The game is ideally supposed to be played without the benefit of 20/20 hindsight. I have attempted to create the questions to highlight the facts of the situation, while not making assumptions about any unreported extra information people might or might not have actually known, nor have I tried to inject any opinion into the questions.

Also, the answers are geared toward realistic answers. Obviously, a certain answer could include other factors, such as “Report the incident, and pray about what you saw.” I have attempted to make the answers as simplistic as possible.

Ready for Round 1?

You are a 28-year-old graduate assistant for a well-known Div. I football program. One day, you see a retired, long-time assistant sexually assaulting a young boy in the locker room shower. No one else is around. What do you do?

1. Attempt to stop the incident immediately.
2. Leave the premises.

Regardless of your answer above, what is your next step?

1. Report the incident to a superior, in this case a powerful head football coach.
2. Report the incident to the police.
3. Report the incident to the football coach and the police.
4. Do nothing.

You are a powerful Div. I head football coach that has just been told by a 28-year-old graduate assistant that he saw a retired, one-time heir apparent and long-time assistant coach sexually assaulting a young boy in the locker room shower. The graduate assistant is clearly distraught about the incident. What do you do?

1. Report the incident to local authorities.
2. Report the incident to superiors. 
3. Report the incident to superiors and local authorities.
4. Start an investigation yourself.
5. Do nothing.

You are the vice president of the university, who has just been relayed the story by the athletic director of the university. What do you do?

1. Tell local authorities.
2. Start an investigation yourself.
3. Restrict on-campus access for the assistant coach on the university campus.
4. Tell local authorities and restrict on-campus access to the assistant coach.
5. Do nothing.

How do you answers compare to what actually happened in real life? OK, now on for Round 2. Let’s assume this round takes place five years after Round 1.

 Let’s also assume that the only action taken against the assistant is restricted on-campus access, and that there have not been any more known incidents of sexual assault. Also, let’s assume that every decision-maker has knowledge that the assistant coach is involved in an organization that benefits kids with needs.

You are the former graduate assistant, and you are now an assistant coach. You occasionally see the retired assistant on campus. What do you do?

1. Do nothing.
2. Report the five-year-old incident to local authorities.
3. Repeat your former action of reporting the five-year-old incident to the head football coach.

You are the head football coach and are fully aware of the restricted access on-campus for the retired coach. You are also not aware of any other sexual assaults, and you are aware of the organization the retired coach is involved in. What do you do?

1. Start an investigation yourself.
2. Report the incident to local authorities.
3. Do nothing.

You are the vice president of the school, with the same knowledge of the head football coach. What do you do?

1. Start an investigation yourself.
2. Report the incident to local authorities.
3. Do nothing.

If you were making the decisions without the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, how would the results have turned out?

The Index sports section produces three features every year for the 28th, and last issue, of the year. This year was no different – and in every category there were multiple quality options to choose from.

This time around, track athlete Jennifer Zweifel won Athlete of the Year, women’s soccer’s Mike Cannon won Coach of the Year, and wrestling’s Alex Maus won Freshman of the Year.

After working in sports section for three years, I was Managing Editor in 2010-11 but often contributed to sports. My picks might be a little different than some other voters. But hey, that’s what makes it fun.

Athlete: 1. Megan Sharpe: volleyball/women’s basketball; 2. Ryan Trimble: baseball; 3. Jennifer Zweifel: track; 4. Matt Kimball: men’s soccer; 5. Ethan Freeman: basketball (… apologies to women’s golfer Jen Lawson and men’s soccer player Bobby Larkin.)

There was certainly no-clear cut candidate this year. In fact, an argument could be made for all seven of these athletes to be No. 1. Sharpe I think loses some recognition because of the standard she set her freshman season. However, this season she had less offensive support and still put up MVP type-numbers. It’s to those who watch volleyball just how much she means the team’s success. It’s also a bit of a bonus that she plays a key role for women’s basketball.

Trimble is the best pitcher Truman has ever had and the best pitcher in the MIAA. Zweifel went from a walk-on her freshman year to one of the best triple jumpers in the nation. Kimball was, in my opinion, the MVP on the best team at Truman in 2010-11.  Freeman deserved better than 3rd-team All-MIAA.

