Lax penalty looms for athletes

It's unfortunate that this incident took place in a neighboring town (or anywhere), but it illustrates once again the lax rules that govern student athletes.

I have nothing against athletes in general. But in a society, there's rules.

When I worked at the public library or the Department of the Interior, I had to follow rules. What do you think would happen if I didn't? At best, I'd be reprimanded. More likely though, I'd be fired.

Do you think there's no rules that govern what I do on this blog and my personal website? If I don't follow the terms of service, I can lose my access and my livelihood.

Recently, a group of football players at Dayton High School in Dayton, Kentucky, harassed 2 gay men jogging on the levee, while the team was conducting football practice. The punishment for the offending players? They were ordered to run laps and write an apology.

That's all? They should have been kicked off the team.

If these players behave in this manner towards people outside the school community, just think how they act at school.

Why do players who are unwilling to follow rules that exist in the rest of society receive such a lenient penalty?

Kentucky's school sports association should require Dayton to forfeit every game until the offending players are kicked off the team.

The school superintendent's statement about the incident (in which he seemed to blame the victims) was particularly asinine.

If I was on a work assignment for the Department of the Interior and behaved the way these football players acted, I'd be fired instantly - and deservedly so. When I was in high school, I would have been mature enough to know better. I remember that once when I was a sophomore, a classmate used a racial slur, and I felt embarrassed and uneasy.

One suspects the soft punishment in this story is another indication of the largely greed-driven pattern of holding athletes to a less rigid standard than others.

(Source: http://www.kypost.com/news/local/story/Greendevils-Out-Of-Bounds/LtlAqrifYU68e4B936qzRA.cspx)