last night after our football game (i coach our 7th/8th grade team) i received news that an ex-player of mine is quite possibly going to be receiving a 365 day suspension for appearing on a myspace account flashing gang signs...

the high school shares a parking lot with us, as we are right next door... so, it's easy to keep up on your kids at the next level... anyway, this kid isn't just any kid... he's a freshman who is the starting tailback for the JV... the varsity team is ranked 12th or so in the state (big schools), so to even start at the JV level is an accomplishment, but he doesn't just start, he's the star of the team... a tailback... he has a mother who isn't well, but really does the best she can with her sons; he's the last of the bunch... anyway, the other brothers were great athletes, and his older brother is a sophomore who is on the varsity... these kid are cut like you wouldn't believe... the type of kid who doesn't have to work out, but looks like he spends his life in the gym... when i asked about his brother getting in trouble too, the response i was given from a HS coach was, "well, thankfully his brother isn't smart enough to use the internet"... which while it got a chuckle, is pretty sad...

the kid in question was fucking amazing last year... he took the first handoff of three straight games last year to the house... 60, 80, and 80 yards or thereabout... he took a team that was finishing 1-7 or 2-6 every year to an 8-0 team... he would run from one side of the field to the other, cut a few times, break a tackle or four, and make his way just about wherever he wanted, and he had never hit the gym... his vision is insane... you really couldn't create a better tailback... the starting runningback for the varsity is just a junior, and damn good, but they are thinking of implementing a two tb scheme next year to get this kid the ball... and we'll definitely be top 10 to start the year here...

now, if this kid was just some punk, it would be one thing... but he's not... he's a hell of a kid with denzel washington looks, who is hounded by every girl around...even the female teachers wuold comment on this kid regularly last year...

anyway, i was really a mentor for this kid last year... and it kills me to hear about all of this... he really became a respectable teen... a great leader and a great person... he started for my basketball team, too... a solid player, but football was going to be his game... never have i seen a kid like this... it's only been 7 years of teaching, but taking into account my years in high school and junior high... i maybe saw one kid with this kind of talent... of course, his was in hoops... dunked in the 8th grade state title game... but ended up picking gangs instead... and it's like it's happening all over again... it' just sad

another thing... while 90% of the kids who are in a gang (or act like they are) need to be thrown out of school... every once in a while you get one that doesn't.... it's a tough thing... no easy answer i suppose... cause, hell, i've had quite a few that the school would be a hell of a lot better without

i just don't think it's right to kick a kid out of school when all you are doing is enabling him more time to be a banger, and nothing else... i guess that's the debate in all of this

yeah... that was kind of long.

regardless of the kids talent, its pretty rediculous to suspend someone for something they have on their myspace

how much damage can a gang from NC do anyways? what, hes gonna start some shit at the golf course? hehe


stick up for this kid, let the powers that be know everything you just told us.

Perhaps I missed it, but is he in a gang or not?

dude, he's flashing gang signs on his myspace page. not only is this kid in a gang, he's probably killed at least 5 people

I'm still stunned you're actually responsible for a team of 7th/8th graders...


kidding.

This kid's got Cincinattica Bengals written all over him . . .

am I the only person in the Western Hemisphere who's never even been on myspace?

Nope, you have company . . .

I know the lamest white kid on the planet that's mockingly flashing a gang sign on myspace, too. If anyone deserves to reap the punishment of inappropriate gang-sign flashing, it's this dork.

Also, this rule of a year's suspension for flashing a gang sign in a picture is a fucking joke. There has to be more to it than that, like reason to believe he took part in something illegal, etc.

i'm pretty sure i read an article in USAToday where some people were losing their jobs due to employers seeing their myspace account

not sure.... he's just the type of kid that everyone wants to be around... so, you know the gangs would do anything to have a kid like him join... he's probably not really in it, but in it enough to where he would throw some signs while tippin 40's with the older kids, ya know

they're doing some serious cracking down on gangs down here...




oh... and this kid and his family moved down from Brooklyn about three or four years ago... to get out of the mess that they were all in

can you talk to the kid and tell him to remove the myspace shit and start flying right. maybe hes some sense and will listen to you.

i'm not even sure that it was his myspace page... i think he might have been in some pictures on someone's myspace page, and it's guilt by association... they are saying (i've talked to the cop that patrols the high school) taht they are taking down 20+ kids... two already have been given 365 (one a varsity starter on the hoops team), so i just fear this kid is going to get the same punishment... i'm sure i'll find out more after the weekend

considering i am planning on moving back to illinois after this year, i'm thinking about this... of course, my great recommendations could go to shit... i dont know

I'm stunned again...

yes, but which is more stunning?

and btw, it's the missus idea to leave... god knows i'd live here forever

that really stinks. kicking the kid out of school is definitely not the answer.

I like Cinci-naughty Bengals better.