Bizarro High School Robbery
I don’t know why I listen to Washington Post Radio. I don’t. But it’s like a train wreck, sometimes I can’t stop. Today while I was running errands I heard a little snippet concerning this story. Nutshell version is that five kids from Whitman High School in Bethesda robbed a Smoothie King at gunpoint. Well, four of them did, the fifth guy worked at Smoothie King and was the inside guy. The real issue, though, appears to be that four of these kids are high school athletes, one of them was awarded the prestigious “All-Met” status by the Post.
Of course, one would expect that the Post Radio would focus on “The charges carry a maximum punishment of 93 years in prison and a $1,000 fine.” Instead, they’re squabbling over whether or not the juniors would still be eligible for athletic scholarships. Worse still, the morning host went on and on and on about the banquet for these All-Met athletes and how many of them are deeply involved in their community, helping little old ladies across the street and, apparently in their spare time helping needy classmates rob their places of employment at gunpoint.
Why can’t we be asking questions like, “How quickly can we send these guys to trial?” and “If they’re guilty, how does 20 years in prison sound?” Instead of “Should we give these guys scholarships to play football?”
I suppose they may as well learn early on in life that if you’re good at sports, the law doesn’t really apply to you, right?
Such screwed up perspective, nice.
Yeah, I don’t know what to make of all the fussing over these kids because they’re athletes. If they’re really responsible for the robbery, they’re also felons and that means jailtime.
Of course, I doubt they’ll see a day in prison over it.
Well, at the risk of sounding like a bitter former chubby kid who was never good at team sports… this remotely surprises you?
I’m willing to bet a lot of our readers never had to register for a college class on paper rather than online or with a phone, but my first semester of college in Jul 88 that’s the way it was done. For some inexplicable reason the University of Miami had put me in the honor category, meaning that I was in the group who got to queue up before everyone else did. So, while we were waiting outside in the noonday July sun in Miami weather we could at least console ourselves that we had a better shot of getting what we wanted than all the other freshmen.
Not to say it wasn’t somewhat in question if we’d get what we wanted. We were snaked out into the football field and a few hundred other people were in front of us in the line going into the auditorium with all the signup tables. A huge ream of paper – listing all the classes and number of open seats at the time it was run – was being passed back the line, allowing each of us to paw through it and adjust our requests accordingly. Still, in recognition of our academic achievements (again – not sure how I got in that group) we were going to get some priority.
Just not over the football players, who were escorted past all of us and into the building and the front of the lines by a few coaches. Ya know, to make sure none of us took the few remaining seats in Advanced Physics that were so in demand among the Hurricanes.
My father has said on many an occasion that the most valuable lessons of college aren’t the ones you get in the classroom. That day I got the message about where the achievements of academics rank in import to the achievements in learning. Thanks U of M!
If these were, say, Kennedy or Wheaton high school students, would they receive the same level of sympathy from Post radio? Would they even be allows to finish school?
I’ll bet not.
More evidence that membership has its privileges, especially in the southwestern corner of Montgomery county.
Amen, Louis. I seriously doubt this would be news until trial hit in many places in this area that aren’t fairfax, arlington or Bethesda.
Most likely, their “punishment” will be to do community service, probably by participating in a public protest against laws that prohibit armed robbery. And then they’ll get to use the community service hours toward fulfillment of their school community service hours requirement.
Precisely. I say throw the book at em.
But what do I know?
i also vote for throwing the book at these fuckers. (i was also one of the chubby kids who was bad at sports, but my dad still made me play.)
the best thing he ever taught me was that sports don’t mean diddly, and to focus on my education. when playing a sport meant a trade off between going to practice or doing homework, my ass stayed home.
(of course, that doesnt mean that i was any good at school, but i certainly couldn’t have done any worse.)
I played football for Whitman back in the late 90’s. And I must say that if West River Deli were to stop selling us 40’s cuz we were “underage” we’d have probably robbed the place every weekend.
If Jerome Marco were still Principal he give these meathead football players THE CHAIR.