Schools Know More than Doctors!

Yes, it's true. School officials now know more about the workings of your own body than your doctor. At least, that's what SMU seems to think. This video article about a young girl who won a cheerleading scholarship really got my goat...

And we all know what happens when my goat gets got.

Basically, for those of you afraid to follow links, Jamie Burns has a heart condition not covered by the school's insurance. She wears a pacemaker to correct the problem. This isn't a "new" condition. She's had it for a very long time. She's been cheering for a very long time. Her cardiologist (ya know, the guy that messes with your heart and has a degree specifically to do so) cleared her for activity. She should "avoid contact sports, but cheerleading is okay."

The school said no.

She signed a waiver saying that if something were to happen to her, she wouldn't sue the school.

The school said no.

But, they gave her a scholarship...which she gets to keep. But she doesn't get to cheer. She can clap on the sidelines. She can't do any of the movements associated with cheering.

What's the point?

In her own words, she's being punished for nothing. My guess is she was better than the squad leader and the coach had her favorites. Jamie wasn't one of them. Kinda like that Little League kid, huh? You're too good, Jaime. You make others have to work harder! Curse you!

Apparently, the school (who justifies this by saying she's potentially endangering other people) knows what's best for her and her health. Not her cardiologist. But, apparently, the school also knows they're doing something wrong...because they didn't yoink her scholarship. She gets to keep it...

I thought if you weren't able to participate in the sport, you didn't get the money? Isn't that how a scholarship works? Something's rotten in Texas...

Now, I've had colleges deny me things that I was passionate about. Of course, like the sheep I am, I didn't fight it too much. Not until they insisted I had a bad attitude for which I should be expelled. The idea of having a lawyer make them pay me for attending their college, however, didn't appeal to them, so they left me alone. A small cheer from the deans arose when I accepted my diploma.

But, I digress.

The scenario the sports administrator gave was one of the most unlikely events. If she were to be the base of a pyramid and collapse, she could endanger everyone above her. First of all. That scenario can happen to any cheerleader. I've seen it. Second of all. It's called "SPOTTER" for a reason. Anyone above the second tier relies on a spotter to catch them. Third of all. Cheerleading is a sport. There is risk of injury. If you're that concerned with liability, why have a sports program?

Good grief! Jamie's quite healthy and quite active. She's in excellent physical condition, from what I can see, and she strives to make herself better. And you want to bench her?! She's probably the best cheerleader you will ever have...and that's why you want her on the bench.

Or ... is it something else...

Like the fact she seems to be black.

Oh, yes... I drew the race card...

Before making arbitrary decisions about someone else's life and second-guessing someone who knows more about their field than you do, really consider how it looks to the rest of the world--ya know, the people who may actually have been considering your university...

WAKE UP!!!

I'm sick of being nice.

I'm sick of people blaming everything on other people instead of taking responsibility. This deserves a rant. This deserves a petition. This deserves to have the people in charge sent to a firing range for target practice. With them as the targets.

A nine-year old pitcher has managed to get his Little League Baseball team disbanded. Not because he threw a tantrum and beat some kid up. Not because he cussed his coach out. Not even because he pitched a ball that injured another kid. No. His team is being disbanded because...

...he has a 40mph fast ball.

That's right! He's too damn good, so because they won't play him in another position in which he is not happy and does not excel, the Little League is disbanding his team.

WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This poor kid said (as quoted from the article), "I feel sad. I feel like it's all my fault nobody could play."

HE'S 9!!!!!!!!!!!!

Whatever happened to encouraging and nurturing a talent?! When did we start PUNISHING kids for being good at something?! "He can pitch against older players..." Riiight. Like the coach is going to run an age verification on every opposing player. I think not.

Where is this taking place? New Haven, CT.

This is a totally rich story, too.

Officials told the boy's coach not to let him pitch. The coach didn't understand that logic (nor do I) and when the boy took the mound, the opposing team walked off. That's teaching sportsmanship and maturity.

Yes, instead of teaching your team how to, ya know, bat against a good pitcher, let's punish the player who's doing something he loves and excels at.

Sorta like those stupid "standardized" tests. They punish the people who are intelligent in areas that aren't logic or verbal. You want to know how to squelch a child's psyche? It's not by spanking them for doing something wrong. It's by benching them for being too good.

So, yes. Let's foster mediocrity and wonder why our President thinks it's a "nucular" war and our Vice President thinks a human is a deer. Let's foster bad behavior by allowing the child to dictate his own punishment so he can go out and do something that forces James Hetfield to inconvenience your life. Again.

Then let's blame society for our lack of thought and reason in child-rearing. Let's blame the schools for not offering after-school programs that would foster skills to make the child be---oh, wait! Little League is an after-school program that would foster skills to make the child better...and when it succeeds, it's taken from the child.

Imagine what would have happened if Mendel had his microscope taken from him. Or if Galileo actually caved and went with the geocentric view of the universe. Or if Pierre and Marie Curie had put away their chemistry sets...

Imagine if Babe Ruth had been disallowed to hit. Or Hank Aaron. Or Barry Bonds.

I suggest not being a dumb American and clicking all those links in the last two paragraphs. Unless you're afraid of learning something new. If you are, then I hear there's a trash compactor that needs examination.