Unexplicable

Good morning....this has got to be a quickie...lots to do before 1 pm.....

First, I want to start with sad news....one of Buddy's friends from elementary school and the old neighborhood passed away this week. He was 24 years old, cute as a button (the last time that I saw him over ten years ago), and troubled. An only child, he struggled from a number of issues, but lately I had read in the paper that he had broken into one of his former friends home and was arrested. You see, this is all from a heroine addiction. He was desperate for money to buy his drug. The home owners pleaded with the court not to send him to prison since he had an illness...an addiction. After that, I heard nothing until this morning when the paper posted his obituary. Drugs...heroine....killers....people think that they are escaping. Maybe they are...but the reality is that they escaped into the darkness of addiction and lose touch with the world including the people who love them the most. I remember the first time that I met him when he was seven years old. He was in first grade, and he stopped by the house when he learned that my son was going to attend his school. He walked through the front door, found Buddy, and gave him a cool manly handshake. Welcome to school, pal....and with that, I want to remember the little blond hair, blue eyed child who was so welcoming to a little boy who was scared to leave the house and travel to an all boys' school. I am sure that he thought that if all the kids are like this, then I am going to love my new school. I prefer to look back on this young man with the cute smile and good nature who had the whole world in front of him that has now been taken away by the effects of a killer drug. Rest in peace....

On to LW....as you know, his locker was cleared out yesterday. Word has it that he went into the bathroom, curled up into a fetal position, sobbed and shook uncontrollably. After a while, the coach and psychologist came in and brought him into the office....What are my thoughts?

Well, after hearing about the death of a young man with a terrific future in front of him, I am concerned for LW. He has been trouble from day 1 BUT I believe that he has some mental issues that he does not deal with, rather he has ignored him. Remember, he is the one who wrote the suicide note and disappeared during sophomore year. Once the guys had an intervention with him assisted with (once again...) the psychologist, he found the note and ate it in front of Big Red. Hmmm....

Dad says that LW will be back on the team in no time and this is more bullying by the coach. It is also public humiliation which many of the guys especially my kid have experienced. In fact, this has gone way over the top. Hey, coach, you are a teacher, right? Take the kid aside, talk to him, suspend him for a week or two, take him off the starting rotation; see how his tactics work. My visual of seeing LW sob in the bathroom has opened up a can of compassion in me that has really backfired on the coach. if he is looking for people to agree with this method of punishment, then he is out of luck. Not only do I disagree with his methodology, but this confirms my assessment that he is a big bully who preys upon the weak. Granted, LW deserves to be called out for his actions, but it is as if he was publicly flogged in the fountain in the quad with the entire university watching his gasp for air.

No coach, you big bully! Some one, some day will call this guy out in the method that he has humiliated these kids. Until then, I watch, write, and try to understand the inexplicable.

Off to work....

Peace!