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Slam dunk 2006 was conducted, there were fine battles, the tournament is over and you are taking some deserved time off.

I do appreciate that you have nonetheless taken time to respond to my last posting, which was admittedly was somewhat pointed, particularly the “good ole boy” crack, for which I apologize.

But in an earlier post you seemed to defend—even if half heartedly—the deliberate imbalance between the size of the Slam Dunk women’s and men’s tournament draws, based upon concerns of scheduling difficulties and potential loss of gate revenue—the same reasons cited by Division I program directors (the real good ole boys, I suppose) who unsuccessfully opposed the passage of Title IX. However, I feel better about two things: taking back the good ole boy crack and your pronouncement that you now agree that full equalization of the men’s/women’s draw is in order.

I accept your representation that no one has previously complained about the imbalance and I submit that political beat writers and political beat junkies/bloggers might have seen the government sponsorship/participation angle and spotted this disparity sooner. As politically conscious as sports writers would like to think themselves to be, I would think that your first instinct is just to cover the darn game. However, if you are feeling sufficiently empowered, you can be the one to raise this issue to the tournament director when the fields are assembled for 2007. And you can rightfully thank your blog for getting this gripe aired.

The other issue which came out of this whole flap—one which started with a rather innocent question (how some area schools were slighted in the selection process)—and one which you have sidestepped to a certain extent, is the revelation that, for reasons unknown, Lourdes has been granted “favorite daughter” or “host” status with an automatic berth to the WESTCHESTER COUNTY Slam Dunk tournament.

So that I don’t get labeled as someone who would “put down coaches, players or programs unfairly” (though I don’t think I have), let’s not “pick our toes in Poughkeepsie” for a moment. If someone announced that the Mount Vernon men’s team is the “host” team for the Westchester County Slam Dunk tournament, and gets an automatic berth every year, who could argue—they are an unquestioned, perennial powerhouse and they are based in WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

Lourdes satisfies the powerhouse requirement for the women’s’ program, but they are a DUTCHESS COUNTY team and should be given the same status – and no more – as any other out of County team (if they are good, they are a candidate for invitation), and be placed in the same standing as any of the out of County teams that were invited this year (Minisink, Pearl River) or in years past (like St. John the Baptist from last year).

Stubbornly maintaining that “Lourdes would be there” if you were calling the shots to invite teams simply because they went to the final four last year ably supports their invitation this year as a qualified out of County guest. BUT IT FAILS TO JUSTIFY THEIR AUTOMATIC INCLUSION to a WESTCHESTER COUNTY tournament sponsored, advertised, supported and “presented” by the Westchester County government at a Westchester County facility and given assistance (directly or indirectly, it is there to be sure) by Westchester County taxpayers and sports fans.

If this tournament just rented out space at some random Westchester facility (how about the Purchase College gym) and took care of all sponsorship, organization, facilitation and advertising responsibilities without a nickel of County money, a minute of County employee time or a square inch of County owned real estate, they would have unbridled discretion to award automatic berths to any team or successful program, from Lourdes all the way up to Monroe County’s Rush Henrietta.

But in this WESTCHESTER County sponsored and supported tournament, the heretofore secret “host”/automatic berth status for Dutchess County’s Lourdes program is a major reason why 3 out of 4 teams in this year’s women’s draw were from counties other than Westchester, and why many deserving teams from Westchester (White Plains, Scarsdale, Lakeland and Briarcliff, just to name a few) were left out in the cold.

No matter how you slice it, that is just plain wrong for Westchester County high schools and their sports fans, and I am perplexed that you have not addressed my specific complaint: not that Dutchess County’s Lourdes is here this year or last year, but the fact that someone has deigned that they will be here at our WESCHESTER COUNTY tournament as a “host� school EVERY year.

You can have the last word on this if you would like to respond. Either way, happy New Year and have fun covering the second half of the girls basketball season.

