a sandwich at the deli shop

anybody else read the L. Wertz column in sept 26 charlotte observer?

http://www.charlotte.com/sports/story/293021.html

the wertz column notes that a providence football player wore his jersey to a sandwich shop in hopes of getting a sandwich. wonder if he wanted a FREE sandwich?

if what wertz said is true ... here's a high school football player already getting into the "athletes get preferential treatment" way of thinking.

don't know about you ... but this idea of young athletes getting special treatment burns my biscuits!

 

I didnt see that at all.. there was nothing at all about anyone getting a free sandwich or preferential treatment.
all i read was a player went to a deli to get a sandwich and he felt the other patrons were staring at him like he did something wrong..

why would you make a post with a link from the Charlotte Observer and then add something that wasnt there ?

 

I dont think that he was expecting preferential treatment but I dont sympathize too much. Providence athletes represent their team on and off the field and they messed up. According to Wertz they didnt get enough punishment.
"A source close to the program tell us five students have been removed from the team, including three starters. They will have to complete some community service projects to play sports at Providence again, the source said. That's not tough enough. They should never play sports at any CMS school again."
CMS and Providence could have used this situation to send a harsh message to its students and the community that there is a zero tolerance for underage drinking, esp if you are an athlete. Thankfully and hopefully it wont take a tradgedy to get the message to kids.. "DO THAT HERE AND YOU ARE OUT" Maybe then this kid wouldnt have not felt paranoid but proud if Providence had taken a tougher stand. And what about the player that was found ineligible?

 

sounds like you might rather they do time at san quentin.. maybe thats enough punishment..

they were taken off the team.. possibly losing all hopes of any college sports scholarship .. and also have this on their record till they are 18...
how much more punishment do you think they should have ?

all the kids were not guilty of drinking .. some just went to a party .. which is perfectly legal to do...

btw: i dont think a high school kid should be held accountable for representing their school after hours when it was not a school event...
maybe the ones that were charged with underage drinking should be held accountable after they are CONVICTED... and maybe suspended from the team until either convicted or innocent

 

Thats not what I said at all. Why would you take it that far? My point is that schools, parents and the community have a responsibility to kids to have a zero tolerance for abusing alcohol. It is a serious and dangerous violation. People get hurt or killed everyday from it. And when you sign onto a team, you become a role model and represent a school and teammates on and off the field. But the bigger issue is schools and coaches have a responsibility to make sure their schools uphold the highest standards allowed. Kids have been kicked off teams, lost scholarships, coaches have forfeited seasons for the same reasons and some less. Its a hard lesson but one that may save a life.
"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."

 

these kids made a mistake...
they have been kicked off the team... suspended from school... possibly ruined any chance of college scholarships...
what more do you want to do to these kids...
the kid that went to the Deli didnt do anything wrong .. he only went to what was supposed to be a small gathering of friends... i'm sure it got out of hand... all the kids at that school or even at that party did nothing wrong...
disipline the bad but dont ruin everyones teenage life...

i'm not condoning drinking.. but i'm also not ready to ruin the majority of the kids lives because of a few who screwed up...

 

I agree with that coach...they dont deserve to have their lives ruined. I guess my frustration is that what can be done to prevent or send a message to keep this from happening again where something worse happens. I know if thses kids could turn back the clock, they would spend that night differently. I just hope that as a community, parents, teachers, coaches and school administrators and counselors, enough is being done and said to educate and get the message out that will prevent underage drinking possibly the "just say no" motto needs to be strongly emphasized more.

 

2nd sentence of the wertz opinion article:

Blalock wore a black Providence football T-shirt, hoping for a sandwich. When he got home, Blalock told his dad, Bill, that he couldn't leave fast enough.

maybe i took it a little far by wondering if he wanted a FREE sandwich.

 

it doesnt say he went in to get a free handout....or preferential treatment

 

no ... it doesn't explicitly say that. but i don't think it's too much of a stretch to infer it.

maybe the player really went to the deli shop "hoping" for a sandwich. that seems a rather odd way to describe the reason for a trip to the deli shop.

do most people go to the deli shop "hoping" for a sandwich? or do they go because they are hungry and are going to buy a sandwich, chips and a drink? guess i don't fall into the group that goes "hoping" for a sandwich ...