Hack Journalism, Seedy Parents, or Whiny Supporters?Moorhead

[BodyShots]

Also - observer commented earlier that this goes on all the time in the metro without notice. I disagree. It's probably worse in basketball than hockey in the metro. It has gotten attention. There have been several Star Tribune articles about Hopkins boys & girls basketball championship teams having been assembled with stars from AAU teams and from other districts. There has been much written about the use of open enrollment for sports.

Don't tell me your last state championship team wasn't a compilation of Blades players from throughout the East Metro area. Hopkins basketball is no different than HM hockey. These kids play together in the off season and decide they could play in the state tournament if they attend the same high school.

[stpaul]

Body, I couldn't care less about Hopkins basketball. I was only pointing out that it has gotten media attention. Hopefully every star hockey player in the metro area chooses to go to Hill-Murray for decades to come. I also hope STA gets assigned to section 4AA to give HM a real section title battle every year. Then you Stillies and WBLers will have twice as much to whine about. It's getting old.

[warriors41]

Ok, so if the parents would have paid the $6,600 or whatever it costs for the cost of tuition would the people who reported the case still be mad? Yeah they would. They would have still complained and gone to the papers about it because it lost their kid a spot on the team. The residency issued is not what prompted the Moorhead parents to get mad. It's the fact that their child wasn't as good as the athlete in question.

And yes, if it does matter they should have reported it before this year. It shouldn't matter if he is a "star" this year or not.

[muckandgrind]

Ok, so if the parents would have paid the $6,600 or whatever it costs for the cost of tuition would the people who reported the case still be mad? Yeah they would. They would have still complained and gone to the papers about it because it lost their kid a spot on the team. The residency issued is not what prompted the Moorhead parents to get mad. It's the fact that their child wasn't as good as the athlete in question.

And yes, if it does matter they should have reported it before this year. It shouldn't matter if he is a "star" this year or not.

You just don't get it do you? It doesn't matter WHO reported it....just the facts alone will attest to that.

This is not an open enrollment issue. The parents exploited a loop hole in the law, gave up their parental rights, and when questioned, either lied, deflected the questions to their 21 year old daughter or hid behind their lawyer.

THAT is the issue.

If this kid lived in Detroit Lakes and wanted to open enroll in Moorhead, that's fine. But it appears they have stretched and bent the rules to fit their situation all because of hockey. Imagine that, they gave up their legal rights as parents all because they wanted their kid to play hockey at a different school at the taxpayers expense.

If the parents truly feel good about this and don't feel like they didn't anything wrong, why won't they just tell the truth and quit hiding behind their lawyer???

The residency issued is not what prompted the Moorhead parents to get mad. It's the fact that their child wasn't as good as the athlete in question.

Can you point this out in the article? I don't see that anywhere...I've read it now a couple of times, and I don't see this fact anywhere.

[bjspud12]

Not our fault ND hockey sucks

deep thought, while I congratulate you on your obvious grasp of the English language ... I do question your ability to add depth and insight into the conversation. Thanks for the effort though!

**In the spirit of the thread, the kid should be left alone. His parents (as noted in an earlier post) have obviously put hockey above all else. I can't imagine who came up with this plan. While this is within the rules, my biggest problem is the fact that I (we) are paying for this with our hard (?) earned money.

I vote we send them a bill for the Mn education.

Easy psycho

[PuckU126]

Not our fault ND hockey sucks

deep thought, while I congratulate you on your obvious grasp of the English language ... I do question your ability to add depth and insight into the conversation. Thanks for the effort though!

**In the spirit of the thread, the kid should be left alone. His parents (as noted in an earlier post) have obviously put hockey above all else. I can't imagine who came up with this plan. While this is within the rules, my biggest problem is the fact that I (we) are paying for this with our hard (?) earned money.

I vote we send them a bill for the Mn education.

Easy psycho

[BodyShots]

Body, I couldn't care less about Hopkins basketball. I was only pointing out that it has gotten media attention. Hopefully every star hockey player in the metro area chooses to go to Hill-Murray for decades to come. I also hope STA gets assigned to section 4AA to give HM a real section title battle every year. Then you Stillies and WBLers will have twice as much to whine about. It's getting old.

Is that suppose to be a shot? Heck, I hope your right. I hope they put STA, BSM, TG, and all the other privates into section 4AA as well. God knows the publics can't keep up with the privates. But that's for another thread. Lets bring this one back onto topic.

