Friday, October 2, 1998
St. Louis
incident still hot
The penalties have
By Pat Bigold
radio shows, phones
buzzing
Star-BulletinSt. Louis School hoped to bring closure to the worst football scandal in its history. But penalties announced yesterday by the school seemed to get people talking even more.
Comments from parents and followers of the team poured into radio talk shows and newspaper switchboards.
Calls received at the Star-Bulletin were almost entirely anonymous.
Rev. Mario Pariante, St. Louis president, said at a press conference yesterday that the football team will forfeit tonight's game against Kamehameha, and all players "directly involved in drinking and/or hiring and watching a stripper" at a Las Vegas hotel early last month have been suspended from school indefinitely.
The forfeit loss could affect St. Louis' national ranking in USA Today and the National Prep Poll.
Pariante also said that football operations will be suspended for four days and coaches, including head coach Cal Lee, won't be paid during that time.
The suspensions come after an investigation into the incident at the World Trade Center Hotel during the early hours of Sept. 6.
Pariante said last week that he probably wouldn't allow another team to travel to Las Vegas. The Star-Bulletin learned last night that the St. Louis wrestling team's Christmas holiday trip to California has been canceled by the school.
The cancellation of the St. Louis vs. Kamehameha football game at Aloha Stadium has caused a change of scheduling in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu schedule. ILH reschedules
The Damien vs. Pac-Five game originally scheduled for today at the stadium, has been moved to Punahou School at 2:30 p.m. tomorrow.
Iolani will host Punahou today at 3:15 p.m., as originally scheduled.
Pariante said media reports of damage to hotel rooms were exaggerated, and said the hotel general manager had told him that the damage was "unintentional."
He also played down reports of loud partying.
"To my knowledge, there was no extensive partying," Pariante said.
"There was a joyous celebration over a big victory (55-6 over Green Valley High, the then-No. 10 team in Nevada). They were actually very well-supervised when they returned to the hotel at approximately 11 p.m. The chaperones were there until at least 2:30 a.m. or 3 a.m."
Pariante said damage to hotel property totaled "slightly more than $1,000," which the Star-Bulletin reported last week.
Last night, KGMB showedfootage of the damage -- a hole in a wall, a smashed bed frame and a phone jack that was ripped out of the wall.
KGMB reporter Jerry Drelling said that while the bill for damages was relatively small, the violent nature of the damage shocked hotel maids and security.
Hotel security chief Mike Critchlow told the Star-Bulletin last weekend that there was "just blatant destruction of rooms."
Pariante would not say how many players are being suspended, but said "less than one-third of the team was involved in some aspect of wrongdoing." St. Louis has 88 players on its roster.
Pariante would not say how long the players' suspensions will last, did not identify the players and did not say whether any are starters.
Pariante said probation for 50 to 60 players, imposed soon after the incident, has been rescinded.
"That's because the original probation was flawed," he said.
There has been talk that some unhappy parents want to meet with Michael Green, a local attorney who represents Bishop Estate trustee Lokelani Lindsay.
Green, who attended a parents meeting Wednesday night at the school, calls himself a close friend Lee's.
Green had warned that if Pariante added suspensions to the original probation, there might be cause for legal recourse.
But Green indicated yesterday afternoon that he was satisfied that the probations were rescinded.
Each suspended player will be required to perform 20 hours of community service, Pariante said.
"As far as I'm concerned, he (Pariante) has done the investigation and only he knows what happened and didn't happen," said Oahu Interscholastic Association executive secretary Dwight Toyama. "Given that, we have to respect his decision."
Iolani School athletic director Carl Schroers said he considers the St. Louis scandal an internal affair.
"It's their situation to work with," he said "All private schools are subject to these types of things and each school will figure out what to do. I'm just sorry it's a ILH member school."
Damien Memorial High athletic director Herb Lloyd said he hopes the incident doesn't affect the reputation of Catholic schools.
"I wish things would have been settled three weeks ago," he said. "I hope it's not a black eye for all Catholic schools."
