THE STATEMENT
The 2015 state tournament was one of the most exciting and unpredictable
events I have had the honor of witnessing in my time covering the great
sport of water polo. Lyons boys' team won their second title while the
Stevenson girls' won their first-ever title by the end of the weekend.
Stevenson (boys) and New Trier (girls) both fell one win shy of winning
their first respective titles. There were overtime thrillers, upsets and
amazing individual and team performances that make our sport the best
thing going in Illinois and beyond.
Unfortunately, I did not have the best experience in covering this
weekend's event. This was the 13th time I have voluntarily covered the
state tournament and never have I felt as disrespected as I did this time
around. There is plenty of backstory to this and I will elaborate so
everyone knows where I'm coming from and what might be at stake if I
decide not to continue the illpolo.com web site.
THE HISTORY
For five years, I had a spot on the pool deck reserved next to the
scorer's table to provide cover the state tournament LIVE. This was before
Twitter existed, so scores and updates were provided exclusively on the
illpolo site. Same thing every year. Spend six hours on Thursday and
Friday covering water polo, take a day off from work on Friday, stay
overnight in a hotel between Friday and Saturday, spend 11 hours on the
last day of the season making sure the semifinals and finals are covered,
spending the one hour break updating the site in preparation for the
evening games. At the end of the weekend of my fifth season, Beth
Sauser of the IHSA came over to me during the championship game and
told me I would not be allowed on the deck the next year because they
would be streaming the games online. This was at halftime as I was winding
down about 72 straight hours of covering water polo. My wife was sitting
next to me and heard the news and looked at me afraid of my reaction. My
heart dropped after spending the entire year covering water polo in
Illinois plus devoting my entire week/weekend/life to covering the state
tournament with every ounce of energy I had. We finished the game, I wrote
an article the next day, deleted it and moved on. Since then, I have not
been allowed on the pool deck at the state tournament. There's nothing
else to it. They hoped that my live play-by-play and score updates
wouldn't get in the way of their profits via Comcast and then NFHS that
would show up in Week 11 of a season and stream the games. They probably
didn't expect me to keep showing up, pay to get in and cover the sport I
love with that underground method.
THE FOLLOW-UP
For the next several years, I had to treat the state tournament like an
undercover agent slipping into the natatorium and paying my way in to
cover the sport. Only this time I had none of the resources available to
properly cover 6-12 straight hours of water polo. No outlets, no ability
to leave my laptop, cameras, cell phone in place, no chance to go to the
bathroom, no hospitality, nothing. After spending 6 months planning and
researching the sport and three months covering the sport on a daily
basis, I was an outsider finishing the most exciting part of the season
like an outcast. Nonetheless, for thirteen straight years the sport has
been covered.
THE 'ILLINOIS WATER POLO' ORGANIZATION
For the record, I was asked to join the IWP (Illinois Water Polo)
organization when it first got started back in the early part of the last
decade. I was told that they wanted my input because I had a "fresh take"
on the sport. I was promised that they would pay my web site expenses by
then president Garrin Kapecki. I went to nearly two years of
meetings and saw very little being done but kept doing what I could to
support the sport and make illpolo.com grow. During that two year period I
received ZERO dollars from IWP, not for my expenses and not through any
donations. It was becoming clear that my work was not appreciated but I
kept hosting the IWP web site on illpolo.com and still attended various
meetings hoping my efforts would fall in line with the group.
During a transitional period, Mark Menis became a member of IWP and
convinced the board that they should start their own web site and cast me
aside. They could control their own message and not be tied into the
things I did on illpolo.com. While I still had not received any of the
money in "expenses" that I was promised, I found out that they paid a web
site developer $1,000 to start their own web site. This was after they
reneged on their promise to me and never provided a dime for my efforts in
promoting water polo or their organization. He or they didn't think I had
people within their organization that would report this back to me? They
had $1,000 to pay someone while they decided to not give me anything that
they promised?
For the record, I could have cared less about the money. It's the
principle. I've spent my own money and hoped for donations for the last
thirteen years. If you had no funds, I would be glad to let you avoid any
payment for my "expenses" as promised but to do that behind my back and
flash the cash to someone else who never even kept up the site? The best
part...I already owned the illinoiswaterpolo.com domain because back then
people would check that site looking for illpolo.com. Mark Menis
literally e-mailed to ask if IWP could have the domain! The one who exiled
me! I'll make no other statement. You be the judge on that.
