Goshen Schools Made The Hard, But Correct, Decision
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Mark [email protected]
The timing is terrible; it’s not fair to the Class of 2016 to change mascots in the middle of its senior year. But it’s far too late to change it for the school year starting in less than three weeks, and taking longer means a dark cloud hangs over the school corporation for the entire year.
As long as the change to the new mascot is less than complete, there will be those who will work to overturn the decision. That’s their right. The fight will likely carry over to the next school board election. Turnover seems inevitable.
That’s too bad; it’s hard enough to find people willing to step up and make the hard call.
Change is never an easy nor simple thing, especially when it affects an entire community. We’ve witnessed this on a national level with the Affordable Care Act.
I made a point not to attend the meeting last night in part because I knew I couldn’t remain impartial. (The other part is it was my night to watch the kids while my wife got out of the house for a while.) Instead, I followed the proceedings online via social media.
Both sides made passionate statements regarding their position. Some were reasonable arguments, others not so much. Either way, it’s going to be an interesting year covering the Northern Lakes Conference and to see what happens next in Goshen.
Other things I wonder about:
Has anyone else noticed a “trend” in the big leagues, where a fielder tosses his glove at an in-flight baseball?
Friday night, Elvis Andrus of the Texas Rangers did so to what turned out to be a single off the bat of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim’s Kole Calhoun, which would be a great name for a country singer. But I digress.
Earlier last week, the Colorado Rockies’ Carlos Gonzalez tossed his glove at a foul ball against the Rangers.
A little background here helps: Andrus and teammate Adrian Beltre have a habit of playfully trying to distract each other while camped under a fly ball. So far, so good: no one’s dropped a ball thanks to the shenanigans of a teammate.
And, yeah, I’ve seen kids toss their mitts at balls over their heads. I’ve even been that kid, as late as last month while playing catch with my boys.
But there is a rule against that. Basically, if anything touches an uncatchable ball in flight, it’s three bases for the batter.
And while conceding two incidents, in the grand scheme of the sheer volume of activity in baseball, hardly makes a trend, I did have to wonder what keeps an outfielder from getting back to the wall, and chucking his glove at a ball headed over the wall for a home run?
Unless the rule is changed, and it won’t be, someone’s going to try it, probably before the season is out. Why not? Even a would-be grand slam becomes a mere three-run error, and if the defensive team wins by one...it’s not hard to see where that’s going.
And one more thing...
Tonight in an independent league baseball game in San Rafael, Calif. a computer will call balls and strikes. The technology has existed for years, “as seen on TV,” if you will.
I remain a baseball traditionalist, and would hate to see the plate umpire replaced full time. The human element is part of what makes the game great.
But I also remain sensitive to the need to update things, and instant replay isn’t going away. So when the computerized balls and strikes come to the big leagues, and it will before the 2020 season, I’d like to see it used as a appeal process: each team can review one pitch per half-inning. The replay umpire would be in the press box and a decision can be made quite quickly, like the in/out calls in professional tennis.
I’m especially sensitive to the human element in officiating; if not for that it’s possible the Kansas City Royals would still be looking for its first World Series title.[[In-content Ad]]
The timing is terrible; it’s not fair to the Class of 2016 to change mascots in the middle of its senior year. But it’s far too late to change it for the school year starting in less than three weeks, and taking longer means a dark cloud hangs over the school corporation for the entire year.
As long as the change to the new mascot is less than complete, there will be those who will work to overturn the decision. That’s their right. The fight will likely carry over to the next school board election. Turnover seems inevitable.
That’s too bad; it’s hard enough to find people willing to step up and make the hard call.
Change is never an easy nor simple thing, especially when it affects an entire community. We’ve witnessed this on a national level with the Affordable Care Act.
I made a point not to attend the meeting last night in part because I knew I couldn’t remain impartial. (The other part is it was my night to watch the kids while my wife got out of the house for a while.) Instead, I followed the proceedings online via social media.
Both sides made passionate statements regarding their position. Some were reasonable arguments, others not so much. Either way, it’s going to be an interesting year covering the Northern Lakes Conference and to see what happens next in Goshen.
Other things I wonder about:
Has anyone else noticed a “trend” in the big leagues, where a fielder tosses his glove at an in-flight baseball?
Friday night, Elvis Andrus of the Texas Rangers did so to what turned out to be a single off the bat of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim’s Kole Calhoun, which would be a great name for a country singer. But I digress.
Earlier last week, the Colorado Rockies’ Carlos Gonzalez tossed his glove at a foul ball against the Rangers.
A little background here helps: Andrus and teammate Adrian Beltre have a habit of playfully trying to distract each other while camped under a fly ball. So far, so good: no one’s dropped a ball thanks to the shenanigans of a teammate.
And, yeah, I’ve seen kids toss their mitts at balls over their heads. I’ve even been that kid, as late as last month while playing catch with my boys.
But there is a rule against that. Basically, if anything touches an uncatchable ball in flight, it’s three bases for the batter.
And while conceding two incidents, in the grand scheme of the sheer volume of activity in baseball, hardly makes a trend, I did have to wonder what keeps an outfielder from getting back to the wall, and chucking his glove at a ball headed over the wall for a home run?
Unless the rule is changed, and it won’t be, someone’s going to try it, probably before the season is out. Why not? Even a would-be grand slam becomes a mere three-run error, and if the defensive team wins by one...it’s not hard to see where that’s going.
And one more thing...
Tonight in an independent league baseball game in San Rafael, Calif. a computer will call balls and strikes. The technology has existed for years, “as seen on TV,” if you will.
I remain a baseball traditionalist, and would hate to see the plate umpire replaced full time. The human element is part of what makes the game great.
But I also remain sensitive to the need to update things, and instant replay isn’t going away. So when the computerized balls and strikes come to the big leagues, and it will before the 2020 season, I’d like to see it used as a appeal process: each team can review one pitch per half-inning. The replay umpire would be in the press box and a decision can be made quite quickly, like the in/out calls in professional tennis.
I’m especially sensitive to the human element in officiating; if not for that it’s possible the Kansas City Royals would still be looking for its first World Series title.[[In-content Ad]]
Have a news tip? Email [email protected] or Call/Text 360-922-3092