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Friday evening DIII clubs in the Empire GU found out that Old Blue is free
to use DI players in its DIII playoff game if the club wants to.
Clubs began asking as early as Tuesday about eligibility for the DIII
playoffs, but didn't receive confirmation until 8:30pm Eastern Time on
Friday of Old Blue's status.
In fact, for many years DIII clubs have had few regulations governing
lineups. A club that fields a team in DI or in the old Super League could,
theoretically, put those DI players on their DIII playoff team. There are
documented accounts of some clubs doing that in some positions - certainly
not all and certainly not with a large number of regular starters.
|But DIII clubs that are exclusively DIII continue to be displeased with
the practice.
But whether the practice is right or wrong, what has really rankled the
teams is that a question was asked by Syracuse Chargers club president Jeff
Devennie on April 22:
"What is the process and procedure for CIPP checks for the weekends games,
if any. Also how does any club determine what OB players are eligible to
play in a D3 game? I am certain that there is criteria based on number of
games a player has been on the roster for a higher division game. What are
the rules and how will they be enforced?"
OB here means the Old Blue club, which has teams in DI and DIII.
This question was not answered in any official capacity until 8:30pm on
April 25, when JC Whipple informed all teams of Empire GU President Mike
Crafton's note that there is only one restriction for DIII clubs - the
player must have been CIPP'd before March 15, 2014.
There is little expectation that Old Blue, which has a DI playoff game
against Life coming up, will load up their DIII team with DI players. But
they could if they wanted to.