‘You’ve Got to Stand for Something…

..or you’ll fall for anything”, or so goes the country song performed by Aaron Tippen which became a rallying cry for the Desert Storm campaign back in 1990. 

It still rings true today, although not in the military sense, but in the battlefield of life.

A story that I followed for the past couple of days, that had been sent to me by one of my loyal members of the "Rossi Posse",  had to do with a group of football players from Wayne Hills High School that had been charged with the aggravated assault of a couple of teens with whom they’d attended a party on October 29^th.  One of the victims was left unconscious and bleeding in the roadway in front of the house. 

According to news reports immediately following the attack, the players were still allowed to compete in a playoff game against a rival team the following Friday night.

At the time, school officials in the district pointed to a state law that they say claims the school can’t punish a student for something he or she did…not related to a school activity; or, in other words, outside of the school’s jurisdiction.  According to Interim Superintendent Michael Roth, his feeling at the time was that “ an accusation d0esn’t necessarily mean you’re guilty of something.  It doesn’t mean something should be taken away from you without the opportunity to prove your innocence.”

The outcry from the community fell along the lines of those who have students that play for the team and the rest of the community.

Roth himself, along with the coach of the football team, Greg Olsen, were criticized by two state senators for originally opting not to bar the players from the playoffs. The senators claim that state law clearly permits the district to discipline the students for misconduct.

However, quite a number of officials had refused comment on the matter….officials who are paid to make these often difficult decisions.

School board President Donald Pavlak Jr. declined comment, except to say that, as of earlier in the week, the players status hadn’t changed.  There was also reluctance to comment on the part of State Education Department officials.

And the NJSIAA, that regulatory board that normally oversees high school interscholastic activities, and that exacts dues from each and every school in the state....ahhhh,  no where to be found! 

One would have thought that someone would have taken a stand and made a call at some point, but alas no one would….untill last night, when Interim Superintendent Roth made the following statement: … “I have determined that the students charged by the police may not participate in any extracurricular activity including sports from this day to a time to be determined based on facts, information or legal decisions,”. 

Now, this is just me, but wouldn’t you think it to be a far, far braver thing had someone, who may have had something to lose, should have made that decision….and not the Interim Superintendent, who will be leaving his job in December.

What’s the thought process behind that?  I’m thinking, “….oh, what the hell, I’ll be the bad guy and say these kids can’t play.  I’ll be out of here anyway in a few weeks anyway.”

One well respected basketball coach emailed me from the outset of the story and commented that in his 25 years of coaching, not a nanosecond would have gone by without his deciding to sit those kids…albeit accused of, not guilty of a crime of that magnitude.

His feeling, and mine as well, was….someone in the chain of command had to step up and make the moral decision.

So, it took a guy with (seemingly) little to lose to do it.

Somewhere I hear Aaron Tippen’s song ringing in my ears.