It could be long-debated as to who deserves No. 1. I picked Sharpe, but Zweifel also is deserving.

Freshman: Softball’s Kelsey Bollman, wrestling’s Alex Maus, football’s Dallas Grier (… apologies to basketball’s Nicole Gloor, swimming’s Casey Jepsen.)

Bollman has absolutely raked for the softball team. More than half of her hits are of the extra-base variety. Her on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) is a ridiculous 1.216. She is also third on the team with 10 stolen bases. Basically, she’s an all-around great hitter that is easily one of the best in the MIAA.

Maus was the first wrestler to go qualify for nationals since 2008, and he won a match at nationals but did not place. He should only improve in the coming years. Grier, as a true freshman, more than doubled any else’s receiving yards at Truman and will be a force in Truman’s new pro-style offense.

Coach: 1. Women’s soccer’s Mike Cannon, 2. Men’s soccer’s Duke Cochran, 3. Baseball’s Dan Davis (prediction: football’s Gregg Nesbitt easily will make the top three next year.)

Cannon and Cochran have had the most long-term success of any coach at Truman, and that continued this year. Tough to pick between the two. Both teams made the playoffs. The men’s team had the higher national ranking but drew an impossible first-round opponent, while the women won their first-round match. I gave Cannon the edge because his team was very young while Cochran had a strong senior class.

Davis’ baseball team is leaps and bounds ahead of anything it has ever accomplished in recent memory. The team already set a Truman record for MIAA wins and has a decent shot at making the MIAA Tournament and setting the school record for wins. And kudos to Davis for accomplishing this in a year that he found out baseball was losing 30K in scholarships.

Like athlete of the year, an argument could be make for all the options. Davis’ case will only be improved if the team sets the school record for wins and/or makes the MIAA tournament.

I love Opening Day. There is nothing like it. I mean nothing. It is a holiday. Some pagans just choose not to celebrate.

No matter if you’re at the ballpark or sitting on your couch it is special. A trip to the old ballyard surrounds you in tradition and is a reminder that summer with all it’s grandeur is just around the corner.

Watching at home can be a good time as well. Having people over and cooking up a few hot dogs is a nice way to start off the new season.

The crack of the bat, the roar of the crowd, and the closeness you feel with family and friends is special. I can remember getting pulled out of school as a kid both to go to the game or just to head home to my basement where my father and I could watch uninterrupted by the troubles of life.

No matter what team you follow I want to wish you a very happy opening day. Best of luck to your team and most importantly GO CARDINALS!!!!

Note: I wrote this column earlier this week, prior to the announcement that Jack Schrader was resigning. The announcement effectively makes column moot. But this was not a column I took lightly, and I wanted to post it here as a way for my work to not completely go to waste.

A decision Athletic Director Jerry Wollmering made three years ago has possibly set the bar for a decision on the future of Jack Schrader at Truman.

Schrader, the men’s basketball head coach, led the Bulldogs to an 11th-place MIAA finish this season.  The team had a 7-19 overall record and 5-17 MIAA record — its best since 2006-07 — but placed four games out of the MIAA tournament, won one game on the road and was the only MIAA team to lose to Lincoln University.

Struggling to have a winning record in a single season is one thing. Struggling for a period of time, which is a factor Wollmering likely will look at in greater detail, is another.

Wollmering set the bar for basketball success three years ago when he did not renew former women’s coach John Sloop’s contract. Although Sloop had just finished his best season, Wollmering made it clear he was canning Sloop in large part because of his long-term lack of MIAA success.

“We’ve lost over 75 percent of our conference games in the last eight years, never reaching .500,” Wollmering told the Index at the time. “It was time to move in a new direction with our women’s basketball program.”

In eight seasons, Sloop had an 87-131 (.399) overall record and 35-112 (.238) mark in the MIAA, with four conference tournament appearances and zero NCAA tournament appearances.

In 16 seasons, Schrader has a career record of 165-274 (.376) and 85-203 (.295) in the MIAA, seven appearances in the MIAA tournament, two appearances in the NCAA tournament and one Final Four.

Other than the two NCAA tournament appearances — which I’ll get to in a minute — the two coaches have very similar results. This leads to the question: How can one contract not be renewed but the other continued considering their similar track records?