There are IWP members who also coach. Some of them refuse to send a score
let alone any information about their team. But when they want something
promoted and want to spread the word, here they come asking if you want to
meet for lunch or dinner. If you don't want your players to get
recognition that's cool and if you don't respect the work I do then that
is fine, I got you, but don't contact me like I don't see through that you
want to get something from me.
The IWP has given me an award for my work twice, so I know they recognize
what I do. They know who I am. Yet several members of their board walked
past me multiple times this weekend without a hello or any sort of
acknowledgement. Do you think that is the way to show your appreciation
for the work I do to support your sport regardless of whether or not you
care? Do you think any of these IWP members don't know what I'm doing when
I'm stuck in the corner of the pool stands on my knees without a chair
updating the site to support them? Is there anywhere else you can find
scores for high school water polo? Standings? Schedules? Anything other
than a web site that says "Under Construction" on half the pages?
I walked out of the state tournament this weekend without a thank you from
anyone in the IWP. One former player whom I have the greatest respect for
from LYONS said "Thank you, Aaron Brown" as I walked through the gauntlet
of parents and others and it made my day. Did the IWP send an e-mail or
anything else that resembled words of appreciation? Nothing. Still nothing
two days later.
THE IHSA
I honestly don't put the blame on the IHSA itself for anything. We as
water polo fans have our issues with them, but Beth Sauser and company
show up for three days out of the year for our sport. They dictate
everything in the postseason, very few people are happy with it, and we
have to act like there's nothing we can do about it. I still don't think
she knows much about what illpolo.com does or much else about the sport
since she handles a handful of other IHSA sports. The person who does run
the show is Perry Korbakis. While his efforts in water polo should
be credited, he has somehow become a kingpin of the sport and his
decisions to blacklist officials and blacklist me from the pool deck at
state have been harmful to the sport. I have no doubt that he is the
individual responsible for me not being allowed on the pool deck among
many other issues within the sport. Ask several of the high-quality
officials who cannot get a game while many of the "favorites" or "buddies"
of Perry get to call important sectional/state tournament games. And I'm
not knocking those officials. I'm knocking that "good ol' boys" club of
handling the business that was out of style way back in the 1990's but
still exists today when there are so many who want to help this sport but
cannot.
Perry had the gall to say hello to me in the hallway on Saturday afternoon
as if we were cool and that I didn't know his influence in the sport. As
if he did not know I was sitting on my knees in the far corner from the
pool trying to report on the games. As if I didn't know he was responsible
for my exodus from the pool deck. Always worried I would say something
negative about him or his officials. Paranoid. He clearly never checked
the site but always had an issue with "word" being spread about the sport.
Perry creates and handles the infamous 'Master Schedule' for the water
polo season. He refuses to send it to me. I know coaches who are reluctant
to forward it to me for fear of suffering his wrath. So I have to hunt
around for each team's individual schedule one at a time in order to get
the season's schedules updated on the site. Then changes are made that I
don't know about. Then people get mad because the schedule on the
illpolo.com web site is wrong. I get that blame. Thanks Perry.
THE COACHES
I have so many issues here that I don't know how long this will go. I did
a check earlier this year to see how many coaches support the illpolo.com
site in any way, shape or form. That means sending a simple score to stats
to info to anything to help out. 50 out of 185 head coaches send
information. Anyone who either criticizes or is amazed by the amount of
information the site has please understand that it has that info in spite
of the coaches not because of them. While some of the coaches read this,
please understand that if you contribute in any way then know that we are
all so thankful for your efforts in getting players recognized and making
them feel better about the effort they put into high school water polo.
Maybe they get recruited. Maybe their friends get to see their name in
lights. Maybe they decide to play the sport since they see there are
people out in this world that care about such things.
I've seen it all when it comes to the coaches. Did you know that only one
coach provided any assistance to me this weekend at the state tourney? His
team finished without a win this year but Chris Fetterman of Hoffman
Estates basically motivated his entire team to go to the girls'
quarterfinals to watch some of the best teams perform on the main stage.
He grabbed the camera from me and filmed the entire Stevenson-Ignatius
game that has clips available on YouTube and did it without wanting
anything in return. In three days, he was the only coach who helped me.
