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I’m on my soapbox
Have we dummied
things down to the point of ridicules?
By George Starks
I once had something said about me that still goes today. “George is
all about the kids.”
After 28 years of sports in Darke and Randolph Counties, I can honestly
say there were two reasons I did the job that I did. I love being
around the kids. They are still my driving force. My passion for sports
is still there.
Now, with that much tucked away in the can, I will get to my point.
Since the start of the Darke County Fair, two things have happened that
have really opened my eyes to a world of total ignorance.
The first happened at the fair in the cheer competition when the big
stage was replaced by a bunch of mats on a concrete slab. Two comments
were made that day. One was about the fact that we’ve ‘dummied things
down’, for the sake of the safety of the kids. The second was about
someone could easily get hurt as the concrete had no give.
The stage was removed because some brainiac thought some cheerleader
would go flying off and get hurt. I’ve been covering this competition
for many years and I’ve yet to see this happen. Yet on this day, one
young lady from Ansonia was carted off by the rescue squad to the
hospital because she was injured.
Why couldn’t the fairboard just leave well enough alone? Often when we
attempt to make a improvement, we create a disaster. Come on people,
either bring back the stage of do away with the competition.
If we get rid of the competition, we eliminate the chances of anyone
getting hurt. The kids stay safe this way and we never have to worry
about another hospital visit because some twisted or broke their ankle.
WOW… This is a no brainer!
Last but not least happened Friday night in Versailles. The Tigers were
hosting Germantown Valley View and was looking to rebound from a week
one loss at Celina.
With 1:16 remaining in the game, Versailles quarterback Jerrod Niekamp
scampered in from two yards out, giving the Tigers a slim 31-27 lead.
Please keep 1:16 in your mind as you read on.
At that point, someone noticed lightening to the far north. Most of us
figured this was in the Celina area and there was no threat of anyone
being harmed Instead of playing it out and getting the kids off
the field, the game was suspended for 30 minutes and the players were
rushed off the field as if they were cattle going to slaughter.
The boo birds came out on both sides of the field and if it would have
been professional, I would have joined them. How totally ridicules!
Granted the rains did come about an hour or more after the lightening
was first spotted.
I could have understood this action if there had been 11:16 remaining
vs. 1:16. Right before the rains came, the game was officially
suspended and the final 1:16 would be played on Saturday night a 6 pm.
Once again, we dummied it down in the name of safety?
In my opinion, that last few minutes could have been played out instead
of making the Valley View kids travel back to Versailles, an hour and a
half away, to play that little bit of time.
There were better choices that could have been made.
Maybe we should just stop playing all the games and do away with sports
all together. We would never have to worry about our kids being injured
anymore. If we do away with high school sports, that eliminates the
collage and professional sports as well.
Let’s face it, every time we step out on the field of play, regardless
of the sport, our kids are in danger of being injured or even worse.
Have we made things so pathetic that we are actually doing more harm
than good?
I think we need to get back to doing things the way we should. In the
case of the football game, it could have been completed right then and
there.
How much more do we want to DUMMY things down?
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