“We’re evaluating what we’re trying to do to get this turned around,” Wollmering said, dodging a direct answer. “It’s like somebody said to me on the way out Saturday. He said, ‘Jerry, you need to find a way to get this thing turned around.’ So I don’t think anybody would argue that we want our men’s basketball program to be successful on the court.”

Wollmering can choose to look past the regular-season records and look at postseason success, which is where Schrader and Sloop have a large gap in their resumes.

Schrader led the Bulldogs to a 20-9 season in 2004-05 and berth in the NCAA tournament. And he led the team to its best season postseason finish in school history with a Final Four appearance in 1998-1999.

Postseason success is a great thing to have and could be the deciding factor for Wollmering’s decision. But how much does postseason success matter in the long run? Following the Final Four appearance 12 years ago, Schrader has led the men to one winning season and a 24.3 winning percentage in the MIAA.

This leads to another question for Wollmering: How long is the grace period for a coach that leads his team to a Final Four and another NCAA appearance?

“That’s part of the thought process,” Wollmering said. “Again, we want to have a successful program, and we’re trying to figure out what we can do to get that turned around.”

And the struggles figure to continue into the near future. The Bulldogs had two players on this year’s squad — forward Ethan Freeman and guard Alex Henderson — who made All-MIAA. Both will be gone next year, as well as two other key seniors. The ’Dogs will lose 52 percent of their offensive production. The relative lack of success despite a large group of seniors is another similarity to Sloop, as Sloop coached four senior starters in his final season.

Schrader has always stressed player development, and in both of his NCAA tournament seasons there were a myriad of seniors. Heading into next season the team will have little experience and it figures to not have another large senior class for a number of years.

Schrader has a few things going for him other than the NCAA tournaments. He has played professional basketball in Europe and its clear he knows plenty about basketball. It also is obvious that he cares a lot about his players and wants them to succeed in all aspects of life. And in the last couple years Schrader has stopped incessantly berating referees.

On a personal level — not that this plays a part in Wollmering’s decision — I appreciate that Schrader does not BS the media. He doesn’t sugar-coat tough losses and he doesn’t force cliché responses if we ask a dumb question. He will also let us know if he does not like something that was printed.

Back to what matters for Wollmering. Men’s basketball, which receives more scholarships per player than any other sport at Truman. The scholarships it receives are the middle of the pack in the MIAA, unlike most Truman male sports.

“Our mission and our vision statement supports the idea that a sport like basketball, offering full tuition room and board scholarships, bears the responsibility of being competitive and having athletic success,” Wollmering said to the Index after the Sloop decision.”

We invest significantly more resources per student athlete in the sport of basketball than any other collegiate sport at Truman. Our average scholarship in basketball is almost twice as much as in any other sport on campus.”

Wollmering set the bar three years ago for required success in basketball when he decided not to renew John Sloop’s contract after eight losing seasons in the MIAA. Will Jack Schrader’s two NCAA appearances make the difference this time around, or has the bar possibly changed?

Monday afternoon I was making my way through the Grim Smith parking lot on the way to interview a coach. It has become a Monday ritual for me. Usually the walk from my last class of the day across campus to Grim Smith is quiet. Generally it comes during a time when most people are in class. It is rare for me to pass someone during my trip. Occasionally I see a maintenance worker or two standing outside the entrance of the converted hospital but that’s usually about as exciting as it gets. Usually.

Needless to say I was more than a little surprised to see 11 men poor out of the entrance I take to access the second floor of Grim Smith. They congregated under the DPS carport around a gentleman wearing a tie. The scene was out of place.

I politely navigate through the group and continued on with my day. It wasn’t until I sat down at my computer that night that I realized I had witnessed Truman athletic history as it had been happening.

What I had seen outside Grim Smith was the Truman men’s golf team. Most likely they had just received the news that at the end of this semester their program would no longer be sponsored by the university.

Like most people on campus I was shocked when I heard about the budgetary cuts to the men’s athletic program. I hope that all the golfers can find a new outlet next year after their sport is discontinued. Monday was a sad day in Truman history but managing money is just a part of life. I don’t blame anyone but it certainly is a shame.

Monday was the most noteworthy walk across campus I think I will ever take.

