NCAA Denied Hawkeyes’ Special Jersey Request for Chris Street Memorial

[GeoTheo]

I saw this article in the Des Moines Register today, and thought it was interesting. The Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball team honorer the late Chirs Street during their game last Saturday. The team wanted to where jerseys with "STREET" nameplates, but the NCAA denied the request. I personally think the idea was kinda dumb, but its too bad the NCAA denied the request. Also, the article said that Powers Manufacturing in Waterloo, IA makes team's game uniforms, I always assumed they were made in a sweatshop somewhere in Asia. The article is below.

IOWA CITY, Ia. –

Iowa’s basketball staff wanted to do something special to honor the late Chris Street during Saturday’s game against Wisconsin.

It was Iowa coach Fran McCaffery’s idea to have every player on his team wear “STREET’ on the back of their gold game jerseys, where their last names are. The 20th anniversary of Street’s death was Saturday. Street, a standout forward, died in an automobile accident in the middle of his junior season.

Strom also checked with the NCAA to

get approval

, since that body has rules in place regarding uniforms. The NCAA denied Iowa’s request.Jerry Strom, Iowa’s director of basketball operations, contacted Powers Manufacturing in Waterloo, the company that makes the Hawkeyes’ game uniforms, to see if they could produce “STREET”

nameplates

to be sewn on the back of the existing jerseys.

“If you read the rule itself it’s pretty self explanatory,” McCaffery said today. “In that case it would have to be an exception granted. And I think the issue was there have been so many exception requests, I think they decided, “The rule stands as it is.’ And that’s pretty much what it was. If you start granting exceptions, then every game somebody wants to do something for some other reason, some other legitimate cause. They just didn’t want to do that.”

So Strom and McCaffery started to kick around other ideas. It was Strom who thought to put Street’s gold No. 40 jersey on the first chair of the Iowa bench. McCaffery was all for it.

So when the lights in Carver-Hawkeye Arena were dimmed as Iowa’s starting lineup was introduced, Strom pulled Street’s jersey out of a bag and draped it over the chair. That seat, next to assistant coach Kirk Speraw, was kept empty during the game.

“I did rub the jersey a few times for good luck,” Speraw said after Iowa’s 70-66 victory.

After the game, McCaffery and his team gave the Street family the game ball in an emotional ceremony inside the Iowa locker room

[Gothamite]

I think the NCAA was probably right here. There are plenty of other ways to acknowledge a death, especially one from from before most of your players were born.

[Mings]

I have to agree with that. The jersey on the bench and game ball were fitting tributes.

[CubsFanBudMan]

Didn't an NCAA team nowhere near Connecticut change the name on the front to Sandy Hook? Seems similar to me, although I really don't approve of either. A patch is fine. The jersey on the empty chair is fine. Pre-game shooting shirts would be fine. Actually, wearing the throwbacks from 20 years ago wouldn't have been bad either. They just wore the 1985-86 jerseys last year. Break out the 1993s...

[BlackBolt3]

Didn't an NCAA team nowhere near Connecticut change the name on the front to Sandy Hook? Seems similar to me, although I really don't approve of either. A patch is fine. The jersey on the empty chair is fine. Pre-game shooting shirts would be fine. Actually, wearing the throwbacks from 20 years ago wouldn't have been bad either. They just wore the 1985-86 jerseys last year. Break out the 1993s...

That was Xavier I believe.

[wyopokes2]

Didn't an NCAA team nowhere near Connecticut change the name on the front to Sandy Hook? Seems similar to me, although I really don't approve of either. A patch is fine. The jersey on the empty chair is fine. Pre-game shooting shirts would be fine. Actually, wearing the throwbacks from 20 years ago wouldn't have been bad either. They just wore the 1985-86 jerseys last year. Break out the 1993s...

That was Xavier I believe.

Providence

[BlackBolt3]

Didn't an NCAA team nowhere near Connecticut change the name on the front to Sandy Hook? Seems similar to me, although I really don't approve of either. A patch is fine. The jersey on the empty chair is fine. Pre-game shooting shirts would be fine. Actually, wearing the throwbacks from 20 years ago wouldn't have been bad either. They just wore the 1985-86 jerseys last year. Break out the 1993s...

That was Xavier I believe.

Providence

Dat first sentence....

[DrJack]

Why does it matter? This smells like having rules to just have rules. If Iowa thought having "Street" on their jerseys was a fitting tribute, who is the NCAA to say it is not? The NCAA just put their own unwillingness to do their own job in front of a well intended tribute for a local family and former athlete. Baloney.

