In Texas...of all places

[WiregrassTiger]

This is nuts. Kid points his finger up into the air for a couple of seconds after helping his team qualify to go to state champ in track and they are disqualified. Religious freedom debate? I think so but I put it here because it's apparently gov't policy in Tx. Falls under "excessive celebration" rule. Doesn't look like they will make it to state despite the backlash.


http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/highschool-prep-rally/texas-teen-points-heavens-gets-4-100-relay-181303156.html


Texas teen points to heavens, gets 4×100 relay squad banned from state championships
 .By Cameron Smith | Prep Rally – 19 hours ago...
.
 
Derrick Hayes, left, and his 4x100 teammates were disqualified for a finger gesture — YouTube
 
Of the likely places for a debate over religious free expression to erupt, a Texas high school track and field meet probably wasn’t high on the list.
 
Remarkably, that’s precisely where one athlete’s reactionary gesture has led to a broader discussion about what is appropriate at public school events, after a Columbus (Texas) High relay team was disqualified for one of their member’s heavenward gesture. The incident occurred in Columbus, where the track and field team was hosting a meet with the goal of qualify athletes for the state championship meet later in May.
 
As first reported by Houston CBS affiliate KHOU, the school’s 4x100-meter relay squad achieved just that in winning its race decisively. The anchor of that 4x100 squad was junior Derrick Hayes, who ran a particularly blazing split and celebrated the team’s state qualification with a simple finger point to the heavens.
 
The gesture is a common one in sports -- remember Sammy Sosa or Barry Bonds after breaking the single season home run record? -- but on this occasion, it was deemed to have run afoul of a University Interscholastic League (UIL) regulation barring excessive celebration.
 
Once officials at the Columbus meet determined that Hayes had violated the excessive celebration rules, the entire 4x100-meter squad was disqualified and effectively barred from the state championships. The team will not get another chance to qualify for the meet.
 





“He put his hand by his ear and pointed to the heavens,” Hayes’ father, KC Hayes, told KHOU. “It was a reaction. You’re brought up your whole life that God gives you good things, you’re blessed.”
 
While there appears to be little recourse for the runners to be reinstated in the state championships, that hardly means that the surprising disqualification is a closed issue. Instead, residents around the area have spoken up in support of the teen athlete and questioning the wisdom of any UIL rule that would prohibit a form of religious free expression.
 


“I don’t see what the big deal is,” Columbus resident Laporchia Miller told KHOU. “When people are thanking God, he’s the reason we live.”
 
Added Weimar resident Steve Williams, when the station told him that it was policy to bar any hand gestures under the excessive celebration rules:
 

“Well, then it’s not a good policy.”

[Ogre]

"If the world hates you, know that it hated me before it hated you." 

- Jesus (John 15:18)

[dallaswareagle]

To many fuckwads from California are moving here.

[bottomfeeder]

Also in Texas: WARNING GRAPHIC!

[Saniflush]

Dude I thought you said that shit was graphic?

[Vandy Vol]

Dude I thought you said that shit was graphic?

He meant that it was a series of graphics played consecutively to make a moving picture.

[bottomfeeder]

Dude I thought you said that shit was graphic?

For some folks, hearing words like "orgy" may be considered graphic. Also, tossing a salad in the background could be considered graphic.

[GH2001]

To many fuckwads from California are moving here.

Correct. Been telling you guys this for at least a year. There is a multimillion dollar effort under way via several super pacs to turn Texas blue. And it's working. And just a matter of time before it happens. And it will. Because most people out there actually believe their own silly cowboy rhetoric and are in denial about it.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-08/texas-turns-battleground-as-cowbow-boots-win-hispanics.html

[djsimp]

For some folks, hearing words like "orgy" may be considered graphic. Also, tossing a salad in the background could be considered graphic.

I don't suspect any of those people are here on the X.

[GH2001]

I don't suspect any of those people are here on the X.

Especially those not named uncle Sani.

[bottomfeeder]

I don't suspect any of those people are here on the X.

The X has lurkers.

[Buzz Killington]

What is graphic about a nice tossed salad?

[bottomfeeder]

What is graphic about a nice tossed salad?

It's for mature audiences only.

[DnATL]

It's for mature audiences only.

if it's for a mature audience, then it's definitely inappropriate for the x

[bottomfeeder]

if it's for a mature audience, then it's definitely inappropriate for the x

Thus the WARNING.

[WiregrassTiger]

Correct. Been telling you guys this for at least a year. There is a multimillion dollar effort under way via several super pacs to turn Texas blue. And it's working. And just a matter of time before it happens. And it will. Because most people out there actually believe their own silly cowboy rhetoric and are in denial about it.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-08/texas-turns-battleground-as-cowbow-boots-win-hispanics.html

It's not conspiracy stuff, it's political strategy. I think that the majority of the hispanic vote will vote Democratic for the foreseeable future unless conservatives back off the illegal immigration issue. Backing away from the illegal immigration issue means turning your back on your base. It's a tough spot for conservatives and I feel like the battle is futile. We are a socialist country and I'm just trying to figure out how to live in one.

