Columnist Ron Kantowski: Hughes, NIAA make the right call — again

Friday, Nov. 14, 2003 | 10:37 a.m.

Ron Kantowski is a Las Vegas Sun sports writer. Reach him at ron@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4088.

Rasheed Wallace is lucky that Jerry Hughes doesn't wear David Stern's shoes.

Tie Domi should consider himself fortunate that Hughes doesn't sit in Gary Bettman's high-back chair.

And Juan Marichal probably would have finished his career in the Mexican League had Hughes been around a generation ago, when the Giants' ace tried to swat Johnny Roseboro's head into the left-field seats with his Louisville Slugger.

Hughes, the longtime director of the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association, is a nice guy who rules high school sports in the Silver State with an iron fist. On Thursday, he brought it down hard on the football teams at Cheyenne and Bishop Gorman, who brawled at midfield during the traditional postgame handshake following the Desert Shield's first-round playoff victory against the Gaels last Friday.

The penalties were (sort of) swift and severe. Hughes, working in concert with Clark County athletic director Bill Garis, suspended the entire Cheyenne football team for its next scheduled game -- tonight's Sunset Region semifinal against Centennial.

Bishop Gorman's football team will be suspended for one league game, which will result in the forfeiture of its first scheduled Southwest League contest of the 2004 season.

In addition, several returning players from both teams will be suspended for future games.

"We were able to identify the person we felt started it," Hughes said after spending more than three hours reviewing film of the incident. "That person is looking at a pretty severe penalty."

It's not as if Hughes has a zero tolerance policy when it comes to fighting and other tomfoolery. He's more like a minus 4. He's the Sgt. Hulka of the NIAA. Misbehave, and chances are you'll see his big toe.

Yet, do not think for a minute that Hughes enjoys laying down the law. Far from it. He would just as soon carve up that big stick he carries and use it for firewood.

"Anytime you take a kid out of a playoff situation, it's very difficult," Hughes said Thursday after announcing the sanctions. "It's one of those unfortunate things, but you can't turn your head. Quite frankly, it puts a little pit in your stomach. It's not a fun thing and I empathize with the (innocent) kids."

Had it been one or two players from each side acting up, Hughes might have been more forgiving. But he said the film showed 16 players fighting.

"And the films didn't show everything," Hughes said. "I'm sure there was even more that we did not see. It was bad. Our concern was for the safety of the students. This is the second time we've had this type of situation and this is the way we rule on these things.

"Believe me, I don't like doing this. But we have to be as consistent as we can."

In the spring of 2000, when a collision at home plate touched off a brawl between Durango and Reno in the state championship baseball game, Hughes ruled a double forfeit, awarding the title to Silverado. That situation, in that it happened during the game, was covered by the rules.

This one, in that it transpired after the game, was Hughes' call.

At least he got it right. No further review is necessary, as far as I'm concerned.

Are innocent kids suffering because a handful (or two) of their peers couldn't control their emotions? No question. But coaches harp about football being a team game. You win as a team, you lose as a team.

Why should being penalized be any different?