Living in Louisiana, especially south Louisiana, the past couple of weeks has been painful to say the least. I seriously considered taking time off and go visit my friend in West Texas until after the Super Bowl.
Why, you mask? Well, the New Orleans Saints are in the Super Bowl, and as I've mentioned in a previous entry, from the moment they punched their ticket to the big game, people have been jumping on the bandwagon and saying they deserve to win it for the city.
Look, I'm all for New Orleans. I love the city, but those hurricanes happened 5 yrs ago, get over it. Saying they deserve it is like saying the NY Giants or NY Jets deserve it because of 9/11, even though that was 9 yrs ago. Disasters happen, you take time to heal, then get over it.
For whatever reason, they won't let it go, and remind folks about it every chance they get. It's really annoying. However, that's not the point of this blog.
Read this:
A Louisiana high school student says he was sent home for wearing an Indianapolis Colts jersey Friday - the day the principal encouraged students to wear New Orleans Saints black and gold as the teams get ready to face off in the Super Bowl.
``If they tell other students to support their team, why can't I support mine?'' Brandon Frost, 17, told The Associated Press. The senior at Maurepas High School moved three years ago from Indianapolis to the rural town 30 miles from Baton Rouge.
A Livingston Parish School Board member said Frost wasn't sent home, but was told he couldn't wear the blue jersey at school. Keith Martin, whose district includes Maurepas, said the school uniform had been relaxed only for black and gold.
He said he planned to ask school system attorneys whether that violated Frost's right to free speech, as the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana contends.
State ACLU director Marjorie Esman sent a letter to Principal Steven Vampran, asking him to wipe Frost's record of any discipline stemming from the incident.
Vampran declined to comment.
Martin said he had talked with both Vampran and Frost's father, Larry Frost.
``I think we got things worked out,'' Martin said.
According to Martin, a friend of Brandon Frost's had asked Vampran on Thursday whether Brandon could wear a Colts jersey, and had been told ``no.''
During a class on Thursday, Frost said, he talked about his plans to wear his jersey rather than Saints colors. He said the teacher warned him he'd get in trouble.
Larry Frost said he didn't know about that when Brandon asked Thursday whether he could wear the jersey. He said he told his son to come home if he was hassled too much.
The Colts and Saints play Sunday in the Super Bowl, and emotions have run high in Louisiana as fans celebrate the first Super Bowl appearance for the beleaguered franchise.
Brandon Frost said Vampran called him out of his first class Friday and told him, ``I don't recall saying you could wear a Colts jersey on Black-and-Gold Day.''
He said he told the principal that his father had given him permission to go home if it was a problem.
``He started to get angry with me,'' Frost said. ``I thought I remember him saying, 'If you like Indiana so much, why don't you go back?'''
Vampran has acknowledged that he should not have said that, Martin said. He said no one sent Frost home - but no one kept him from leaving rather than changing shirts.
Larry Frost said he called the ACLU rather than the school because he was too angry.
``Louisiana would be proud of him anyway,'' Larry Frost said. ``He wore Joseph Addai's jersey.''
The Colts running back is a graduate of Louisiana State University.
Yeah, you read right. They sent the kid home for wearing a Colts jersey. Apparently, that's some sort of crime. Heaven forbid you're not a Saints fan. They can say what they want and try to spin it into saying that it wasn't about him not wearing a Saints jersey, but we all know that's what this is truly about.
My point of view here is that this does violate some free speech law, especially when the principal said they can wear Saints stuff, but what about Colts fans?
A few years ago, when the Saints lost to the Bears, the school I was working for literally set up counseling sessions for the "bereaved". As if that wasn't bad enough, I had a student was was a die hard Patriots fan, and was totally devastated that they lost to the Colts. She went to the counselors and was turned away. WTF?!?
As I said before, its like it is a crime to be a fan of any other team down here. It is ridiculous.
Personally, I hope this kid gets to sue the school and wins. It's one thing for a principal to say wear your school shirt (assuming they don't already wear uniforms) or something, and quite another to say wear LSU, or wear the Saints. Not everyone, contrary to popular belief down here, likes them. Some people downright loathe them.
As much as I'm looking forward to tomorrow's game, I'll be glad when its over, one way or the other.
Launch party
5 years ago
4 comments:
I could see it if they felt the kid would get beat up or something, but from what the principal was heard saying, I'd say this is a violation of your freedoms. Insane, isn't it?? Over a silly game.
i do find saints fever so to speak pretty funny. i completely understand the idea that the entire city and possibly state is rallying around the team, but it sort of came out of nowhere. hell, until fairly recently the team was looking for a way to break it's lease with the city to move. i guess katrina made the superdome and it's tenants something to rally around.
as for the high school kid. i took from the article that it was black and gold day. students were allowed to wear saints colors in lieu of their uniform. no one told the kid he had to wear saints colors, he could have simply worn his uniform.
seems no one sent him home either, they just didn't stop him from leaving. sounds to me like he cut school, even if he did have a parent's permission.
the father was so mad he then called the aclu? instead of the school? seriously?
it's people like that that are the problem with this country. "let me cause a problem to see what happens and then whine about it when i'm told to shut up."
frankly the kid wearing a colts jersey to black and gold day is akin to screaming fire in a movie theater. he did it for attention and to get a reaction. in this situation, the kid is the problem.
don't get me wrong, i'm all for supporting one's team. i travel with my mets and my giants and i proudly wear my teams colors in the most hostile of environments (aka philadelphia). when i do this, i expect to be the recipient of horrible reactions. i am prepared for whatever may come my way and worse. i've been called names, had things thrown at me, and been prompted to fight. never once did i look for any sort of help or interference by authorities. i brought it upon myself. i knew what i was doing when i woke up that day. i knew i'd make people unhappy and i knew based on their passion they'd react less than civilly.
the kid knew he'd be greeted less than warmly. the father knew he would to or he would have never given the kid permission to leave if their was a problem. hell, the article even says the kid spoke openly about his plans and was told they were unacceptable.
the only real problem the school may have is telling him to go back to indiana. the principal pulled a dick move with that one.
and there's an opinion no one asked for...thanks for getting the juices flowing so soon before bed.
i hope there's a post about the fallout if any. cheers!
Wow, that's crazy. I know the world is a mad mad place, but this just takes the cake.
Lin- exactly
chris- yeah, the prinipal was a dick about this whole situation if you ask me
Hall Monitor- cool
Stephen- i know, right? crazy!
Post a Comment