The Front Row with JASON ELLIOTT Aug. 20, 2011
There's no lavish parties, boosters throwing money around or players refusing to take the field here, only the start of fall sports in the area.
Definitely a nice change of direction.
AS THE investigation into the University of Miami continues, with what has been reported in the news and via Yahoo, it might take some fast talking to keep them out of this one.
A former booster, who is in prison after getting caught running a Ponzi scheme, has admitted to throwing wild parties for both basketball and football recruits and players.
Meanwhile, players from USC and Ohio State are sitting around scratching their heads, because all they did was get a few tattoos and have a player receive some money so his mom could buy a house.
Doesn't make a ton of sense.
Granted, some of the facts are just being released and further investigations have not started, but this doesn't look good for the Hurricanes.
What could be worse, the athletic director from Miami during the time of the alleged incidents was also the same person that came down the heaviest on the USC program when it came time to sanction the Trojans.
WITH A summer of listening to stories about lockouts and holdouts, the fall sports season opened on Friday afternoon with three soccer matches in the surrounding area.
Throw in a few more throughout the week and the return of volleyball and football late into next week and it's official - summer vacation for area athletes is over.
It seems like yesterday when I was battling a rainstorm in Post Falls and eventually wound up at Lake City High as the Timberwolves captured the state 5A championship in softball.
That and sitting near the press box at McEuen Field as Prairie and Coeur d'Alene took the field in an American Legion doubleheader. Both teams later made runs to the AA state tournament, capping impressive seasons by both squads.
And a little over a week later, athletes are back practicing for soccer and football.
Some schools will take part in jamborees tonight, while others will wait until Friday night to get the season going for the first time.
Soccer teams will play nearly a third of their regular season schedule before school starts and begin the state playoffs almost six weeks after school starts.
While I understand the need to schedule games early, to have that many games already concluded before the first day of classes seems a bit crazy.
ON THE bright side, the only lockout at a high school game may come from leaving your keys in the ignition of your car.
If your schedule tells you there’s a game that night, you’re assured that it will get played.
Something that I’ve been waiting for a long time.
Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d’Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at jelliott@cdapress.com