The truth is, the Slam Dunk didn’t have a girls tournament for a long time, just one challenge game. Now there is a challenge game and a four-team tournament. Perhaps a full field is the next step, but progress definitely has been made. Not enough, but progress nonetheless. Should there be further progress? Yes. I, however, am not the tournament director. If I was, of course, the field would be terrific and wouldn’t include teams from Orange County or upstate New York. Lourdes, though, would be there. The program’s inclusion is far from hero worship: It is annually one of the best in New York state, getting to the final 4 as recently as last March.

My previous response was hardly “good ole boy.” I’m far too young to have good ole boy in me. Plus, I am the same person who wanted to have this blog here in the first place and wishes he could cover a girls basketball game every day of the week. I am the same person who is writing this response to you during the only three-day break I will have between now and July. Please do no loop me into a stereotype based on a few sentences that fail to provide you with the answers you seek. It’s unfair. Rip me for coverage all you want, but don’t unfairly cast me — or anyone else — with labels.

Everyone’s posts have been great. Lets keep them coming, just do not put down players, coaches or programs unfairly.

Lourdes also had the benefit of Brian Giorgis. Brian built Lourdes into a national power! He had tons of talent, but the man knows basketball, its incredible how much he knows, just look at what he’s done at Marist. It is no secret that the Lourdes teams the last few years have been sliding since he left. Like we have discussed before…Red Hook gave Lourdes a tough game!

I know the girls put in the extra effort and I know they are great students as well and I commend them. And its too bad Lourdes was short handed against Ursuline. I’m just glad they don’t conduct themselves like you do.

I played baseball, basketball, and football in high school, and I played one year of baseball in college. I’m not going to get into the personal successes I have because I am not here to brag, I have nothing to prove to you.

I agree that Lourdes has had a fantastic run as a womens basketball powerhouse, and they may well continue that run this year and in future years at the AA level.

But I am talking about two factors—a limited women’s field that violates the spirit if not the law of Title IX (remember that County government funds are involved in this endeavor) and the secret designation of a school 50 miles and two counties away as a “host” school which earns them an automatic berth—that invariably shuts out Westchester County schools at a tournament billed, subsidized and advertised as a Westchester County event.

If the tournament director wants to name the event after himself or some other entity, invite whomever he wants and call schools that are 50 miles away a “host” school that is fine. However, I suspect that Westchester County officials would not bend over backwards to “present”, subsidize and advertise a basketball tournament that discriminates against our women athletes, allows a Dutchess County school to secure an automatic berth every year as the “host” school and snubs deserving Westchester County schools from participating.

My point is that as a Westchester County taxpayer and observer of area high school sports, I am offended that this blatantly unfair and possibly illegal arrangement is permitted to occur. Moreover, I am surprised that your newspaper looks the other way because of “gate loss” concerns or what amounts to misguided hero worship of a successful womens basketball program one hour to the north. I know you have championed women’s high school programs by covering them so faithfully, but your last response to my criticism amounts to nothing more than a “good ole boy” rejoinder, the kind that have been found to be inappropriate by most newspapers for some time now.

on vacation…No doubt about it, you are right on. The only way for the girls portion of the Slam Dunk to expand is to bite the bullet and eat some dough for ticket sales on the extra girls games. However, would a larger, more balanced tournament be more appealing to sponsors and the media covering the event? I’d guess yes.

timster…We can’t even begin to discuss your speculation here because it’s pure speculation. However, citing White Plains’ never winning the tournament is much flimsier than calling Lourdes the host. Yes, Lourdes is an hour to the north, but there was a time when it was the girls equivalent of the Mount Vernon boys, with a national schedule and D-I players galore. For perspective’s sake, just consider that the coach went from Lourdes to Marist — a high school to D-I jump coaches never ever make. Geographically, Lourdes as host makes no sense, but its status as the area’s best girls program is unquestioned. And that’s what the Slam Dunk is trying to represent.

Yet you blamed the officials along with an injury for the Lourdes loss against North Rockland. Now you are backing the officials huh? You are quite the two faced irrational parent, Nick. By the way, the Mets aren’t a winning program. As far as the losing program I am associated with, I am part of a quite successful program, my decision not to state for what program is mine and mine alone, you don’t have to like it, and frankly, I don’t care if you do.