Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, January 29, 1993 TAG: 9301290143
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Jack Bogaczyk
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Medium
VHSL LEAVES BAD APPLE UNTOUCHED
A red liquid was oozing through Willis White's shirt. The Salem High football coach was wounded, but not from the ink pen that had leaked from his pocket.The controversial cleats caper came to an end Thursday afternoon, and in the basement of the Virginia High School League office building, Richlands held on to the state Group AA Division 4 championship trophy that will forever be tarnished.
The VHSL Executive Committee, given the opportunity to take a stand, instead sat back and did what White forecast in their midst about an hour earlier. Salem's protest of the state semifinal game, in which Richlands wore cleats that were a quarter-inch longer than legal - there's no more allegedly about it - was denied.
The Tornadoes were banned from next year's playoffs and received sportsmanship probation for the racial slurs some Richlands fans directed at Orange County players during the state title game on Dec. 12. Those are significant penalties, but they weren't the bottom line to a bizarre episode.
After voting unanimously that cheaters can win a state title, the VHSL committee, which says it has no power to reprimand coaches, then did that - to the wrong one.
While Richlands' Dennis Vaught sat stone-faced among his embarrassed bosses, listening to a decision that could have been worse, VHSL committee member Paul Stapleton admonished White - "personally, and on behalf of the committee" - for little more than his candor.
White had told the committee that the Spartans didn't protest earlier because he had been told repeatedly that "the VHSL isn't going to do a lot about it anyway." Stapleton, the superintendent of Charlotte County Schools, called White's remarks "inappropriate."
Maybe they were, but they were emotional, and accurate - a fact Stapleton underlined with his remarks.
"They'll jump on a coach," White said of the VHSL committee. "They're not strong enough to do what really needs to be done."
After White said that, Salem athletic director Sandy Hadaway said she didn't want to comment. She couldn't, as tears glossed her eyes.
"The tone of [the hearing] is that somehow we did something wrong," said Salem principal John Hall. "The censorship of Coach White was very personal, much more directed than what was done to Coach Vaught."
If the VHSL isn't going to void a championship that was won by an admitted cheater, then what does all of its pontificating on sportsmanship mean? What about "The coach should" guidelines under the Code for Interscholastic Athletics on Page 55 of the VHSL Handbook. One of the items is "Teach athletes that it is better to lose fairly than win unfairly." Is that any more than print on a page?
Vaught - rhymes with caught - in recent weeks told a Bluefield television reporter that the Tornadoes only used the illegal cleats for practice. In a letter to Richlands principal Brenda Lawson that became part of the Tazewell County school's report to the VHSL, Vaught came as clean as someone with his soiled reputation could.
He tried to blame Salem. He tried to blame an assistant coach. He said the coach told him Salem was wearing mud cleats. He tried to blame his athletic director, who ordered the cleats at Vaught's request.
An emotional Orange coach John Curia told the VHSL committee that Richlands' players also had washers between their shoes and cleats, lengthening the teeth. "Am I supposed to look at a child and say I'm sorry I didn't consider bending the rules to give you an advantage?" Curia wondered.
Vaught isn't the loser in this postgame show, at least not yet. His players are. The Tornadoes finished unbeaten. They played their way to a state title and didn't deserve a state hearing.
In five years as a head coach, the roguish Vaught has two state championships but has resigned under pressure after making racial slurs at Patrick Henry High School and has admitted using illegal equipment that compromised not only the integrity of competition, but also the safety of his own and opposing players.
Richlands should do what the VHSL could not do. It should fire Vaught. It is time this teacher was taught a lesson.