By Joe Torosian
“Devin, I've led a soldier's life, and I've never seen anything as brutally clear as this.”
--- Gen. John Buford
Big word for the day; “Paradigm”
Money changes things.
A lot of money makes life good. A lot of money can take you from making soup at five in the morning, to three month long vacations, multiple homes, and vicious fights over inheritance.
A lack of money can leave you buried in debt, slaving for “the man”, and looking like the Los Angeles Times these days.
I’m about to say something apocalyptic, I’m going to call for a shift, change, or destruction of a century old paradigm.
Dump high school sports.
(Say What!)
I say dump high school sports. Dump them now, dump them before they become so hollowed out and soulless that they start to look like Keith Richards.
Money is short, athletics cost money, dump them.
Think about the dough. You don’t have to pay for coaches, equipment, transportation, or insurance.
No more chasing the best players around the campus to make sure they get to class and pass their next biology exam.
No more prima-donna coaches bullying the administration for more of this and more of that.
No more of the business of education being linked with the parks and rec. It will be all about books, learning the three R’s, and achieving higher test scores.
Of course this big of a paradigm shift might mean a few people in high places could be left out on the bread line or signing up to sell Amway.
But what of it? As my half-breed friend from Vulcan once said; “The needs of the many out weigh the needs of the few.”
This means no more cheerleading. No more drill. No more short flags, or tall flags, no more pep, song, spirit, or band.
No more clubs. Nada.
This would save a ton of bread.
Unfortunately for the paradigm shift, because of the cluelessness of the federal government, no matter who is in power, the same amount of money will still keep getting pumped into the system.
The same corruption, the same cronyism, the same quid pro quo, would all still be in place.
And we would still hear the same cries about there not being enough money coming from school districts and the states.
So what would change?
How about the freeing up of prep sports from all the chains of the school system? You wouldn’t have to hear about money and grades.
Why couldn’t a community charter its own football team made up of prep age players?
Why couldn’t they run it like a business, which would require each community to put out the best product it could for success.
Let companies, private business, sponsor the local football team and succeed or fail on its own merits.
A lack of effort, a lack of competence, and fine, no player or his family is bound any longer by a school district.
Keep the players in the same set up. Let them compete for four years and graduate them out.
Let the business’s open college trusts for each of the players and deposit a small sum, from the revenue earned, to collect over the four year period.
Form leagues, have playoffs, declare a champion. Promote it to the communities and keep school districts, state and federal control out of the loop.
Yeah, I like that idea.
I can hear my recently departed friend Mr. Roarke telling me; “Welcome to Fantasy Island.”
However, I don’t think he would be mocking the idea. I think what he would really mock is the idea that the school districts, the state, or the federal government would ever give up control.
Once the feds are in they are harder to evict than your unemployed uncle who can’t seem to find a job, swills too much beer, has never had a girlfriend, and is always willing to offer financial advice.
This is a sketch I did of Steve Cobbs (the guy holding the coffee mug in the banner shot)about twelve years ago. I believe we were on the road to New Mexico for junior high camp and Steve was speaking somewhere along the way in the Land of Enchantment.
.jpg)
By Joe Torosian 
.jpg)
.jpg)
