Homecoming Scandal 2008

First things first -
LT 32 - York 8

Now, for the real story.

Seems as though a few senior football players have been suspended for varying lengths by the school (from one game to the whole season, depending on the person involved). The suspensions are due to a violation of the code of conduct that all York athletes read, sign, and promise to follow when they agree to participate in sports at the school. One of the conditions of playing - one of the biggies - is no drinking. Period. You get caught drinking, you're suspended.

So the players were caught drinking, right? Well, kinda.

Seems as though numerous photos of players surfaced, photos that had the students in various states of "party participation." Drinking? Not sure - haven't seen the pictures. But it is certain that many of the players were seen in the pictures drinking from red Solo cups, playing beer pong ("Beer Pong: the official game of York Class of 2008"). Quite simple: fill red solo cups with beer, arrange them on both ends of a table (a ping pong table, preferably), and then two teams try to toss a ping pong ball into the cups at the opposite end of the table. You get one in, the other team has to drink the cup.

Pretty simple. And pretty basic. You can't play with cans or bottles - you have to use cups. Hence, red solo cups are ubiquitous in beer pong. In fact, Google "beer pong" and you'll find pictures of the game, complete with Solo cups. The game and the cups go hand-in-hand.

So, does that make the players guilty of playing beer pong and drinking? Well, how do we know? How can we be absolutely certain that there was beer in the cups? You see the cups, but not what's inside. Sounds like a leap of no-faith that the school administration took.

And the other hand . . . . .

How stupid are these seniors, anyway? I mean, the photos were posted to a website (doesn't matter which website: once they're on the web, they're free to go anywhere, and often do). Why would any person with a functioning brain cell take a picture of someone doing something a) against school policy, and b) hello - illegal!?!?! - - and then post them to a place where the entire world can see them, copy them, share them - in short, take photos and hand them out to anyone in the world? What were they thinking?

Sure, they want to take photos as remembrances of their years together, their parties, their events, I can understand that. Families take photos at weddings, holidays, parties - it's been done for centuries. It'll be done for years to come.

But when did people - students and teens, in particular - start thinking it was a good idea to make the pictures public? To place them in an arena where they can no longer monitor them, monitor who sees them or who copies them or where they might get posted next?

The only rule of the Internet that will never change is this: anything that's posted on the Internet can never be taken back, and cannot be controlled. It's basically a great electronic bathroom wall, where anyone can write what they want, and anyone can co-opt the images and messages for their own use, no strings attached.

So again, let's re-cap:
Photos taken - possibly incriminating (in a strictly legal sense).
Photos placed in a public forum.
Photos seen by people in a position of responsibility.
Students get pissed off. Huh?

The "lifting of the cups in protest" at the game was surely a sight to behold - a thousand teens holding up red solo cups in unison, then throwing them on the ground.

Oooooohhhhh.

They know what the solo cups are for. The school administration knows what the cups are for. Parents should know what the cups are for (if you don't please come on out of your cave and join us in the 21st century).

The students were pissed off that the administration suspended the students based on visual heresay knowledge. And that's fair. But to flaunt it, knowing full well that everyone knows what the cups are for, and all the students know (wink wink) what was really going on in those pictures . . . well, really now.

Grow up.

You fucked up. You got caught. Take it like the adults you always tell us you are.

And, oh yea - STOP POSTING PICTURE OF YOURSELVES DOING ILLEGAL THINGS ON THE INTERNET!!! Stop making it easy to get caught. You don't want to get caught? Stop assisting the school in catching you.

Duh.