There were a handful of coaches whom I talked to and who support the
mission all season that should know I am not talking about them here. Here
is what did happen:
The Lyons' girls head coach looked up and saw me sitting in the corner and
laughed at me. Tapped her assistant coach on the shoulder so he could have
a laugh too. I covered both of them when they played in high school before
they became coaches. Looked up and laughed at me like I was some kind of
joke. And I know it wasn't a misunderstanding because the head coach
walked past me without acknowledging me three times later in the day. No
explanation after a few days and I put it out there. The assistant coach
did unfollow me on Twitter. Which means that he followed me in the first
place, got what he needed from the coverage, thought it was a good idea to
laugh at my situation, and then moved on with no apology.
Another state-qualifying coach who e-mails throughout the year not only
interrupted a conversation I was having but acted like he didn't know me
for three straight days. Just walked past without saying hello. You hear
things throughout the season like when a visiting coach asked the
tournament host if he would send information to illpolo and he rolled his
eyes, laughed and said no. You meet a coach for the first time and instead
of a thank you he starts ranting at you for his team's ranking. Then you
hear about how a coach banned his players from sending any score updates
to illpolo during a sectional game so he cannot report it. You hear about
how a coach blacklisted his team from sending anything to illpolo.com
throughout the season so it makes my job harder and they have to
anonymously send things in just so their teammates can get recognition.
You have a girls' coach who is so hurt that he wasn't on either the
All-Sectional Team or an All-Illpolo Team in 2007 or something so now he
refuses to send info to get his own girls any recognition and so they
blame me for not appearing on the site as if I'm purposely trying to
exclude them. Same coach will walk up to you in person and pretend he
supports the site so it looks like he is in good with me in front of his
team and other coaches.
THE PLAYERS
The only reason I still do the illpolo.com web site is because of the
players. You deserve the recognition and I wish I had this coverage when I
played any sport. I hope my sons have the same coverage. You do not know
how much your support has meant to me even though my goal is to support
you. A retweet, a favorite, a score, an e-mail with info, or really
anything to help the coverage is so appreciated. It keeps me doing the
site. I'm fighting FOR you. Don't think this has anything to do with you.
THE WEEKEND
I have to pay to get into the state tournament every year. $8 when I walk
in with my laptop bag, camera bag, t-shirts and other stuff I give away
for free to players and so on. Can't cover six hours of water polo without
an outlet, can't go to the bathroom and leave thousands of dollars of
equipment unattended, can't grab a bite to eat because once a game is over
you have to recap it and then prepare for the next game. Of course, the
last game between Conant-Lyons goes into overtime. Game ends close to
10pm. Thriller! Within two minutes of the ending, IHSA security demands
that I leave the balcony. There are still about 80 people in the stands.
He stands over me badgering me. I pack my stuff up in disgust as Jeff
Wimer tries to explain to him I'm not a security threat but what's done is
done. I throw my stuff down in the first place I can to update the score,
recaps, standings, etc next to a bunch of garbage in the hallway. Then I
drive 90 minutes home so I can get there by midnight to update the site
for the next day and at least give my son a kiss while he's already
asleep.
Next day: Take a day off from work/school. Make my son breakfast, give him
a bath, work in the yard before I grab my bags, boxes of free stuff for
water polo players, pay for my ticket, climb the stairs, set my stuff on a
table in the back of the balcony. Drive to a player's house and drop off a
pair off t-shirts that they won, no time for lunch, pay the $8 fee and
take a breather and figure out my game plan for the coverage. Two security
come over and one guy starts going in on me to the other security as if
I'm not even there. I tilt my head to the side thinking "you have to be
kidding me" before he finally says "you can't use this table, you can't
put your stuff here, what team are you from?" "Not from a team, just
putting my stuff down for a minute." "Well you have to get your stuff off
this table, you can't use it get it off." I say "I was just putting it
down for a second and if you want to treat me with respect just ask me
next time don't talk about me as if I'm not even here" and I finally pick
up my things and go to the farthest point of the bleachers at Stevenson in
hopes that no one else will bother my voluntary efforts. Don't treat me
like the quiet volunteer that doesn't bother anyone, treat me like I'm
some jerk who has no business being there.
Well, I had the best view in the house! The farthest person from the pool
in the natatorium with random people standing in front me half the time,
can't see cap numbers, can barely hear the announcer, still cover every
minute of every game.
