Leading off today: New Jersey high school athletes who talk trash could be subject to investigation by the state Civil Rights Division under a new policy announced this week by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association and the Attorney General's office.
They say the policy, which takes effect this fall, brings sports into line with anti-bullyings law for schools. No-nos will include harassing statements rooted in gender, race, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation and religion. Referees will be responsible for reporting incidents of trash talk and for discouraging unsportsmanlike language; violators could be penalized immediately and also be subjected to suspensions or civil actions by the attorney general’s civil rights division.
It will be fascinating to see where the line gets drawn given the fact that talking trash to an opponent is practically a time-honored tradition aimed at getting inside an opponent’s head with a game on the line. As a co-worker of mine pointed out, we can certainly do without intolerance and bigotry, but a little yapping can be the element that turns a game of checkers into chess.
Track and field awards: Cardozo middle-distance standout Sabrina Southerland has been selected Gatorade's New York track and field athlete of the year, and Connetquot hurdler J.J. Stallworth has been named the boys recipient of the award.
Southerland, a senior bound for Georgetown in the fall, captured the state championship in the 800 meters this month with a time of 2:06.09, which ranked as the nation’s No. 2 performance of the season at the time.
Stallworth, a senior who'll attend the University of Rhode Island, won the 110-meter hurdles at the recent New York State Public High School Athletic Association championships and set eight school records during his track career.
Cable TV schedule: Time Warner Sports Cable Channel has announced another robust schedule of live football telecasts, marking the second straight season the service will carry games on Thursday and Friday nights.
Thirteen games have been selected, and a final regular-season game on Oct. 18 will be announced at a later date. TWCS will also carry Section 3 playoff games.
Section 3 Executive Director John Rathbun said the goal was to pick teams from every class and geographic area in the section. Thursday nights are primarily traditional rivalry games and Friday nights are the game of the week.
The schedule kicks off Sept. 5 with Watertown at East Syracuse-Minoa, followed by Rome Free Academy at Whitesboro the following night.
Speaking of Gatorade awards: As long as we're on the subject of the Gatorade awards, one of the pioneers in that department made the news the other night. Rochester's Abby Wambach, the first Gatorade New York girls soccer player of the year back in 1997, notched four goals against South Korea to give her 160 for her career in internationals.
That broke the U.S. and world records of 158 previously
