Top recruit Matt James, a 6'6" 291lb offensive tackle, has died while on Spring Break in Panama Florida.
James was 17 years old and just out of St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was one of the nation's most sought after recruits after making first team All-American high school team by USA Today. James recently had played in the US Army All-American Bowl in Texas.
That's the facts, now here's my view, agree or not.
This is yet again another trajedy about a high schooler dying while on spring break! We have a kid who gets a full ride to one of the nation's most prestigious schools for academics and to play big time college football. Chances are, if he starts for 4 years and plays well he probably has a good chance of being draft by an NFL team. A life that a lot of people would love a chance at.
Instead we have to hear about a 17 year old falling off a 4th floor hotel balcony and falling to his death. A life ended prematurelu because of stupidity on spring break!
Why, I ask, are 17 year olds on spring break? When did it become the norm for high schoolers to go on spring break? Don't the parents have any control anymore? They have to realize that nobody is playing miniature golf while in Panama City! Am I the only one who sees the highlights of kids while in Panama City. Didn't the parents see the episode of "Cops" from Panama City arresting all the over drunk immature kids?
I'm sure Matt James had just a more than a little alcohol in his system while hanging on a 4th floor balcony and accidently falling!
Why can't parents be a little more controlling these days? Why, "Ok son, we'll pay for a week in Panama City with all the drunk college kids. Have a great time. Hey, here's a jug of tequila for you to take. Get plastered for me son so I can live my youth again through you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Once you are 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 and in college yes you are considered an adult. If you want to work for your money to pay for the trip then I guess it's on you. But as a parent as long as the kid lives in your house you have some controls. Some sense of teaching responsibility. Some way to say, "Hey kid, if you want to get jello-plastered while in Panama City please be careful and use your head."
Then again, do the nation's youth live in a bubble and don't see the stories them selves of the trajedies which occur. Anyone remember Natalie Holliway. 17 and has yet to find her remains. I guaran f&$KING tee you my daughter won't be going on spring break at 17!!!
Oh well, at 17 we are all invincible right? Guess I'm just a 44 yr old rambling and out of touch! Have a nice day Mr. and Mrs. James.
I'll bite...
ReplyDeleteHere is a situation in where we don't know if the parents have or have not lost control. I agree 125% that most parents have lost control of 90% of their child's lives. Glad (not sad) to say that I didnt do anything without asking my parents permission when I was growing up. I got some yes answers, but a lot of no's. Did it make me a better person??? I dont know, but i do know that it made me appreciate being an adult. Parents want their kids to grow up too fast, I think b/c they are simply too cool to be a parent.
Maybe an error in judgement here by these parents. As you said earlier... accepted to one of the most prestigious academic colleges in America. Is he not smart enough to realize what the hell he is doing???? Then again he is ONLY 17. What were you thinking as a parent...17!
There is a huge difference in "hovering" too much and simple parenting. I have a child that, most of you know, has Down Syndrome. In her earlier years we had to stay on top of her much more than other children her age. We always got the comment that we were too hard on her. Well today she is in a 7th grade class in a "regular school" mainstreamed, reading & comprehending on a 6th grade level, and it is much easier to get her to cooperate. I understand that it is different for a "normal" child, but you see the connection in wanting your child to do better than you. I agree this is amuch larger scale, but you still can not let young kids make large decisions. They have to be guided somehow, and as a parent it is YOUR JOB to figure that out. Simply because little johnny throws a fit doesnt mean you give in to whatever they want. Start at an early age and it becomes easier when they are older.
I know that every generation says they were tougher than the newest generation. I have to agree to a slight degree. It seems to be changing much more quickly. Less and less respect for anyone around you everyday. When did it ever become cool to be addicted to something? I have heard more kids involved with more stupid shit in the last 5 years then i did in the first 12 years after i graduated high school. I think the generation gap is closing more and more, b/c parents dont want to be parents as much as they want to be friends with their kids. Once your kids become adults, then you can become friends with them. Teach them respect, and build their character, but first and foremost love them enough to want to protect and teach them. Its not too cool love your child, but then again its not cool at all to bury your child. Natural circle of life is to have the older pass before the younger.
Fritz, you may have opened a can of worms, and on our little "blog family" there are a lot of new and soon to be new parents. Knowing the gentlemen on here, i dont think they will hvae a problem. Guys in all seriousness & jokes aside... dont be too cool to be a parent. Have enough respect for yourself to EARN respect from your child not companionship. That will come in due time.
I couldn't agree more! It is sad to see that the poor kid died and a possible bright future and career go down the drain.
ReplyDeleteI to would certainly bet he was drunk as shit and thought it was super cool to try and do a hand stand on the deck railing, or some other crazy stunt.
