Delaying CAI-NW game was right call

Power outages are nothing more than a minor annoyance to those of us who live in the city. But when you’re out in the country in a place like New Washington, they can be downright spooky.

When it goes dark in New Wash, it goes dark.

“The power’s out all the way from Hibernia to Bethlehem,” New Washington principal Ben Ledbetter said, wry smile on his face, as the status of the game was being discussed. “That’s not good.”

So when the lights went out in the Mustangs’ gymnasium Friday night during the boys’ matchup that pitted the hosts against Christian Academy of Indiana, the IHSAA and school officials acted properly and promptly in postponing the game until Saturday afternoon. The later the night got, the more dangerous it was for people to be in the gymnasium or in the area without the power on.

While basketball is important to everyone who attended the game, most everyone who left the gymnasium following the announcement simply shrugged their shoulders and went home without complaint.

The Warriors led by eight points at the time of the outage, 26-18, and could have grumbled about their fate. But they came back Saturday and finished the Mustangs off once and for all, leaving with a 60-47 victory.

In doing so, Christian Academy doubled its win total from 2004-05 and remained undefeated at 2-0. Congratulations to Warriors coach Joe McKay, who suffered through an excruciating 1-22 campaign last season and was the recipient of a lot of grief.

McKay’s squad looks greatly improved and only sports one senior, 6-foot-4-inch swingman Aaron Byerley. With four juniors and three sophomores seeing significant playing time, Christian Academy looks like a team to watch. By next season, the Warriors could be looking forward to a lengthy postseason run.



Rebuttal to Hutsell

The best thing about writing for The Evening News and The Tribune is that the editors and reporters insist on doing their jobs with only the highest ethical standards in regards to accuracy.

Sports editor Mike Hutsell is no different. He’s a man of integrity and uncommon intelligence and possesses a keen wit.

I’m sure that he never intended in his Sunday column this week to leave out the fact that he and I were both atop the standings of our fantasy football league with identical 10-2 records heading into this weekend.

And since his next column doesn’t appear until Wednesday, I’d like to be the first to tell all Evening News and Tribune readers that yours truly won the matchup and our league’s regular-season crown over the weekend.

I’d be derelict in my duty if I didn’t pass along that news as quickly as possible to the readers of this sports section.

I’m sure Mike Hutsell, man of integrity, will fully understand this.

Jon Reiter can be reached at jonreiter@hotmail.com