Liberty and Justice for All!

We all know that Deuce, Will Smith, and Charles Grant are fighting suspensions for taking a diuretic as part of a supplement. Now, according to the article Deuce had been taking a supplement for the last four years. He submitted this supplement to the NFL for testing. And from the claims that have been made, the company allegedly added this substance to the supplements (even though it is not a listed agreement). Furthermore, when the company was notified of the problem, they supposedly did nothing about it. So if this is the case, and that there was no way for these players to have known that the formula changed, then they should not be suspended.

However, the NFL has a zero tolerance policy on supplements. While I have little tolerance for zero tolerance policies, you have to understand that these are the rules of the game. So we must consider the effect that this will have on the team. Can the Saints afford to be without Deuce, Smith, and Grant at the same time? I don’t think so.

The team needs to sit down with those players and work out a schedule of suspensions that least impacts the team. So what I would do is have Will Smith take his suspension for the next four weeks. I would then have Charles Grant take his suspension for the last four weeks. Finally, I would have Deuce wait to take his suspension until Reggie Bush is healthy. This way, you minimize the effect on the Saints overall. Otherwise, you could wind up missing 3 star players at once.

Across the country there are bans of public displays of effection (PDA) in schools. And while I agree that the schoolyard should not be a place to make out with others, the enforcement of these laws are going to far. An MSNBC article reports that a girl has just gotten detention for violating the schools restriction on PDA for giving two of her friends a hug at the end of the school day.

The policy states:

Displays of affection should not occur on the school campus at any time. It is in poor taste, reflects poor judgment, and brings discredit to the school and to the persons involved.

So if a student has a death in the family, a friend coming up and giving a hug would bring discredit to the schools? I think the school discredits itself when it takes bans on “displays of affection” to the nth degree.

Another rule in Virginia is even more prohibitive. You cannot touch other students, period. No high fives, no handshakes… nothing! I remember that I was required to shake hands in my high school by my teacher because we had to learn how to give a good firm handshake since that would help us later in life. It is a shame that you cannot even shake hands with other students. Such zero tollerance policies are harmful to society and it is a shame that certain people that they are the way to go.