I don't agree with what the ND parents did, nor do I agree that this issue is brought up now. If it is an issue with him playing for MH, then it should have been brought up when he first transferred.

[muckandgrind]

Body, I couldn't care less about Hopkins basketball. I was only pointing out that it has gotten media attention. Hopefully every star hockey player in the metro area chooses to go to Hill-Murray for decades to come. I also hope STA gets assigned to section 4AA to give HM a real section title battle every year. Then you Stillies and WBLers will have twice as much to whine about. It's getting old.

Is that suppose to be a shot? Heck, I hope your right. I hope they put STA, BSM, TG, and all the other privates into section 4AA as well. God knows the publics can't keep up with the privates. But that's for another thread. Lets bring this one back onto topic.

I don't agree with what the ND parents did, nor do I agree that this issue is brought up now. If it is an issue with him playing for MH, then it should have been brought up when he first transferred.

I wasn't aware there was a statute of limitations. If the act was wrong, does the fact that it happened two years ago somehow make it right? Help me understand......

If nothing else, this coming to light will hopefully give the parents some shame over what they did. I'm glad they feel uncomfortable enough to have to hide behind a lawyer, at the very least, they should be made to squirm a bit.

[underthenbar01]

Regardless of what anyone says or how anyone feels, Terry Leabo is going to continue to play hockey at Moorhead high school. This is the state of hockey. Families move every year to give their kids better hockey opportunities. Whether it be right or wrong, it's done. The kid obviously just wants to play hockey, and he should be left alone.

[muckandgrind]

Regardless of what anyone says or how anyone feels, Terry Leabo is going to continue to play hockey at Moorhead high school. This is the state of hockey. Families move every year to give their kids better hockey opportunities. Whether it be right or wrong, it's done. The kid obviously just wants to play hockey, and he should be left alone.

Who's ripping on the kid??? I haven't seen a single post on this thread or a quote in the article denigrating the player. It's about the parents.

However, if it's determined that he is NOT a resident of Minnesota, he should be required to enroll in a school in ND....or his parents should move to Minnesota and enroll him at Moorhead or whatever school they choose. They are not Minnesota taxpayers currently, thus they should not be entitiled to a Minnesota-paid high school education.

It's really not all that difficult to understand. It's not "just about hockey".

[defense]

According to the Fargo KFAN show today, this is likely the newspaper's fault. The commentator had evidently worked in the sports department there as a writer in the past. In this time that he had worked there, another person at the Forum had a kid who was getting displaced from the Moorhead hockey team from a transfer. This commentator was asked at the time to "look into this" by the person who's kid was getting displaced. According to him his response was that if nothing illegal is happening, what's the story??? So this is likely the newspaper's fault in dragging a high school kid through this. It sounds like this may have even been front page in Sunday's paper, a top story type of thing....
This is according to that radio show.
Good luck to Mr. Leabo Jr.

[Hockey Talk]

This kinda stuff happens all the time state wide in Minnesota. A few years back a kid from Austin , MN wanted to play with the Albert Lea ,MN team because they had a good chance of getting to the Class A state tournament and Austin's program has been down for many years. This kid still lived with his parents in Austin but he would drive over to Albert Lea for school every day. I don't know how they jumped through all the loop-holes but they made it work.

[underthenbar01]

Regardless of what anyone says or how anyone feels, Terry Leabo is going to continue to play hockey at Moorhead high school. This is the state of hockey. Families move every year to give their kids better hockey opportunities. Whether it be right or wrong, it's done. The kid obviously just wants to play hockey, and he should be left alone.

Who's ripping on the kid??? I haven't seen a single post on this thread or a quote in the article denigrating the player. It's about the parents.

However, if it's determined that he is NOT a resident of Minnesota, he should be required to enroll in a school in ND....or his parents should move to Minnesota and enroll him at Moorhead or whatever school they choose. They are not Minnesota taxpayers currently, thus they should not be entitiled to a Minnesota-paid high school education.

It's really not all that difficult to understand. It's not "just about hockey".

You are kidding yourself if you think that all this talk about his situation, even if its about his parents, isn't getting into the kids head and putting unnecessary pressure on him. Also, considering he lives in Moorhead with his legal guardain, his education is being paid for. Like the AD of MHS said, its "old news", and it was obviously cleared up three years ago when the kid made the move. It's just stupid, unfair pressure being put on a young kid.