Did hiring Hal McCrae increase the African-American fanbase? Hardly. Truth is, the Royals have never made a real effort to reach out to either community. As far as being a role model for Hispanics, young people should look in other areas besides sports. They are much more likely to succeed in another profession than become superstars in the world of sports.
As for WHB 810's decision not to interview Peña, who cares? Obviously they prefer the easy-to-understand interviews of perfect-English-speaking American athletes filled with "you knows" and tired clichés.
Max Cerda
Kansas City, Kansas
Other local schools travel all over the country. For example, Oak Park and Pembroke Hill competed last month in national math and science contests. One of the trips was to the University of Delaware for the National Science Contest. Yet these two kids at Central High can't travel to Louisville? And Oakes' attitude: Arrogant. Disgusting. And, obviously out-of-touch.
Where does the MSHSAA get its power? How can it be changed? The entire MSHSAA organization, not just this one incident, needs to be investigated.
J. David Holt
Parkville
Seriously, is the boogieman gonna get you, Mr. Graves? Are we gonna have to call the X-Files to investigate the "vampire" goth scene? Who's next? The werewolf? Frankenstein? Bram Stoker and Mary Shelly made it up, Mr. Politician.
But who's to separate fact from fiction? Right, Mr. Graves? You can separate fact from fiction, right? I know you think that there's something wrong with people who believe in ghosts and hang out in cemeteries. But don't you believe in ghosts? Oh, that holy one is different?
You're probably one of those "politicians" who wants to ban Halloween, right? While we're at, it let's ban Count Chocula, Casper, Batman, Spiderman and any creepy opera from Carl Orff. Let's ban pre-Renaissance European architecture, several novels from Faust to Lord Byron and anything that has to do with New Orleans.
Why do you need $273,000 to watch over a subculture? I could spend $45 at the most at some bimbo bar in Westport and see some frat guy cause 868 percent more harm than any "goth" kid.
Fernando Poo
Wichita
I'm not goth, and I'm certainly too old to be seen in public wearing a corset. I don't feel threatened by goths' hanging out in numbers anywhere. I can't recall ever seeing a goth reenacting scenes from The Fast and the Furious or considering Gone in 60 Seconds as a how-to primer. Might I suggest Blue Springs investigate the "wigger" population in their community for criminal intentions/activity? Or could is be that it's too close to home -- as in their own kids? It's always easiest to set your target sights on the most visible heads above the fence. Then again, I may be the only one who suspects the bottom line is to "identify the criminal element."
P.S. I happen to be a certified secondary-level teacher, and the goths and "freaks" are easy targets in the school system because they dare to be different.
Donna Russell
Lee's Summit
I have been involved in the educational aspect of goth as well as several other subcultures to the vanilla or mundane set for a number of years, including radio, print and television exposure. The whole Blue Springs thing has had ripples as far as Toronto, where a goth festival is being organized to both entertain and educate (reJUVEnator.toronto-goth.com).
I will indeed be passing this link onward to many others. Thank you again.
Cliff Goodman
Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
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