[CubsFanBudMan]

Didn't an NCAA team nowhere near Connecticut change the name on the front to Sandy Hook? Seems similar to me, although I really don't approve of either. A patch is fine. The jersey on the empty chair is fine. Pre-game shooting shirts would be fine. Actually, wearing the throwbacks from 20 years ago wouldn't have been bad either. They just wore the 1985-86 jerseys last year. Break out the 1993s...

That was Xavier I believe.

Providence

Dat first sentence....

Yes, I believe it was Xavier that changed the name on the *front*. But the Providence tribute mistakenly posted is *exactly* what Iowa wanted to do and was denied. So it was probably a case of don't ask permission, ask forgiveness if necessary after the fact.

[dgthree]

Didn't an NCAA team nowhere near Connecticut change the name on the front to Sandy Hook? Seems similar to me, although I really don't approve of either. A patch is fine. The jersey on the empty chair is fine. Pre-game shooting shirts would be fine. Actually, wearing the throwbacks from 20 years ago wouldn't have been bad either. They just wore the 1985-86 jerseys last year. Break out the 1993s...

Providence College also wore Sandy Hook on the back too (in green jerseys) I believe.

[bucknut40]

Didn't an NCAA team nowhere near Connecticut change the name on the front to Sandy Hook? Seems similar to me, although I really don't approve of either. A patch is fine. The jersey on the empty chair is fine. Pre-game shooting shirts would be fine. Actually, wearing the throwbacks from 20 years ago wouldn't have been bad either. They just wore the 1985-86 jerseys last year. Break out the 1993s...

That was Xavier I believe.

Providence

Looks like the same thing Iowa wanted to do on the back...Xavier also wore these

[OnWis97]

In a vacuum, I have no problem with the NCAA denying Iowa's request. However, I think it's far more appropriate than schools all over the country using "Sandy Hook". At least this player has a connection to the Iowa program.

I suppose the NCAA knew it would be blasted if it did not allow Sandy Hook tributes, but schools (particularly those out of CT) using "Sandy Hook" has far more disconnect than what Iowa wanted to do.

Not to sound crass, but what, really, did all the Sandy Hook treatment on sports uniforms accomplish? If they were auctioned and used for the families, then that's a positive. But most of the tributing seems to be done almost out of fear that "if we don't, people will criticize us for not caring."

[Mingjai]

I'm curious what would have happened if Iowa were asking for forgiveness after using the illicit uniforms instead of asking for permission to use them. Forfeit? Probation? Warning?

[OnWis97]

I'm curious what would have happened if Iowa were asking for forgiveness after using the illicit uniforms instead of asking for permission to use them. Forfeit? Probation? Warning?

At most.

[bucknut40]

In a vacuum, I have no problem with the NCAA denying Iowa's request. However, I think it's far more appropriate than schools all over the country using "Sandy Hook". At least this player has a connection to the Iowa program.

I suppose the NCAA knew it would be blasted if it did not allow Sandy Hook tributes, but schools (particularly those out of CT) using "Sandy Hook" has far more disconnect than what Iowa wanted to do.

Not to sound crass, but what, really, did all the Sandy Hook treatment on sports uniforms accomplish? If they were auctioned and used for the families, then that's a positive. But most of the tributing seems to be done almost out of fear that "if we don't, people will criticize us for not caring."

I know Xavier auctioned there's off, and the proceeds went to the families

[rams80]

I'm curious what would have happened if Iowa were asking for forgiveness after using the illicit uniforms instead of asking for permission to use them. Forfeit? Probation? Warning?

Bench technical in game would be my bet.

[CubsFanBudMan]

The thing about it is the story on why Iowa was denied says the NCAA has a policy of not allowing any of these tributes, so that it doesn't become a slippery slope. Yet we have examples of exactly that just this season. Their policy is likely the best option, but it clearly is not enforced.

[Billy B]

The thing about it is the story on why Iowa was denied says the NCAA has a policy of not allowing any of these tributes, so that it doesn't become a slippery slope. Yet we have examples of exactly that just this season. Their policy is likely the best option, but it clearly is not enforced.

With the Sandy Hook thing, I think that there's a good chance the teams didn't ask permission and just went ahead and did it on their own. Either that or the NCAA thought telling a team they can't wear the Sandy Hook uniforms would look bad and they decided to forget about the rule for that case.

[Red Wolf]

Seems odd that the NCAA wouldn't allow this. Especially since in football we saw Air Force with B-2 Spirit and F-22 Raptor in place of names. Or even Courage, Honor, and Duty for Army. And I think Louisiana Lafayette had something in French on their black football jerseys from this past season.

[bucknut40]

It seems like Iowa got screwed...heres the uniforms for Akron's social media night on saturday