"Coach suspended for graveyard pep talk" by Associated Press October 1, 2011
MARCELLUS, N.Y. - A junior varsity football coach suspended for making his players lie down in a central New York cemetery as a postdefeat motivational ploy said he borrowed the idea from a pivotal scene in the 2000 Denzel Washington film “Remember the Titans.’’
Craig Tice, superintendent of the Marcellus school district outside Syracuse, announced Thursday that coach Jim Marsh has been suspended for two weeks without pay for last weekend’s spur-of-the-moment stop at a rural cemetery.
Marsh’s team was returning from a loss last Saturday at neighboring Skaneateles when he had the bus pull over at a cemetery and told the 24 players to lie down between rows of graves. The coach then talked to them about the importance of playing hard.
Tice said some of the players, who were still in uniform, laid down on top of graves at St. Francis Xavier cemetery, near the Marcellus school campus 12 miles southwest of Syracuse. Some parents complained to school officials after being told by the players what had occurred.
Marsh apologized during a meeting with players and their parents at the school Thursday night, telling them he was trying to inspire the team by recreating a scene from “Remember the Titans,’’ which told the story of a newly integrated Virginia high school’s football team in 1971, with Washington portraying the head coach.
Marsh offered to resign as coach, but Tice said he refused to accept it.
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"N.Y. passes school concussions law" by ASSOCIATED PRESS October 1, 2011
ALBANY, N.Y. - Starting next year, a new law in New York says student athletes suspected of having concussions should be immediately removed from games.
The legislation was recently signed by Governor Andrew Cuomo. It directs state health and education officials to draft regulations for schools on mild traumatic brain injuries. The regulations go into effect in July.
The law requires immediate benching of any student who has or may have a concussion in a school-related activity.
Students can play again after they are symptom-free for 24 hours and cleared by a doctor.
Concussions are usually temporary but can cause headaches and problems with concentration, memory, judgment, balance, and coordination.
The law’s sponsors say athletes need to be protected from further injury and possible long-term effects.
Several states have passed similar laws.
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