I’d like to take this chance to congratulate two of the hardest working and nicest student athlete’s I have met since I got to Truman. Senior forward Ethan Freeman and guard Alex Henderson both passed the 1,000 point mark Wednesday against Lincoln University.

Both of these players have always made themselves available to me for interviews whenever I have asked. They’ve the two guys on the team everyone looks to for leadership. They have been through four tough years here at Truman but have still put up individual numbers that are among the best in school history.

Henderson also was announced this week as an Academic all-American, the 95th Truman athlete to receive the award.

I respect both of these men a lot. They are class acts. When Truman loses badly on the road and I’m up against deadline they always pick up their phones when I call even though I’m sure that giving me quotes after a loss is the last thing in the world they want to do. When the Bulldogs lose they shoulder the blame and when they win they share it with the team. That is leadership.

I couldn’t pick two nicer Truman athletes to become thousand point scorers. Congratulations to Ethan and Alex on their success on and off the basketball court. Replacing them will not be easy for the men’s basketball team next year.

This blog is an unapologetic appeal to Albert Pujols. Cardinal fan or not, you are no doubt aware of the ridiculous production the man has put up over the last 10 years.

His stats are not that much different from Stan “the Man” Musial. I’m sure you have seen the numbers compared over and over again the last few weeks so I will spare you the extra reading here.

This situation seems simple to me, especially considering that the most recent offer was for 8 years at or above $25 million per year. I know in the world of baseball that is a big gap but upping the price on beer and hot dogs a few bucks could put a pretty decent dent in financing “the Pujols gap.” The team already is upping ticket prices on the 300 million plus who will file into Busch Stadium this summer.

Albert and the Cardinals are both having trouble coming to grips with what needs to happen for Albert to stay in St. Louis. I think both sides need to calm down and take a look at what is at stake.

At the Spruce street entrance on Busch Stadium’s third base side stands a statue of Stan “the Man” Musial which has served as a landmark for St. Louisans for years. On one side it displays the name of the greatest Cardinal ever to live. On the other side is home to a quote from a speech delivered by former baseball commissioner Ford C. Frick at Musial’s retirement ceremony: “Here stands baseball’s perfect warrior. Here stands baseball’s perfect knight.”

Albert Pujols can leave St. Louis. There are other places that can offer him more cash and other places that can offer him fans with passion. But nowhere else can offer him a chance to be mentioned along side Stan Musial.

If he leaves St. Louis he forfeits his chance to play his entire career with one team like the greats did. He gives up his chance to be considered greater or equal to Stan Musial. He forfeits his chance to have a statue on the first base side of Busch that reads:

“Here stands baseball’s constant champion. Here stands baseball’s fearless prince.”

Other cities have tradition. Other cities have icons. Many of them at the same level of those in St. Louis but none the same as those in St. Louis.

Pujols has put in ten years in “Baseball Heaven.” It’d be a shame if he didn’t finish the job.

So I don’t think anyone was surprised that Jerry Jones was bent on breaking the Super Bowl attendance record last Sunday in Arlington, Texas. I don’t think anyone was surprised they sold seats outside the stadium for fans to watch the game on giant TV screens, that they tried to add extra seats so that they could squeeze in additional fans at each end zone, or that some paying fans were even given folding chairs to sit in during the game.

None of those things surprised me. The NFL usually does what it pleases and gets away scot free.

What surprised me was how NFL fans called the league’s bluff this past Wednesday filing a federal law suit against the league, Jerry Jones, and the Dallas Cowboys claiming that the temporary seating was not satisfactory. 1,250 fans were displaced due to the league’s failure to provide their ticketed last Sunday.

One Thousand fans are suing the three above entities in a case that could end up paying out $15 million by the time it is all said and done.

The fans taking a stand against the mighty NFL who promised them seats they failed to deliver is nice to see. Keep an eye on this situation. It should be interesting to watch.

Also remember that a possible lock out may be looming. Maybe the NFL should take this a stern reminder that Americans don’t like being alienated.

By the way, Jones and his 1.2 billion dollar football palace fell 776 fans short of making history. Guess that is what you get when you try to pull the wool over your fans eyes.

It was yet another Monday morning at the orthodontist. The monthly visits to the office my mom worked at was a common theme throughout my first two years of high school.

