Four for Friday

(Link at left)
THE SPORTS EDITION

Q1 - Little League: Citing concerns that orthopedists have been seeing more and more aspiring little league baseball pitchers coming into their offices complaining of arm and shoulder pain, Little League International says it's time to give young arms a rest. These days, when you send a little league pitcher to the pitcher's mound, it's 75 pitches, no more. Good thinking or an overreaching (no pun intended) rule?

Good thinking. The vast majority of these kids are NOT going to play in the Big Show. Let them have their bodies in semi-functional order as they grow up.

Q2 - Goin' Pro: If you could turn pro (right now) in any sport and compete with the best of the best in that sport, what sport would you choose? Tennis. It's the one sport I've enjoyed the most in real life.Q3 - Fan's Rights: A Federal appeals recently paved the way for pat-down searches to resume at Tampa Bay Buccaneers home football games, rejecting a fan's contention that they violate his constitutional protection against unreasonable searches. High school teacher Gordon Johnston successfully challenged the frisking of fans entering Raymond James Stadium in three lower courts, but a three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned those rulings, saying Johnston forfeited his right to challenge the constitutionality of the pat-downs when he consented to them. The court also said Johnston doesn't have a constitutional right to watch a football game, that he was aware of the search policy before entering the stadium, and that the football team can revoke game tickets for any reason. "Being a government teacher and knowing the Constitution," says Johnson, "I think it's the wrong decision." What do you think?

I think he needs to start watching the games from home, and get a life. Find a real cause.

Here's the thing: if enough people bitched about this sort of thing, they'd stop, because the NFL and the Bucs would lose money and issue a policy change. So he needs to approach the issue differently. Personally, I'd walk away before I'd be patted down, but I also would NEVER. EVER. Be back.

Q4 - Pay for Play: Do you think college athletes should be compensated above and beyond their scholarships to attend college?

No. No discussion. Just...no. And while we're at it, they should also have to fulfill the scholastic requirements the same as any other student. College football. COLLEGE football. It's a S.C.H.O.O.L.
You'd get a different answer from my husband, however--a former (Div. 3) college football player. Who carried a 3.5 GPA, btw, over four years of college.