[bottomfeeder]

It's not conspiracy stuff, it's political strategy. I think that the majority of the hispanic vote will vote Democratic for the foreseeable future unless conservatives back off the illegal immigration issue. Backing away from the illegal immigration issue means turning your back on your base. It's a tough spot for conservatives and I feel like the battle is futile. We are a socialist country and I'm just trying to figure out how to live in one.

I've made plans to get the fuck out of here.

[AU_Tiger_2000]

This is nuts. Kid points his finger up into the air for a couple of seconds after helping his team qualify to go to state champ in track and they are disqualified. Religious freedom debate? I think so but I put it here because it's apparently gov't policy in Tx. Falls under "excessive celebration" rule. Doesn't look like they will make it to state despite the backlash.


http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/highschool-prep-rally/texas-teen-points-heavens-gets-4-100-relay-181303156.html


Texas teen points to heavens, gets 4×100 relay squad banned from state championships
 .By Cameron Smith | Prep Rally – 19 hours ago...
.
 
Derrick Hayes, left, and his 4x100 teammates were disqualified for a finger gesture — YouTube
 
Of the likely places for a debate over religious free expression to erupt, a Texas high school track and field meet probably wasn’t high on the list.
 
Remarkably, that’s precisely where one athlete’s reactionary gesture has led to a broader discussion about what is appropriate at public school events, after a Columbus (Texas) High relay team was disqualified for one of their member’s heavenward gesture. The incident occurred in Columbus, where the track and field team was hosting a meet with the goal of qualify athletes for the state championship meet later in May.
 
As first reported by Houston CBS affiliate KHOU, the school’s 4x100-meter relay squad achieved just that in winning its race decisively. The anchor of that 4x100 squad was junior Derrick Hayes, who ran a particularly blazing split and celebrated the team’s state qualification with a simple finger point to the heavens.
 
The gesture is a common one in sports -- remember Sammy Sosa or Barry Bonds after breaking the single season home run record? -- but on this occasion, it was deemed to have run afoul of a University Interscholastic League (UIL) regulation barring excessive celebration.
 
Once officials at the Columbus meet determined that Hayes had violated the excessive celebration rules, the entire 4x100-meter squad was disqualified and effectively barred from the state championships. The team will not get another chance to qualify for the meet.
 





“He put his hand by his ear and pointed to the heavens,” Hayes’ father, KC Hayes, told KHOU. “It was a reaction. You’re brought up your whole life that God gives you good things, you’re blessed.”
 
While there appears to be little recourse for the runners to be reinstated in the state championships, that hardly means that the surprising disqualification is a closed issue. Instead, residents around the area have spoken up in support of the teen athlete and questioning the wisdom of any UIL rule that would prohibit a form of religious free expression.
 


“I don’t see what the big deal is,” Columbus resident Laporchia Miller told KHOU. “When people are thanking God, he’s the reason we live.”
 
Added Weimar resident Steve Williams, when the station told him that it was policy to bar any hand gestures under the excessive celebration rules:
 

“Well, then it’s not a good policy.”

According to something I heard on the radio there's a little more to this story than first glance.  Apparently after crossing the finish line the track official warned the kid not to make any celebratory gestures and gave him a warning.  The kid got in the official's face and that's why the team was dq'ed.

[bottomfeeder]

According to something I heard on the radio there's a little more to this story than first glance.  Apparently after crossing the finish line the track official warned the kid not to make any celebratory gestures and gave him a warning.  The kid got in the official's face and that's why the team was dq'ed.

Eff authority. Ask any bammer, they'll tell you the same.

[Tiger Wench]

According to something I heard on the radio there's a little more to this story than first glance.  Apparently after crossing the finish line the track official warned the kid not to make any celebratory gestures and gave him a warning.  The kid got in the official's face and that's why the team was dq'ed.

Yes.  A video surfaced.  The ULI was not going to make a statement about it, but when the parents and the school, etc., started making a huge deal, and it was getting national attention, the ULI came forward and said the kid did NOT point to heaven, he reached his hand out and did a fist pump.  The kid has now retracted his statement, saying that "while I am grateful to God for all my blessings, any gesture I made at the end of the race was in the thrill of victory".  And now the dad looks like a f'ing idiot for screaming about freedom of religion.

Now, do I think the overall rule is stupid?  Sportsmanship versus excitement?  Absolutely.  But it sounds like the kid got a chance and the judge said don't and he got disrespectful... and at that point, rules is rules.

http://www.khou.com/news/local/Act-of-faith-did-not-cost-track-team-win-students-reaction-to-official-did-206376571.html