Story Archive

Icy Reception

Lucas Patchen, 17, plays basketball for Thousand Islands High School in Clayton, N.Y. When the team had a game, Patchen missed the bus. The rules state that players must ride the team bus, so Patchen was benched — even though he had a pretty good reason for missing the bus. Patchen is a volunteer for the Clayton Volunteer Fire Department, and he had been called out for a rescue: a fisherman was stranded on a block of ice drifting out into Chaumont Bay. Patchen sent a text message to teammates letting them know what was up, but that wasn’t good enough for head coach Scott LaLonde: Patchen showed up on his own in time for the game, but the coach wouldn’t let him suit up, let alone play. “I showed him a picture that the LifeNet helicopter took of the boat and us out there,” Patchen said later, “and he proceeded to tell me that it was an administrative issue and it didn’t have anything to do with him.” School Superintendent Michael Bashaw backed the coach, saying Patchen was “well aware of the rules as this issue arose in the past.” (RC/Watertown Daily Times, WWNY Carthage) ...In other words, they didn’t think heroic community involvement was worthy of a rule change when this issue arose in the past.