Absurd Link of the Week

9 year old Boy Banned from Little League for Being Too good

from the linked ESPN.com article:

League attorney Peter Noble says the only factor in banning Jericho from the mound is his pitches are just too fast.

"He is a very skilled player, a very hard thrower," Noble said. "There are a lot of beginners. This is not a high-powered league. This is a developmental league whose main purpose is to promote the sport."

Noble acknowledged that Jericho had not beaned any batters in the co-ed league of 8- to 10-year-olds, but say parents expressed safety concerns.

There are two things that are emblematic in describing the idealized vision of the American way of life. Equal opportunity and a strong spirit of competition. While these two don’t exactly characterize and fully describe what being an American is, there is enough of a presence in our society to say that these are somewhat accurate characteristics. These two, I believe, play off of each other and often co-exist peacefully. Once in a while, however, people (dumb fucking people who should be sterilized) are so concerned with keeping things on an even keel that not only does it hinder the notion of competitiveness, but completely squashes it.
I think the right to equal opportunity (for the most part) is what makes this a great country. However, egalitarianism and equality can sometimes be a double-edged sword in which more harm than good is done. Of course, the same can be said about competition being taken to the extreme. I can recall a personal experience in which a kid I played little league with was instructed by the coach—who also happened to be his dad—to purposefully bean the opposing team’s best batter just to give our team an advantage. However, this happens with less frequency and is usually attributed to people being complete assholes. In contrast, this story is symptomatic of a deteriorating culture.
The problem extends beyond the realm of sports and competition. Our society is concerned with equality in other aspects of daily life, such as our education system. A notable example of this is the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.Similarly, general distrust for those who are better has become the norm. This can be seen in politics where candidates have much more success if they are better at portraying themselves as regular blue-collar folk. This same mentality is the reason why Obama’s perception of an elitist had a negative effect on his poll numbers.
This kind of behavior not only punishes those who strive to be better but also rewards and promotes mediocrity. It further propagates the argument that we live in a country where entitlement is rampant. Why would anyone try harder to maximize their potential when its as rewarding to strive for mediocrity? As alarmist as this might sound, if this trend continues our future will be that of a dystopia not unlike the world the characters in Kurt Vonnegut’s short story “Harrison Bergeron”. Quite frankly, that’s not a world I want to live in. So yeah, fuck it, let the kid play. Let him pitch his no-hitters.