Chicago: HS baseball game forfeited due to "worried parents".

I ask this as a practical question: Is the neighborhood safe? Are these concerns valid?
I covered a high school game at a city park in a sketchy part of town yesterday (not in Chicago, but another city that often pops up on the list of "most violent cities"). Let's just say I was glad it started at noon instead of 7 p.m., especially after visiting the park's bathroom. There were no lights, and it looked like there was blood in the sink and somebody had tried to cook meth on top of the urinal. I don't want to imagine the creatures that prowl that place after dark.
At some point it's not a race issue. At some point it actually is common sense.

Edit to add: The coach of the team I was covering said they actually did play Saturday afternoon because of safety concerns. It was a playoff game so they had to play. His team was the higher seed, but they gave up homefield advantage in the series (Games 2 and 3 were to be played as a doubleheader) so they wouldn't have to go over there Friday night.

 

We've been assured African-American kids don't play baseball, so it can't be about race.

 

It's South Side Chicago, so what would be your guess?

I don't know precisely where this HS is, but I do know that suburban and whitebread parents throughout that region have long been conditioned to be scared shitless by the words "South Side." It was that way three decades ago and I'm sure it's still that way today.

And I've still zero sympathy for these complaints. They could see the schedule before the season began. If you had concerns, you should've raised it back then. If you didn't, too bad, go play the frickin game. Little Skippy won't be traumatized by having to play one baseball game in a scary neighborhood.

 

Molly from "Mike and Molly" is a teacher at Walter Payton Elementary School in Chicago.

 

What's the worst that can happen? These parents need to stop worrying so much about their kids and start taking advice from ill-informed strangers.

 

Yeah, those poor parents worried that their little darlings will get killed in the black part of town. I play the tiniest violin of sympathy.

 

Well, for one thing, the game doesn't seem to appear on the schedule posted on the school's website:

Varsity


Date Opponent Time Location Score
Win,Loss,Tie
3/15/13 Brother Rice 4:30pm Brother Rice
3/16/13 Glenbrook North 12pm GBN Cancelled
3/18/13 Gordon Tech 4:30pm Seward Park
3/21/13 Evanston Town H.S. 10am ETHS
3/22/13 Lincoln 6:30pm Lincoln
3/25/13 Main South 11am Main South
3/26/13 St. Ignatius 4:30pm St. Ignatius
3/28/13 Kenwood 3pm Kenwood
3/30/13 Wells 2pm Seward Park
4/01/13 Chicago Bulls 4:45pm
Seward Park
4/05/13 Lake View 7:30pm Lake View
4/06/13 Deerfield 10:am Harlen
4/08/13 Lake View 4:30pm Seward Park
4/11/13 Lane Tech 4:30pm Lane Tech
4/12/13 Lane Tech 4:30pm Seward Park
4/13/13 Paririe Ridge 11am Paririe ridge
4/15/13 Clemente 4:30pm Clemente
4/17/13 Clemente 4:30pm Seward Park
4/18/13 Mount Carmel 4:30pm Mount Carmel
4/19/13 Shurz 4:30pm Shurz
4/20/13 Jones 10:30pm Jones
4/22/13 Shurz 4:30pm Seward Park
4/24/13 Von Steuben 4:30pm Von Steuben
4/26/13 Von Steuben 4;30pm Seward Park
4/27/13 Holy Trinity 10am Seward Park
4/29/13 Taft 4:30pm Taft
5/01/13 Taft 4:30pm Seward Park
5/0213 De LaSalle 4:30pm De LaSalle
5/03/13 Northside 4:30pm Northside
5/06/13 Northside 4:30pm Seward Park


This appears to show them playing Holy Trinity at 10 a.m. on Saturday. Obviously, I have no idea when or why that changed, but maybe it wasn't on the schedule when the season began.

 

You're an angry little dude. You've turned into Starman without the sense of humor.

 

It's not about race; it's about principals.

 

I wonder how it came out when they played Da Bulls.

I suspect this actually has more to do with the whole deal.

A coach with any brains, if a (legitimate) situation of this type arose, would handle it entirely within the school's chain of command.

If there are legitimate safety/security concerns, go to the AD and principal and have them handle it at the administrative level.

The LAST thing in the world you would do would go public with ANY hint whatsoever you were scared of the big nasty black people, because it would just about guarantee your chance of having any problems with the big nasty black people in later games would go up about 10,000%. When word gets around you're afraid of people, the people will take advantage.

If the AD and principal won't back you up, come up with some bullshit injury/illness/conflict with SAT testing/ etc etc blah blah excuse. Teams cancel games all the time for all sorts of reasons; come up with one.

 

If only their parents would give them a loan to start a business, then they wouldn't need to hang out in park restrooms.

 

I find it amusing their schedule-maker can't spell Schurz, Maine South or Prairie Ridge.