North Pole failed everyone with football forfeit

The North Pole Patriots dropped a bomb on the Colony Knights this week.

Just more than 48 hours before Colony was scheduled to host North Pole in its regular season prep football finale Oct. 2, North Pole officials blindsided CHS activities director Mike Boyd with the news. The Patriots would not make the trip south to Palmer, and the team would forfeit the nonconference game against the Knights.

That meant no senior night – and a loss of significant revenue from game admission and concessions – for Colony.

Weather and road conditions were cited as reasons why North Pole would not make the trip to Colony High, Boyd said.

Huh?

Did North Pole High add a meteorologist to its school staff?

I get ya Interior Alaska. You’ve been hammered by Mother Nature in the last week. The weather can be brutal. I understand it’s not like living in Honolulu. Classes and practices have been canceled. There were power outages across the area.

But why throw in the towel midway through the week?

Why wave the white flag without even exploring a Plan B?

A Valley team faced similar circumstances last week, but managed to create an alternative plan. The Houston Hawks were slated to play the Eielson Ravens on Eielson Air Force Base Sept. 26. The Hawks left Houston High in the team bus Sept. 25, bound for the Interior. About an hour into the trip, winter storm warnings and travel advisories were issued. Travel was dangerous on the Parks Highway. The team bus was forced to turn around near Talkeetna. But the Hawks — underdogs against the defending small-schools state champions — didn’t immediately bail. The Houston coaches didn’t suddenly tuck their tails between their legs. They, with the help of school officials, faced adversity head on. ASAA and the school districts granted approval for a rare Sunday afternoon game. The Hawks let the winter storm pass, and made their way toward the Interior the following day.

They made the trip, and took a 42-13 loss to Eielson.

But at least the Hawks fought.

At least the Hawks played.

At least the Hawks tried.

It’s more than I can say for North Pole right now.

Besides, isn’t it a tad ironic a team from North Pole, Alaska, is forfeiting a game due to weather? That’s like Santa Claus saying he can’t deliver gifts on Christmas Eve because there’s some snow.

Yes, I know. The North Pole/Santa Claus reference is fairly obvious. But it’s too easy to pass up. But I had to give it a shot, right? Again, unlike North Pole.

And using the weather and road condition excuse two or three days before the scheduled game?

This is Alaska, folks. Weather and road conditions can change within hours. Snow falls one day, and there are bare roads the next.

And I get the player safety issue. I know, because of the weather, North Pole has had limited opportunity to practice this week.

But the lack of effort to work toward an alternative plan is what’s really appalling. Colony High School officials were never given the opportunity to present a Plan B. I am sure Colony would have been open to moving the game to Saturday, or even maybe Sunday, in lieu of the thousands of dollars of revenue lost by not hosting a football game.

I am sure the Colony players would have been great with playing on a Saturday or Sunday, rather than seeing an eighth of their prep football season snatched away from them.

The same may go for the North Pole players.

Let’s face it folks. Many of these kids have a very limited opportunity to hit the gridiron. Is it fair just to take a chance away?

North Pole could have traveled Thursday morning, enjoyed solid practice sessions on Thursday and Friday, and played a Saturday game, assuming both schools were cool with it. Athletes in several other sports regularly travel on Thursday.

There’s obviously more to the story than concern about icy roads.

As the news of North Pole’s decision to forfeit began to surface, word spread that head coach Richard Henert had abruptly resigned and offensive coordinator Jon Rogers had been suspended by the Fairbanks North Star School District.

Through all of this, what’s lost are the valuable life lessons student-athletes should learn from sports.

Battling adversity, overcoming obstacles. North Pole is a good football team. The Patriots won the Southeast Conference title. They’re slated to go to the playoffs. Looking at a common opponent, North Pole scored 26 points against a West Valley team that Colony scored only seven against.

As we all continue to wonder why, there’s a question that needs to be answered: Is North Pole hiding behind the smoke screen of concern of road conditions? Was the intention to skip the Colony game and rest up for a potential rematch in the medium-schools playoffs against a Kenai Central team that whooped the Patriots 45-8 last week?

If North Pole’s intentions are to dodge Colony to focus on its playoff matchup, allowing North Pole to do this could set a bad precedent for the future. With six conferences in three different classes, nonconference games are more common than ever in Alaska. What’s to stop teams from doing it in the future?

Maybe it’s time for ASAA to take a closer look, and if North Pole did forfeit the game to focus on the playoffs, ASAA should take a stand.

Ban the Patriots from the playoffs.

I hate to see kids punished for the actions of results. But eligibility issues created by clerical errors have led to loss of seasons. If it’s found that this was indeed an attempt to deceive, punishment should be harsh.

I’ve always had a great respect for the North Pole football program. It’s comparable to some of our Valley football programs. Good coaching, longstanding success, a small community that loves its football.

It goes back to the great Buck Nystrom, who after his move from Eielson High School, made North Pole football relevant again.

Nystrom passed away in 2006 due to complications from heart surgery.

The kicker of this whole fiasco is that the Colony-North Pole rivalry has become the “Battle for the Boots.” It’s a tradition created in 2010 by the Colony and North Pole coaching staffs to honor the late, great Nystrom. The prize for the victor is a bronzed pair of cleats once worn by Nystrom during his playing days at the University of Minnesota-Duluth.

Nystrom was as tough and competitive as anyone to walk a football field in Alaska.

After all of this mess, Nystrom has to be rolling over in his grave.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.