Posted on 05/03/2013 2:14:35 AM PDT by markomalley
Some people are outraged after a high school track team is disqualified from competing in state finals because one runner made a religious gesture. In just a few seconds the boys Columbus High School 4 X 100 relay team went from winning the regional meet, heading to state championships to having it all stripped away. How did the "W" so quickly become "DQ"? Well. when the anchor of the relay team crossed the finish line, he won the race, raised his finger to the sky and that gesture caused the winning regional's relay team to be disqualified.
"It's a sad deal. I think it's a travesty. Those kids work hard," says K.C. Hayes. Hayes' son Derrick Hayes is the runner who won the race then pointed to God, turning a once in a lifetime opportunity into a huge heartbreak that will likely last his lifetime. "As a team they reached their goal and in an instant it was just gone, over something we think is a non-issue. I guess someone else thinks it is an issue. He just said dad I was pointing at the heavens" says K.C. Hayes.
A judge with the University Interscholastic League or UIL, which enforces the rules for high school athletics, was there at the meet in Kingsville and made the call to disqualify the four member relay team. "For those kids the work they put in, what are we teaching them? Ok you're going to sacrifice, work hard and do everything it takes and ok it's just ripped away," says Hayes.
"It's a harsh consequence for what some people may deem a small gesture. The rule states no celebratory gestures including raising your arms," explains Columbus I.S.D. Superintendent Robert O'Connor. According to the UIL the relay team was disqualified for "unsporting conduct". The UIL also points out, it does not have a rule prohibiting religious expression. "You can do whatever you want to in terms of prayer, kneeling or whatever you want to once you get out of the competition area. You just can't do it in the competition area. It goes back to the taunting rule. I can't taunt my opponent," O'Connor explains.
"It's not a malicious act. It's not a taunting act. It's a 'we did it' and he (my son) knows where the source comes from. I know him. He's not a malicious kid. On the football field he'll hit you and then help you up," Hayes says.
"It's heartbreaking," says O'Connor. Superintendent O'Connor says since Saturday's track meet and the disqualification he has received a number of nasty emails. One read 'Dear sir, you, are an idiot'. O'Connor wants to stress this is not his decision. This is coming from the UIL. In fact, the district protested the disqualification but the UIL is not changing the decision.
Most likely not but if you were to ping his IP address, it would be likely he is just waking up in a Holiday Inn Express.
Rules are rules.
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Quite right BigCinBigD, you and your family are hereby directed to report for transportation at 8:00am tomorrow. You may bring one suitcase for your family. Do not be late or absent.
Rules are rules.
The question is whether the gesture can “reasonably” be interpreted as a religious expression. It is very common in professional sports for athletes to point upward after a victory as an expression of thanks to God. I see it all the time and it has become routine with pitchers when they get the final out in a game.
There is no doubt that pointing to the sky has become a religious expression in sports. The rule prohibits “celebratory gestures” and is intended to limit those kinds of expressions which draw undue attention to the athlete. The rule, however, cannot prohibit any gesture intended to give honor to God.
As with all rules, the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. The rule is unconstitutionally overbroad. They should have included language that exempts religious expression or indicated that it applied to gestures intended to taunt the other athletes or to draw undue attention to the person making the gesture. Apparently neither of those conditions were present here.
I’m hoping Jay Sekulow meets with this kid.
If they had a rule against “celebratory gestures” and that rule was known and accepted by all, then I’d live by the rule. BUT, if the student was not taunting the other team and the judge was just showing hostility to religion, then I’d say, fine, you want make rulings on technicalities? This was not a “celebratory gesture,” it was a gesture of thankfulness. In fact, I would take it as the exact OPPOSITE of a celebratory gesture. For a Christian, this is saying “It’s not my greatness. I’m giving credit to God.”
“But, after all, I did break one of your laws.”
“Well, what do you think they’re for?”
Dr. Ferris did not notice the sudden look on Rearden’s face, the look of a man hit by the first vision of that which he had sought to see. Dr. Ferris was past the stage of seeing; he was intent upon delivering the last blows to an animal caught in a trap.
“Did you really think that we want those laws to be observed?” said Dr. Ferris. “We want them broken. You’d better get it straight that it’s not a bunch of boy scouts you’re up against - then you’ll know that this is not the age for beautiful gestures. We’re after power and we mean it. You fellows were pikers, but we know the real trick, and you’d better get wise to it. There’s no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren’t enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What’s there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced nor objectively interpreted - and you create a nation of law-breakers - and then you cash in on guilt. Now, that’s the system, Mr. Rearden, that’s the game, and once you understand it, you’ll be much easier to deal with.”
Imagine employing the idiots who buy into this PC crap.
University Scholastic League
The Judge is from a University. We all know what Universities are filled with.
Leftists and Communists.
It should be deemed Treasonous to even think of sending American kids to some of these places of Brain washing.
C’mon Texas...we look to you for common sense.
I expect this left wing stupidity from CAL. Not TX
I thought the in state illegal alien college tuition and forced STD vaccinations of little girls were just aberrations....
It's hard to have the 'everyone is a winner and gets a trophy' philosophy in this kind of competition. So I guess the ideas is 'Ok, if there has to be a winner, he's not allowed to enjoy it', lest the losers, excuse me, non-winners might have self esteem issues.
I can only imagine that you don't watch sports on TV very much. I see that gesture all the time: the athletes eyes are turned up to the heavens. You'd think there would be a video of this. If he's looking at his opponents, then it's taunting.
Some of you are strange.
Fascism at it best.
Ok- so tell the kids all to make the sign of the cross over their heart , instead of raising their finger.
Problem solved.
Which finger was lifted to the sky?
Had I been the coach, after a lengthy and loud protest I would have had my entire track team and called for our fans in the crowd to come down an occupy the track until that decision was overturned.
One good thing from this, Texas just got (at least) four more staunch anti-progressives.
TX has a lot of underground communists just waiting to come forward when the existing order starts to collapse.
They must condone it or maybe don't even know about it, being so uninformed.
We conservatives need to get over the emotional knee-jerk reaction (including to intentionally inflammatory headlines) or else we will start to (or continue to) look like the cry-baby liberals we so fondly like to mock. Most of this thread is a case in point.
Yes, the rule is stupid. Yes, the application of the rule was stupid. But it wasn’t created to target and attach Christianity. Instead it was the result of this overbearing, nanny-state, everyone-gets-a-trophy world that we live in today.
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