Lori Posted May 19, 2010 Posted May 19, 2010 Maybe not, but it certainly exposes the lengths to which some people will go shift blame/point fingers/keep something out of the paper, regardless of whether or not it's true. You know this. True. Goes back to, if the kid had thought twice before acting -- or thought about it the first time, as the case may be -- there wouldn't have been any story to print. You only cover our team when we do something stupid!
GOBILLS78 Posted May 19, 2010 Posted May 19, 2010 True. Goes back to, if the kid had thought twice before acting -- or thought about it the first time, as the case may be -- there wouldn't have been any story to print. You only cover our team when we do something stupid! Like you, I probably wouldn't have done it unless charges were made. If he were charged, his name would have definitely been in, no doubt about it. What would you do?
KD in CA Posted May 19, 2010 Posted May 19, 2010 Related question: what do you guys think about the BHC printing his name? That's created its own stir:http://www2.tricities.com/tri/news/opinion...ds_by_it/46249/ (Full disclosure: I know Jim Sacco, the new SE there, but the story and the decision to run the name came from news, not sports.) Very unnecessary IMO. This was a harmless prank; no one was hurt. I'd bet money than 90% of us here did something at least as stupid when we were that age. Kid deserves a one game suspension from the team and some type of 'pick up garbage around the field for a week' punishment; not to have his name smeared across the world wide tubes. But it's always nice to be reminded of how glad I am to have grown up in the 80s.
Clip Smith Posted May 19, 2010 Posted May 19, 2010 This was not a "stupid" childish prank. This was a premeditated act of ultimate disrespect. Urinating in public for show during the national anthem, especially at a time of war, isn't idiotic, it's borderline treason. Even when I was 15......if I was on that kid's team....right after the anthem ended I would go and beat the living daylights out of him until the rest of the team pulled me off. The world has quickly turned into a bunch of rodents.
el Tigre Posted May 19, 2010 Author Posted May 19, 2010 Even when I was 15......if I was on that kid's team....right after the anthem ended I would go and beat the living daylights out of him until the rest of the team pulled me off. Wow. You must've been an angry kid.
SageAgainstTheMachine Posted May 19, 2010 Posted May 19, 2010 This was not a "stupid" childish prank. This was a premeditated act of ultimate disrespect. Urinating in public for show during the national anthem, especially at a time of war, isn't idiotic, it's borderline treason. Even when I was 15......if I was on that kid's team....right after the anthem ended I would go and beat the living daylights out of him until the rest of the team pulled me off. The world has quickly turned into a bunch of rodents. Yep, rodents who think that aggravated assault is an appropriate response to public urination. By the way, don't be such a drama queen. Treason? Gimme a break. You honestly think this was politically motivated and not just a teenager being a dumbass?
bills_fan Posted May 19, 2010 Posted May 19, 2010 Yep, rodents who think that aggravated assault is an appropriate response to public urination. By the way, don't be such a drama queen. Treason? Gimme a break. You honestly think this was politically motivated and not just a teenager being a dumbass? Exactly. And this teenager will have to answer for it every time he is googled or on almost any job interview because the newspaper decided to name him (with the news department voting 7-0 to include his name). Nice guys there.
BuffaloBill Posted May 19, 2010 Posted May 19, 2010 Ah, to be young and stupid again... Related question: what do you guys think about the BHC printing his name? That's created its own stir: http://www2.tricities.com/tri/news/opinion...ds_by_it/46249/ (Full disclosure: I know Jim Sacco, the new SE there, but the story and the decision to run the name came from news, not sports.) I'm sure it was obvious to anyone who was there who did it so IMO it would be foolish for the press to pretend this was a "hidden" fact.
Steely Dan Posted May 19, 2010 Posted May 19, 2010 Very unnecessary IMO. This was a harmless prank; no one was hurt. I'd bet money than 90% of us here did something at least as stupid when we were that age. Kid deserves a one game suspension from the team and some type of 'pick up garbage around the field for a week' punishment; not to have his name smeared across the world wide tubes. But it's always nice to be reminded of how glad I am to have grown up in the 80s. I'm willing to bet that the vast majority of people here, if any, have never pulled "it" out in the middle of a stadium during the National Anthem. What he hell did you do? You musta done some crazy stuff if you think this is no big deal. The kid might have had to register as a sex offender.
Lori Posted May 19, 2010 Posted May 19, 2010 Like you, I probably wouldn't have done it unless charges were made. If he were charged, his name would have definitely been in, no doubt about it. What would you do? To be honest, because we just got a new ME a couple of weeks ago, I'm not sure how our cityside would handle it. (The one who left to jump to a 100k as a reporter once quoted the phrase "s*** list" in a Page 1 hed -- without the asterisks -- so I'm guessing he wouldn't have had a problem running the name.) That said, we're a chain of small-town weeklies that definitely tend toward the "community paper" side of the line. No pompom-waving boosterism -- not in my copy, anyway -- but I do tend to tread lightly where prep athletes are concerned. As in, not printing a beatdown on a 15-year-old kid from either team for bricking a free throw or booting a ground ball. If the police had been called, it would have been logged in our blotter even if charges weren't filed (and I note that Bristol's original piece was written by their cops-and-courts reporter), but I honestly don't think I would have sought out this story. Of course, if the star QB/point guard/home run hitter gets himself suspended, you have to explain it somehow. I ran into that last year when one of Hometown High's team captains got tossed out of a game, which means an automatic one-game vacation in our state. Fortunately, I had several people I could lean on for advice -- hat tips to Pollock, Graham, and TBN's Budd Bailey, among others -- and we agreed there was no need to go all Woodward and Bernstein on the kid. High school coaches, on the other hand, are supposed to know better. This is the top of today's OTH sports front: Baseball coach benched at A-L
ieatcrayonz Posted May 19, 2010 Posted May 19, 2010 This used to happen in Little League all the time, especially when I was about 6, but it never made the paper. It wasn't always during the anthem but the mess was still the same. I remember a few times there were pools of piss between second and third when they let Ronnie Crandall play shortstop. In one game 6 kids were called out for running out of the baseline. Nobody cared. After a while, Ronnie only played outfield. Now when Timmy Johnson crapped his pants sliding into home I'm pretty sure that one made the paper. Timmy's family had to move to Idaho.
