A quick note of ‘thanks’ to all of you who write to let me know how much you enjoy my opinions!  It is GREAT to be universally loved!  In honor of the Academy Awards, which were just televised, I feel I should channel Sally Fields from 1985: “You like me!”

Unless, of course, you don’t.  And you know who you are.

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The San Antonio Express-News reported last week that the New Braunfels Unicorns were stripped of their 2008 and 2009 District 26-5A team tennis championships by the district’s executive committee due to rules violations that were brought to light after complaints from ‘other schools’ regarding private instruction of athletes off campus prior to the conclusion of the school day.

The New Braunfels ISD had offered a physical education course, the NEWKS PE class, which allowed members to take off-campus tennis instruction at John Newcombe Tennis Ranch in New Braunfels for a PE credit. UIL regulations state that coaching during school hours must come from a full-time district employee.  Presumably, Newcombe Tennis Ranch instructors did not meet that standard.

District titles have been taken away before in multiple sports, so this, in and of itself, isn’t huge news outside of New Braunfels, except for the fact that the Unicorns are also the back-to-back state champions of 2008 and 2009.

To add to the intrigue, the Express-News reports that a parent (of a student from another school) hired a private investigator to come in and spy on New Braunfels, according to District 26-5A director and San Antonio Reagan principal Bill Boyd.

Although neither the parent nor the other school is identified in the report, New Braunfels supporters seem to have focused attention on Austin Westlake as the culprit.

Westlake is a four-time state tennis champion, most recently in 2007 when, coincidentally, New Braunfels was the Class 4A state champion.  New Braunfels was realigned to Class 5A in the 2008-2010 UIL realignment.

At least some New Braunfels fans believe, right or wrong, that Westlake has developed a case of trophy envy since the Unicorns became a 5A program.

What still remains to be determined is the punishment, if any, that the UIL’s executive committee will mete out. The UIL has already begun an investigation.  Meanwhile, New Braunfels is already planning to appeal the District 26-5A ruling.

If rules were broken—whether knowingly or unwittingly—then there must be punishment, as painful as it may be for the kids who thought they had earned district and state titles.  And it would truly be a shame for students to lose a title due to the carelessness of a school’s faculty or administration.  But, by all accounts, the NBISD has offered the course in question for over 25 years, with no complaints filed until now.

So that leads to the question, who has the time and money to spend on a private eye to go stalk high school kids in the hopes of taking away a trophy?  And a better question is this: how can I get that person to give some of that money to me?