MBA, Protests, and Fighting

For any of you thinking about getting your MBA, let me just say “Don’t”. The last thing I need is for the market to be flooded with MBA’s after I get mine.

After having a test on Monday night and one again last night, I’m trying to remember why I decided to put myself through all of this. The Wife keeps saying that I'm doing this for our family... I think it's more because my brother and sister both have their masters. Got to keep up with the Kevin's and Teri's as they say. Of course, they got their masters in education, which anyone in my MBA classes will tell you is WAY easier than what we are doing. Still, this is it. This is where I draw the line. No more school for me after this MBA thing unless it's to learn something useful like plumbing or A/C repair.

I try not to judge people, but sometimes I just can’t help it. I know a man who belongs to a group of motorcycle riders who will go to funerals of fallen soldiers. The reason they go, is so they can set up a perimeter around the funerals to keep protesters from getting too close. There shouldn’t be a need for this. Who was the first person to think: “Hey, let’s go protest the war at the funeral of this soldier who died”. Like I said, I try not to judge people, but heartless people like that make me sick. I’m all for protests. Actually, for the most part, I’m not a fan of protests... but to each his own. I don’t dislike people who protest... it’s just not my thing. But if you want to protest a war, go to D.C. Don’t do it at a funeral of a person who had no say in the war. How can someone rationalize that in their head? There are some things done that I don’t agree with, but I can at least see what the person's thinking. But this... this blows my mind.

So there was a fight last Friday night between some of the players after the Summerville/Stratford football game. Let me start by saying that fighting is bad and all that. Having said that, I don’t think there should be any huge punishment for either team. There has been talk of placing the teams on probation (which would mean no playoffs) and kicking kids out of school... Come on now. There are ways to teach kids that fighting is bad without going to the extreme. Let’s not forget, we’re talking about 16, 17, 18 year old boys here (at least for Stratford... probably more like 18, 19, 20 year olds for Summerville... yeah, I said it). To be honest, I’m shocked more fights don’t breakout after/during sporting events. Words are said, things are done, people get mad... stuff happens. My brother played on a baseball team at JI that got in a fight with the Goose Creek baseball team. It was so bad that dads came out of the stands to pull guys off of one another. I remember having the police come out to our game against a team from NJ my JR year at JI because things had gotten so heated on the field and in the stands (for the record, we beat those damnyankees). There was another game when I (the second baseman) shoved a base runner because he ran over my shortstop. (****SIDE STORY: This was during a fall baseball game in Atlanta. The team I was playing on was made up mostly of BE and Wando guys who all played American Legion together for the Charleston Legion team, so to be honest I didn’t really have a ton of love for them. But the shortstop, who was a sophomore at BE, was a good ballplayer and we got along ok. Anyway, friends or not, there is an unwritten rule in baseball that says if a runner going into second base does not slide, but instead runs over the shortstop, then it is the obligation of the second baseman to let the runner know that such actions are not appreciated. So that is why I shoved the guy... and probably said some things that I would rather not post on a blog. END SIDE STORY*******BEGIN FUNNY PART OF STORY: So, growing up my number on sports teams has always been 4, except for the two years I played football when my number was 44. Well when I joined this team, someone already had number 4, so my number ended up being 25. After I shoved this base runner, the players and fans on the other team kept yelling mean things at #25. Some of them were funny, but most were pretty mean. I spent a good part of the game trying to figure out who the heck #25 was on our team and what he could have done to piss off their fans. I don’t know why, but I kept thinking I was number 4. It wasn’t until I was talking to my Dad and my brother after the game that I realized I was #25 and the people had been yelling at me. END FUNNY PART OF STORY*****). The only reason we didn’t get in a fight was because the guy got up and left the field. Oh, and the shortstop I stood up for? He used my actions as inspiration and went on to have a pretty good baseball career for himself at USC and is now playing in the minor leagues somewhere (I think he’s played a bit in the bigs, too). I don’t really like to name drop... but if you ask me if his name is Drew Myer, I will say yes. My sophomore year at JI, we almost got in a fight at Holly Hill-Roberts. It was the playoffs and we were getting beat. My friend Carl Moore was pitching and he hit their batter. Their batter looked at Carl in a way that may not have been legal. Our coach, not wanting us to be intimidated, jumped up and yelled at the batter saying (and I quote) “Get to first base! You’re lucky I told him to hit you with his curve ball and not his fastball!” It was at this moment that I thought I would die. You see, I was the closest player to Coach Hatley at the time, so it would have been my job to get in front of him should the other player come over for a fight. It would help if I tell you the other player was Adrian Dingle. Adrian Dingle, as you may or may not know, went on after high school to be a defensive end at Clemson and later played for the San Diego Chargers. This was a fight I’m sure I would not have won.

My point in all of this is this... fights happen. No, they aren’t good. No, we don’t want to teach kids that fighting is the way to solve all problems. But I don’t think people should over-react when kids fight. And unless this is something that happens over and over and over and over, I wouldn’t kick anyone off the team. This might come as a shock, but the only reason some kids study is so they can stay eligible for sports. Take away sports, they won’t care about class. That might not be how it should be... but that’s how it is. I have often been asked, “How can we as a society get young men to care more about academics?” Ok, I’ve never been asked that... but if someone would ask me I would tell them the answer is simple. There are two ways to get young men (or at least 99% of them) to care more about academics (probably in this order):

1. Get the hot girls at the school to only date smart kids.
2. Make the standards for being eligible for extracurricular school activities higher (make them a ‘B’ instead of a ‘C’). It might be hard at first, but if the minimum you need to play is a B, kids will find a way to get a B (more times than not, that way will be legal).