PushthePile Posted May 20, 2010 Posted May 20, 2010 IMO, this kid did something stupid and should be punished accordingly. Reasonable Punishment -team suspension -apology issued to team -loss of any captain privileges or special honors -counseling from coaching staff and parents Unreasonable Punishment -getting ass kicked -name made public in the media -public humiliation -damage to future All this talk of disrespecting vets and the flag is just ridiculous. A highschool kid gave into peer pressure and did something immature. Why is this news?
MarkAF43 Posted May 20, 2010 Posted May 20, 2010 my take on the naming in the paper thing, don't be a moron who gets yourself negative attention to begin with, and you wouldn't have to worry about it.... I'm ok with it.... it might be naive of me, and I readily admit that, but if it wasn't done, then they could have written about how the kids a pretty decent ballplayer or something...
stevestojan Posted May 20, 2010 Posted May 20, 2010 The fact that the source felt the need to write a VERY lengthy explanation on why they printed his name should let you know something is not quite right there. He's a minor. He did something really stupid. And it was during the national anthem. But you internet tough guys need to realize that most companies Google search before even moving a candidate on in the hiring process. In 8 years when he's looking for a career.... well, Google cache doesn't go away. Now this teenager, who pissed in public during the national anthem has this on his "record" permanently. Absolutely ridiculous to print a minor's name because (based on their logic) everyone in that Podunk town might already know his name.
Clip Smith Posted May 20, 2010 Posted May 20, 2010 I don't think it should have been in the papers I don't think the kid should be punished long term for what he did or need to worry about getting a job because of this What the kid needed was to get his ass kicked at the time by someone to teach him about respect...which he obviously doesn't have. This was a case of ultimate disrespect, urination, in public during a time of what should have been ultimate respect, the playing of your country's national anthem. It was a -10 action during a +10 time. To me, that deserves an asskicking. Now excuse me......I have to go drop a deuce at some 6 year old girl's funeral. Heck...$10 can go buy me a Lady Gaga MP3. Sweet!
GOBILLS78 Posted May 20, 2010 Posted May 20, 2010 That said, we're a chain of small-town weeklies that definitely tend toward the "community paper" side of the line. No pompom-waving boosterism -- not in my copy, anyway -- but I do tend to tread lightly where prep athletes are concerned. As in, not printing a beatdown on a 15-year-old kid from either team for bricking a free throw or booting a ground ball.If the police had been called, it would have been logged in our blotter even if charges weren't filed (and I note that Bristol's original piece was written by their cops-and-courts reporter), but I honestly don't think I would have sought out this story. OK, a kid on the team you're covering for your newspaper misses two free-throws with 1 second left that could have won the state championship. Instead of winning the title, they lose by one. Please, please tell me you're printing the kid's name.
Lori Posted May 21, 2010 Posted May 21, 2010 No problem with running the name in that situation, although I do know some people who would disagree. (Thankfully, very few of them are in our business.) Just saying that although I'm not writing any "the kids tried real hard and we're still proud of them even though they lost 56-0" stories, I'm also not going to torch a kid in print the same way I would, say, McKelvin after the fumble against New England. And the superintendent's voicemail rant aside, I think most high school kids are more resilient than we give them credit for.
billsrcursed Posted May 21, 2010 Posted May 21, 2010 The fact that the source felt the need to write a VERY lengthy explanation on why they printed his name should let you know something is not quite right there. He's a minor. He did something really stupid. And it was during the national anthem. But you internet tough guys need to realize that most companies Google search before even moving a candidate on in the hiring process. In 8 years when he's looking for a career.... well, Google cache doesn't go away. Now this teenager, who pissed in public during the national anthem has this on his "record" permanently. Absolutely ridiculous to print a minor's name because (based on their logic) everyone in that Podunk town might already know his name. Ok, two questions for ya; If you're in charge of hiring for your company and this qualified young man suddenly has a hit on your "GOOGLE" tactics that dates back 8+ years to when he was a teenager, are you now not going to hire him because of that??? Be serious for a minute, please... Second question; your son is playing in a Baseball game so you, the wife, and your young daughter go to watch him play. Then, some punk kid who thinks he's cool whips out his "yahoo" and starts pissing in front of you guys during the National Anthem. Still think this incident shouldn't follow him around for a while???? As a parent of two daughters I can tell you this right now; a kid pulling out his ding dong would not have been the only story at the field that day....
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