Ursuline deserves praise, not pity

Sean Durkin, Ursuline High's baseball and girls basketball coach, has state championships in each sport and deserves praise for all the hard work that goes into winning those crowns.
But Durkin ruffled some feathers the other day at Ursuline's basketball championship celebration when he suggested that his Division III basketball program faces development adversity other schools don't.
"Our school doesn't have the advantages some of the other area schools have," Durkin said. "These girls haven't known each other since grade school and we don't have the numbers or the funding of some of the other area schools."
Sympathy for Ursuline, a school that has won more state crowns in the past 11 seasons than anyone in the area (boys basketball in 1994, baseball and football in 2000 and girls basketball last month)? Good luck finding it.
Coaches from area Div. III public schools, especially those without open enrollment, aren't exactly shedding tears for the parochial school dilemma of not having a middle school feeder system. Private schools seem to have found a way to compensate.
There's a reason why parochial schools (Cleveland Villa Angela-St. Joseph, South Euclid Regina and Ursuline) have won the past six Div. III girls basketball crowns -- they put all-star teams on the court using players from multiple school districts and compete in a small-school division.
Different teams
What usually happens when community teams meet parochial powerhouses at the smaller level? Check out these scores from this year's Hanoverton girls basketball district:
*Ursuline 98, South Range 46
*Ursuline 82, United 39
*Ursuline 74, Crestview 33
At the Rootstown district, Girard, with one loss, had its season end in the district final when Regina walloped the Indians, 75-40.
In the boys Div. III bracket at Salem, Ursuline, Mooney and St. Thomas Aquinas were dominant against the likes of Lisbon, United, Waterloo and Springfield.
If you want to blame someone, start with the Ohio High School Athletic Association rules and the public school principals who don't try to change them.
No disrespect is intended to the Irish players or coaches for their accomplishment two weeks ago in Columbus.
This year's Irish (26-2) had players from all over Mahoning and Trumbull counties. What they did to wallop Regina was nothing short of amazing.
Capping that triumph with two wins at Ohio State University was icing on the cake.
Ursuline deserves praise, certainly not pity.
NHL prospect
It looks like the Pittsburgh Penguins will end up at the bottom of the National Hockey League standings and have the best chance in the lottery for the top draft pick. Considering how they treated this year's top draft pick, it makes you wonder if they can afford to sign everyone's top prospect, Alexander Ovechkin.
Before you say yes, remember what happened to goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, last year's top draft pick.
After playing in 21 games with the Pens, the team sent him back to juniors to avoid paying a $3 million bonus the 19-year-old (4-14-2, 3.64 goals-against average) was due to get if he played in 25 games.
In the next NHL season (which might begin in October or might be years from now), Fleury will earn that bonus.
With lagging ticket sales, can the Pens afford to take on another overall No. 1 contract if they are fortunate enough to land the top draft pick?
Then again, considering how poorly they've drawn at the Mellon Arena box office and that there's not much promise blossoming in the farm system, maybe the Pens can't afford not to draft Ovechkin.
XTom Williams is a sportswriter for The Vindicator. Write to him at williams@vindy.com.