High school Halo 2 tournament quashed by school officials
The Ann Arbor News reported this weekend about a high school junior's plans for a school-sanctioned Halo 2 tournament, which was canceled after local police got wind of it. Zach Wigal had hacked through a jungle of bureaucracy for nine months while planning the tournament, spending $650 of his own cash on a permit, printing 2,500 fliers, and clearing the idea with school officials.
Four days before the event, Wigal's dad made a courtesy call to the cops, letting them know than an estimated 300 gamers were about to descend on the high school commons, suggesting that the officer might want to attend for security reasons. That set off a chain reaction of concerned phone calls that ended up with the school officials rescinding their permission for the tournament, ostensibly because "kids 17 and under playing an M-rated game for money is not something appropriate for the high school." A reasonable decision, but one that they were perfectly capable of making, oh, nine months ago.
Zach Wigal had better hope he gets that $650 back.
