Tuesday, October 20, 1998
Saints will be
at full force
No player who partied
By Pat Bigold
in Las Vegas will miss any
games due to suspensions
Star-BulletinNone of the St. Louis School football players who engaged in illegal behavior in a Las Vegas hotel last month will miss any more games due to suspensions.
Player suspensions announced by Father Mario Pariante, school president, on Oct. 1 will be for only one day and will not fall on game days, the Star-Bulletin has learned.
It is not known who or how many players have already served suspensions. Pariante had said that "less than one-third of the team" was involved in the incident. There are 88 players listed on the latest team roster.
Suspensions are being "staggered," according to a source who asked not to be identified.
Pariante suspended the entire football program for four days -- Friday, Oct. 2 to Monday, Oct. 5. During that time, St. Louis forfeited a game to Kamehameha.
At an Oct. 1 news conference, Pariante said the players being suspended engaged in behavior that was "illegal given their ages."
That "illegal" behavior involved "drinking and/or hiring and watching a stripper," according to a news release.
Pariante declined yesterday to provide details of the individual suspensions.
He said, "It is a matter of confidentiality between me, the students and the parents."
St. Louis principal Burton Tomita, whose son was a player on the trip to Las Vegas, said he still knows nothing about the suspensions.
"It is all in Father Pariante's hands," said Tomita.
Pariante said he heard the first reports of the Las Vegas incident, which drew national attention, when the team returned to Honolulu. He said he intially imposed probation on about two-thirds of the players who claimed responsibility after Tomita spoke to the team "as a group."
But he said that method was "flawed" and later revoked the probation.
Pariante said he has received praise for his handling of the matter.
"I'm please that we have received so many positive comments," he said. "I think we did a good job in restoring the impression that St. Louis stands for values."
The game forfeiture cost St. Louis the first-round championship of the Interscholastic League of Honolulu season and its berths in two national polls.
The team has suited 77 to 78 players for the two games it's played since the program suspension. A dozen players not suited for the last two games have been counted on the sidelines. But Pariante said that St. Louis would not allow a player to be on the sidelines for a school activity while suspended.
Since the program suspension, St. Louis has beaten Pac-Five, 68-14, and Iolani, 77-42, and is now 5-1 in the league.
The Crusaders have won the last 12 league championships, and are heavily favored to win another despite the forfeit.
As reported Sept. 26, an undetermined number of St. Louis players staying with coaches and chaperones at the World Trade Center Hotel in Las Vegas trashed rooms during a disorderly beer-drinking party.
