This Is Why Maryland Has A Crime Problem
I believe it's not a stretch to say that the counties of Maryland near the nation's capitol have a crime problem. Most public figures in that state think it's a gun problem, even though they already have some of the most restrictive gun laws around. No, the root of their crime problem apparently is that they don't treat their criminals like criminals.
I love to skewer the WaPo but today they did a damn good job of uncovering the outrageous preferential treatment a high school football star is receiving, even though he's accused of armed robbery.
There are too many good quotes to include them all here, but I will have to use one:
"I'm just going to go out and prove what I can do on the field," Lazear [the accused armed robber] said. "People can say whatever they want to say to me, but after one play they're not going to be talking anymore. A player is a player no matter where you are. That's my philosophy. I'm just trying to put this all behind me."
You're 17, and you're an accused armed robber. You don't rate a philosophy. Apparently, few if any adults in his life are willing to tell him that.
Shame on that high school for letting him play, and shame on any adult who doesn't take him to task for it. Kudos to the judge and the WaPo reporter for standing up.
Psst, hey Maryland! It's not the guns, it's the criminals.
I love to skewer the WaPo but today they did a damn good job of uncovering the outrageous preferential treatment a high school football star is receiving, even though he's accused of armed robbery.
There are too many good quotes to include them all here, but I will have to use one:
"I'm just going to go out and prove what I can do on the field," Lazear [the accused armed robber] said. "People can say whatever they want to say to me, but after one play they're not going to be talking anymore. A player is a player no matter where you are. That's my philosophy. I'm just trying to put this all behind me."
You're 17, and you're an accused armed robber. You don't rate a philosophy. Apparently, few if any adults in his life are willing to tell him that.
Shame on that high school for letting him play, and shame on any adult who doesn't take him to task for it. Kudos to the judge and the WaPo reporter for standing up.
Psst, hey Maryland! It's not the guns, it's the criminals.
posted by vmijpp at 10:21 AM
2 Comments:
This reminds me of an incident at my high school back in the 80s or early 90s (I graduated in the 70s). I live in the "twin cities" and a star basketball player from the cross-town rivals was accused of sexual assault on a minor. He got kicked off his team... so what does he do? He comes "transfers" to my high school and enrolls with his aunt's address. He joins the basketball team and the (former coach) says "Nope. If he's not eligible on his own team, I'm not going to let him play here!" To which the local school district said "But he's innocent until proven guilty. You HAVE to let him play for you"
Now, being a man of principles, my former teacher said "Like hell I do! Find yourself a new coach" Ultimately, the kids played on our team and I don't remember the sentence he received, but I do remember his act of principles. As he pointed out, he wasn't asking that the boy be in jail (because he WAS innocent until proven guilty), but he felt that the double-standard wasn't fair between 2 adjacent schools. Ironically, it was just last year that the state high school association changed their rules to disallow this sort of action... some 15-20 years after the fact.
Keep up the great work -- and by the way... what is Rule 308?
Wow, I gotta quit taking phone calls while typing comments -- sorry about the poor writing!!
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