The trips were monotonous, painful, and mandated that I be up early in the morning. Needless to say I was not a big fan. Their major redeeming quality was the Chick-Fil-A breakfast sandwich that generally followed.

But on February 4, 2008 I didn’t mind pilling into the car and driving to my orthodontist. It meant I got to skip class and watch Sportscenter. I didn’t mind having another human being jam both hands halfway into my head because I got to watch the previous night’s Super Bowl highlights.

In 2008 the New York Giants knocked off the New England Patriots 17-14 in one of the greatest Super Bowls of all time. We all remember it. Eli Manning refusing to be sacked as he completed a pass to mostly unknown wide receiver David Tyre.

It was Super Bowl magic and it was only made better by the fact that Tom Brady and the Pats were a perfect 18-0 entering their show down with the Giants.

I can still see David Tyre falling backward onto the grass at University of Phoenix Stadium with the ball pinned to his helmet. Those kinds of images are what make sports great. They’re the reason I love the Super Bowl.

We all have those favorite images. Mike Jones making “the tackle” in 2000, Broadway Joe Namath running off the field with his finger wagging after Super Bowl three, John Elway diving into the end zone against the Falcons, Brett Favre sprinting across the field like a little boy after beating the Patriots, or even just two years ago when Santonio Holmes managed to keep two feet in bounds.

There are so many great Super Bowl memories there isn’t room here to list them all. The Super Bowl is distinctly American. It is always filled with hype and offers the potential for role players and superstars alike to become legends. I bet David Tyre never buys his own lunch in New York ever again.

That day sitting in that dentist chair watching Tyre bring down that ball over and over again was one of the greatest mornings of my life. It was cold, early, and my teeth hurt but I got the chance to stretch out the Super Bowl magic, even if just for a few extra hours.

Here is to the Super Bowl. Let’s hope this Sunday provides just as many memories as the years before.

The MIAA has officially voted on scheduling for women’s soccer and football for the fall of 2012. The scheduling includes the four universities involved in the conference expansion.

As pointed out in an Index article, the women’s soccer schedule is a 14-team round-robin format (two MIAA schools do not sponsor women’s soccer) in which every team plays every else once. It allows for 13 conference matches and 5 non-con matches.

The women’s soccer schedule makes sense. First, The coaches want the round-robin format. Second, it allows Truman to play more games against regional competition. Third, it allows Truman more room to knock out 2-3 matches in a weekend tournament, thus reducing travel.

The football schedule is more unique and something I have never seen before. Every school has a designated ‘rival’ that it plays every year. The other 14 schools are scheduled on an 8-year rotating basis.

Sports editor Logan Jackson made a valid argument in a column last week about how the rivalry format will affect Truman’s natural rivalry with Northwest.

My goal here is to take a look at how the format will affect Truman as far as travel costs. It’s clear that it won’t add up to a massive TV contract with ESPN or any other result that will increase revenue. But that’s not the goal of Div. II expansion anyway.

So whether the expansion will benefit Truman in football comes down to, in the most part, travel costs. Here are the distances to the 15 conference schools in miles according to google maps:

Northwest Mo. – 160

Central Mo. – 166

Western Mo. – 159

Southwest Baptist – 236

Southern Mo. – 331

Lincoln – 114

Pittsburg St. – 306

Emporia St. – 288

Hays – 450

Washburn – 244

UNO – 255

=            =            =

Lindenwood – 173

Kearney – 431

Northeastern St. – 447

Central Okla. – 518

In a 10-team football conference (like 2010), Truman averaged 1441 miles traveled per year, averaged out to 11 conference games.

In a 12-team conference with Lincoln and SBU added, Truman would have averaged 1354.5 miles per year.

The rivalry format is a little more complicated to add up, but in an 8-year period Truman will play Lindenwood on the road four times and everyone else three times. The average distance per year then is 1618.5 miles.

Not good.

Not a surprise either, as three of Truman’s four longest distances will be new to the conference.

Would another 16-team format have worked better? I don’t know. Athletic Director suggested one time to have a Missouri conference and a non-Missouri conference. However, that would separate Southern and Pittsburg State, the two closest schools in the conference.

A ‘pod’ format was also discussed. Again, I’m not sure how that would have worked out.

What I do know is that the status quo of a 10- or 12-team conference is cheaper than a 16-team rivalry format.