High school athlete sentenced to "no sports"

An odd sentence that might cost a college education.

And this ruling comes on the heels of the heat-death aquittal, a decision that's kind of flown under the radar.

From: http://communitypress.cincinnati.com/article/AB/20090917/NEWS0107/909180382

 

Wonder if that will be appealed?


The kid is 19? He has to be a senior, right?

 

Good. Take away stuff he actually cares about and force him to grow up.

 

OK, the caption on one of the photos linked in the story, reads "In an orange jail uniform, the color of the University of Tennessee,....."

FUN WITH CAPTIONS!!

 

That line was great. Wow.

 

Nah, just the Fulmer Cup.

 

Great instead of playing sports, he can spend his time being a hooligan!

 

I couldn't disagree more, at least not in the way the judge did it. Take it away for a year, but give him a chance to earn it back after that.

By doing this, the judge is taking away an important source of structure and discipline in the kid's life. He is taking away a source of motivation to straighten himself out. He is also likely taking away a college scholarship, which just makes it tougher for the kid to become a productive member of society. Basically, I think he is making it a hell of a lot more likely that the kid does end up serving that jail time someday soon.

I did a story a few years back on academic eligibility standards at the high school level. We thought they were kind of low going into the story, but to a person everyone we spoke with said that permanently taking the sport away from a struggling student is a terrible idea. This was from talking to administrators and teachers as well as coaches, athletes and former athletes. They all said that the kid is more likely to pack it in and quit than grow up and start doing things the right way.

This is obviously a different problem, but the same issues apply.

 

I agree, OOP. A sentence in a post-grad Military Academy might work out better for the kid. As it is, I give him the week to be on his way to prison.

 

Wrong. He also has 500 hours of community service to work off — which he can do by, among other things, coaching youth sports — and he's required to either get into either full-time school or a full-time job along with mental-health counseling ... and that's after he sits in county jail until just before Thanksgiving. If he doesn't meet those terms, he goes to prison for eight years.

Supposedly he had a 3.4 GPA in high school. I figure he can get through college without being worshipped for his athletic ability.

 

Nice to know we're not the only ones costing kids scholarships.

 

Now that's funny, only because I've heard it a thousand times. But I think this sentence is perfect. All this kid has is sports, and you need to send a message. If he ends up back in jail, it was merely an inevitability.