THE PARENTS
99% of the parents are the greatest people you will ever deal with. I had
a parent donate a beer bomber from Solemn Oath Brewery in the stands on
Friday night. A mom handed me a Coke Zero with my name on it out of
nowhere! She literally was at the store and thought of me and bought it. A
mom who saw my Tweets invited me to sit in their section and then bought
me a Mountain Dew at the end of the girls' title as if she knew I needed
that caffeine. There are some parents who will remain anonymous who have
helped make this site work over the years beyond what anyone would know.
And they want to remain that way even though some of them haven't had kids
playing the sport for years.
Occasionally you will have parents go off the deep end. I expect it. I
deal with it. Not the issue here.
ABOUT ME
I am a high school teacher. I work at Bolingbrook HS which does not have
any sort of aquatics program. I live an hour WEST of Bolingbrook towards
Iowa and about an hour from the closest school with water polo (Waubonsie
Valley maybe?). When I go big games or tournaments at Fenwick or Stevenson
I drive at the minimum 90 minutes. Each way. Two weeks ago I went to both.
This weekend I took two days off from work, stayed in a hotel that cost
$130 on Friday night, covered water polo live for 23 hours with about 400
calories and some water bottles. I updated the site from my knees to the
point where they were beet red and my fingers were blistered from typing
and tweeting. Meanwhile, my pregnant wife and three-year old son sent me a
few updates on how they were doing. The event ended, I updated the site to
completion, stopped at the nearest Portillo's and then drove home the 90
minutes to get home by midnight.
And let me add this. I have no training as a journalist, reporter, social
media expert, web designer or any of the things that I do. I coached water
polo and started a club team for a few years before the demand for water
polo coverage seemed so important that I decided to devote my time to this
site. Saw the need for these players to get credit and recognition and
hoped I could do something for them. Moving on...
During the last Saturday of the season at the state tournament, I did have
a one hour break in between the semifinals and finals. I went to my car,
turned on the AC, snagged a Sprechers root beer and began thinking about
driving home to go with my family to a birthday party instead of staying
at Stevenson. I tweeted this:
I thought about it, sent a text to a close friend who also happens to
coach water polo and this was what he had to say: "I know why you do what
you do but to be constantly disrespected by coaches and the "people in
charge" I don't know, you should coach Hunter in something instead. You
put so much time and effort in and at the biggest event of the year you
get s*** on? Not right."
So then I went this:
Then, instead of leaving I went back in. I wouldn't want someone bailing
on my own kids like that. And I thought about the players who dedicated
their entire year/career to that experience at the state tourney and
didn't think it would be right, even if I was just there to support them
and let them know that there was someone who cared that they were playing
this great sport even though I wasn't getting anything out of it myself.
Sat in that corner for another seven hours wondering what my wife and son
were doing. Covered the rest of the games with, you guessed it, no support
or thank you from anyone involved with the sport. Parents and players came
over to say thank you, shake my hand, hand me a Mountain Dew. The Lyons
boys' JV team came and offered me $8 to cover the cost of my ticket. A
crew from Lockport came over because I owed one of them a free t-shirt and
another one a free hat. I felt bad that I didn't have an extra shirt to
give their friend who came with, played polo and graduated in 2014. The
only coach who bothered to ask what was going on was Sean Wimer via e-mail
from the pool deck who had a STATE TITLE GAME to play in two hours. I told
him to focus on the task at hand. I did appreciate the gesture.
THE FALLOUT
I'm not sure what happens after this statement. I really hope it actually
helps get some things in order or gets some people to think about what
they are doing to help this sport. Somebody has to do it and if they want
to come at me for naming names or telling this story then so be it. I rely
on my wife for her good judgment and even she, as a journalism teacher and
the nicest person in the world, said go with it. She is the one who when I
wanted to quit in 2007 said to keep doing it and do it better. She allows
me to cover this sport to the point that I was updating scores from the
delivery room before we had our first child. Do you want to know why I've
gone mental after this weekend? After spending every ounce of energy to
help this sport, this is how I am treated.
THE CONCLUSION
This leaves me in quite the bind. The support and love from the players,
parents and some coaches has been overwhelming. They are the ones I have
always focused on. I think they might understand after reading this
statement why continuing to run this site comes with an increasing amount
of frustration. Do I continue my work in spite of the lack of support from
the people in charge of this sport? Do I fight the power and continue to
do what I do and even take the coverage to the next level? I did that
about six years ago when I got the short end of everything and the people
in charge didn't seem to care. They don't care now. They tried to take
away that part of me that cares about you. They can't. I can't let them.
Please know that I did this for you.
Thank you,
Aaron Brown
illpolo.com
