Common sense over rules
Gene Steinmeyer
I guess I never thought about it until I saw the movie “Happy Gilmore.” I know it’s just a comedy. Adam Sandler, a failed hockey player, makes it big on the PGA Tour. Happy treated golf like a game of hockey. He encouraged the type of fan enthusiasm you would see at a hockey game.
Who decided that everyone should be quiet when a professional golfer addresses his ball? The instant the ball is hit, you hear someone in the crowd yell, “You’re the man!” Why not yell that as he or she steps up to the ball? You might bring a whole new group of fans to the game of golf.
The same can be said of tennis. What would it hurt to yell all the way through one of Serena Williams’ 100-mile per hour serves? I would find it hard to sit through a long match without yelling something incorrectly. I know the chair umpire would have a few nasty words and a dirty look for me.
School districts sometimes fail to use common sense when enforcing a rule. In one out-of-state school district, a 5-year-old boy was sent home. His crime was he had a Mohawk haircut. If that had been a Kansas City school, a bunch of boys would have been sent home during the World Series. No one had a better Mohawk than Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer.
A 6-year-old boy was suspended at a Colorado school on sexual harassment charges. When I heard that, I tried to think what I could have done at 6 years old to deserve punishment. I don’t think I could have known what sexual harassment meant.
The Colorado boy’s offense was he kissed the hand of one of his female classmates. That school might have to ban the movies like Cinderella, where chivalry like kissing a girl’s hand was considered classy.
A Maryland boy was suspended for two days when he tried to chew his Pop Tart into a work of art. He explained that he tried to make a mountain shape out of his Pop Tart. Unfortunately, his teacher and administrator thought it looked more like a gun. He was only 7 when he made his food art.
When the story got to the media, the boy was a hero to one organization. The National Rifle Association awarded the young man a lifetime membership to its organization.
Another boy received a three-day suspension when he pointed his finger at a classmate and said, “Boom!” Playing cops and robbers is getting tougher and tougher.
The saddest story I read about was a young girl that had a friend fighting cancer. The friend had lost all her hair. Her friend shaved her hair to show support. Her school didn’t buy it and sent her home with a dress code violation.
My son, Sam, is now in high school. I have seen several of the girls’ and boys’ basketball games. I think the Maryville student body is the most imaginative group I have seen anywhere. I especially liked the ESPN group at the Savannah game. Not only did they have their play-by-play people, but there was a sideline reporter.
The Maryville administration encourages their creativity. A lot students not playing sports still get involved as part of the student body, the cheerleaders, the dance team or the great Spoofhound band.
Not all organizations that control high school sports are so encouraging. In Wisconsin, students have to be careful what they chant. Any “airball” or “scoreboard” will get you ejected. I guess they want to eliminate fun in Wisconsin.
When I coached at Doane College, a friend of mine had his team ranked the No. 1 seed in the high school state tournament in the biggest school division. =His wife and son were getting ready for a weekend of excitement as his school, Lincoln Southeast, attempted to win a state championship.
The coach’s wife complained of a bad headache to a friend earlier in the day. When their son got home from elementary school, he found his mom unconscious on the floor with a cerebral hemorrhage.
They rushed her to the hospital. She was put on life support, but the doctors told her husband she wouldn’t recover. She was kept alive overnight as organ donations were arranged.
My friend rushed to his wife’s side and comforted his son. The team had to play its first round game. The assistant coaches led the grieving team to a win in the quarterfinals.
The players wanted to put a patch on their uniforms to honor their head coach’s wife. However, the Nebraska School Activities Association denied the request citing rules on patches. Where was the common sense? These kids weren’t putting advertisements on their jerseys.
The team won the state championship anyway with the head coach and his son on the bench. His players responded for him and his family.
On May 22, 2011, the Joplin School District was graduating its senior class. As the graduates and their families were headed home for the graduation parties, tornado warnings were issued. The tornado that hit was more devastating than anyone could imagine. Of the 158 that died that day, one was a 12-year-old Joplin boy.
That 12-year-old boy would have graduated from Joplin High School this May. The mother of the 12-year-old asked the school if they could have an empty seat in honor of her son. The school board turned down the idea, citing a school policy.
How can a school have a policy that doesn’t allow a small gesture to honor a fallen classmate? You almost have to make something up on the spur of the moment. Sometimes common sense is better than rules.
