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IN 2007, LET'S PUT SPORTS INTO PROPER
PERSPECTIVE
KC Sports & Fitness--January 2007
By John Landsberg
One can only hope that the year 2007 will bring some sensibility to folks. One
way we can all do that is to put sports---all sports---into the proper
perspective in the new year.
Two things happened in 2006 have made me think that as a nation things are
getting out of whack. Follow me on this and let me know if you agree.
The first occurred in Needham, Mass., where the principal of Needham High School
decided to stop printing the names of students who make the honor roll in the
local newspaper. One parent caused this action because she felt the publishing
of the honor roll “is a constant cause of stress in her family.”
As part of full disclosure, it should be noted that anyone who went to Bay
Village High School in Ohio with me will verify that I was never even close to
making the Honor Roll. Most of my time was expended in an effort to just stay in
school. In college the closest I ever came to a 4.0 was when I took a
breathalyzer test.
Back to the story: After this woman brought this issue up other parents jumped
on the bandwagon. Why should smart kids be recognized for their hard work in
getting good grades?
I only wished that ONE parent would have said, “Let’s not print the names of the
star athletes in the high school. All it does it put pressure on the kids who
are not star athletes.” It never happened.
The second thing that showed me the world is out of whack occurred in the tiny
town of Kenton, Ohio (pop. 8,000). It’s pretty much a rural town with nearly
half the town attending the high school’s football games. Yes, about half the
town!!
The high school plays in the small school division, but has won two state titles
and its football players rule the community. If you don’t believe it check out
this story:
The team’s star quarterback Dailyn Campbell is a stud athlete. Well stud and
four friends thought it would be funny to put a fake deer in the middle of a
rural road and watch as drivers tried to swerve to miss the “deer.”
Unfortunately, it wasn’t real funny when a college student swerved to miss the
fake deer and flipped his car nearly 500 feet until it slammed into a fence.
(The driver has since had 12 surgeries; his 17-year-old passenger suffered brain
damage.)
The local judge didn’t want to screw up the football season over such a
meaningless incident, so he postponed the 60-day juvenile hall sentence of the
stud quarterback and his wide receiver until the football season ended. No use
blowing a chance for a good football season.
As luck would have it, right before the big game the stud quarterback was
suspended from the team for “violating team and school rules.” Word was he was
caught drinking (go figure) and then was forced to begin serving his sentence
earlier than expected.
In 2007 let’s all make an effort to bring some sanity into the world. Kids who
make any honor roll---grade school, middle school, high school,
whatever---should be recognized for their efforts.
We can still give the athletic stars recognition. They work hard and deserve it.
But, let’s balance things out in the future where top students are also
recognized properly for their efforts.
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