March 3, 2012

Random Soapbox for Saturday 3/3/12

I don't mean to go off on a rant here, but ...

... there's a time and a place when the spirit of the law needs to be honored instead of the letter of the law.

Want an example? How about the Omaha Burke High School girls basketball team, who recently played their rivals Columbus High and wore pink in support of a Make-A-Wish Fundraiser -- and who were then called for a technical foul after the Columbus Athletic Director raised the issue to the officials. Why? Because state rules say that home teams must wear white.

Look -- I can already hear the arguments of the need for bright line rules and the slippery slope of how one exception would lead to a destruction of the integrity of the game. But with the strains of "No Good Deed Goes Unpunished" as background music slowly building to a crescendo to accompany my thoughts ... surely there can be exceptions made when youth are being taught to give back to the community -- to think of others instead of themselves -- to exhibit charitable behavior.

And I know that not everyone manages to escape Plato's cave to learn the difference between the "reality" of the shadows vs. the "reality" of the blinding sun of truth -- but once presented to the refs (and I blame the AD for even bringing it up), couldn't they have somehow found a Solomonesque solution that could honor the spirit of what the Burkian girls were attempting to do?

Shame on you, Columbus High AD and coaches! Fie on you, game officials for your foul behavior! Kudos, Burke High girls bball team, for standing up for recognizing reputable worthwhile charities!

[By the way, I'm doing something different this year, and celebrating FB birthdays by donating $1.00 for each one that is publicly posted to one of my favorite charities. The calendar is set for each month for the rest of the year, and here's the upcoming line-up (referenced in case someone wants to move their 100 pennies to a different organization than the calendar dictates):

MAR -- PAWS
APR -- Lustgarten Foundation
MAY -- National MS Society
JUN -- Vital Bridges
JUL -- Save the Children
AUG -- Muscular Dystrophy Association
SEP -- Autism Speaks
OCT -- Susan G Komen for the Cure
NOV -- Greater Chicago Food Depository
DEC -- Trevor Project.]

HECK, I'VE TURNED WHITES TO PINK JUST BY LAUNDERING THINGS WRONG:
http://www.omaha.com/article/20120208/NEWS01/702079815

THE CHARITABLE ORGANIZATION INDIRECTLY AFFECTED IN NEBRASKA:
http://nebraska.wish.org/

NO GOOD DEED GOES UNPUNISHED:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9D7y0omnN4

No comments:

Post a Comment