the best by his fellow bowlers, and it’s interesting to hear him talk about avoiding some competitions because of bigotry. But FYI, the article tries to label Norton as the “first active professional male athlete in America,” which isn’t true.
3. “Love wins: American and Canadian soccer players tie the knot”
By Dawn Ennis, The Advocate
There are several articles out there in the last week or so about this wedding. Ennis did a nice job writing about the nuptials of Canadian national team goalie Erin McLeod and her teammate on the Houston Dash, Ella Masar. The pictures are charming, too. The above photo is from McLeod’s Twitter.
4. “Change Room Project promotes tolerance in the locker room”
By Manisha Krishnan, The Toronto Star
With the Pan American Games going on in Toronto last week and this week, this campaign takes on the fear gender-defined bathrooms and locker rooms cause for transgender people. The project’s stated goal is more gender-neutral bathrooms. And what’s wrong with that?
5. “Michael Sam hits the club single and ready to mingle”
By TMZ staff
Not great writing in this article, but it’s interesting news that Michael Sam decided to go to Hollywood during the Montreal Allouettes bye week. Everyone has the right to a vacation, but this isn’t the best optics for the former University of Missouri star when the Allouettes have said he’s not in football shape.