Now I don't think I totally blame the location as a result of the incident. He could of easily done the same thing at a Motel 6 down the street from his home.
But going far, far away to distant and foreign places certainly increases the chances of bad shit happening.
To many parents want to be their kids buddies and not be their parents.
There is no way in hell I would let my teenage girl/boy go to Dewey for a weekend let alone Miami, Mexico, or some other place.
I get to see first hand how f'd up people are and believe me there are a lot of them.
I get to see how messed up these young kids get away from home for a few days and cut loose.
I can't wait for the day my daughter throws a fit cuz she can't go to Dewey fot the weekend with her friends.
I will load her up in my cruiser and head down to Dewey.
Then pull over so she can see how fun much fun the girls are having during their "Walk of Shame" at 7 in the morning.
Clothes and hair all disheveled. Make-up smeared all over their faces. The look of disgust on their faces.
Then maybe she will think twice about it.
If not... Tough shit!!! She still ain't going!
Keep your kids close. The world is only getting worse.
not to dwell on this, but Keep...you're right on the $. Parents these days are too busy wanting to be friends. You know why...because it's harder to be a parent than a friend. Parents today want the easy way out. They don't want the stress of cracking down on their kids and having their kid mad at them. If my child gets mad at me she'll just have to get over it!
ReplyDeleteAnother problem with parents today is the need to "live their lives through their children". It's cool to pay your 17 yr old kid's way to Panama City. It's cool to have a graduation party at your house with alcohol.
I will always tell my child I love her. I don't care if she's 10, 20, 30, 40 years old. I will always hug and kiss her.
I'll say it again, I will never buy alcohol for a party for my high school age child, nor will I be paying for a 17 yr old to go to spring break!
Well put... nuff said!
ReplyDelete...by the way, James is not the only spring break death in Panama City this year.....Brandon Kohler, a 19 year old from Georgia, died in Panama City after falling from a 5th floor Holiday Inn balcony on March 24th.
ReplyDeleteMaybe these spring break locations need to "cage" in the balconies......
I have to agree with you Buck, the world is getting worse. I mean its not even safe to let your kids go for a run in the neighborhood anymore as it seems we always here about some girl being abducted.
ReplyDeleteTo me, especially at the high school/college level that you are only cool if you are out partying and getting hammered and doing stupid stuff. Hell, some people go through this phase in life and never grow out of it, the graduate high school or college, get themselves a job, and spend every weekend drinking their life away.
I definatly point to parents in a case like this. Yes your son just landed a scholarship and saved them a ton of money for his college education but letting him go away by himself on spring break knowing that he is 17, not 21, and the only thing you do on spring break is get drunk and do stupid stuff, like playing around on a balcony. Its ashame because like Fritz said, what could have been a promising future is all for not now because the parents probably didn't have the balls to say no because they are probably looking at their some as a work unit, they want to keep him happy so if he does go to Notre Dame and get drafted and sign a contract and take care of Mom and Dad.
As a parent of two young kids, I know alot awaits me in the future. I wish my kids would stay young forever but I know they will grow up and there will be times they want to do something and my wife and I will have to say no because its the right thing to do. No way my kids will ever go on a trip without us there with them.
Just a Dream [News Poem April 3, 2010]
ReplyDeletehttp://toylit.blogspot.com/2010/04/just-dream-news-poem-april-3-2010.html
“James isn't the first spring breaker to die from a balcony fall this year. Brandon Kohler, a 19-year-old from Winder, Ga., died March 24 when he fell from a fifth-floor balcony at the Holiday Terrace Motel in Panama City Beach.”
--JOE KAY (AP) – 48 minutes ago as of 1:09pm PST
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gHMHAzUyYkyOeBcfuDpbJspuiSbQD9ERP9DG0
Drink and drop.
Grog and slop.
Vomit-spout.
Blot it out.
Fuck this place.
Fuck your face.
Nothing's fake
Nothing's real.
Nothing's sake:
Best of deals.
Final trick:
Disappear
(Happens quick).
1. Fifteen beers
2. Breaks the wall.
3. Blackout drunk
4. Helps me fall.
5. Life is bunk.
http://toylit.blogspot.com
Fritz, count me in!!!
ReplyDeleteKhakjaan Wessington, your poem was wonderful!!!
This is quite the story but at the same time I'm not surprised and no one else should be either. This is a kid that probably started his day out the same as I do when I know I'm partying... "I'm a big tough guy, I'll be fine"... There has been many times where I wake up the next morning and ask myself "Damn Service, we still alive???. That was in college tho. Actually everytime I go out.
I just celebrated my 24th birthday last night with some of my closest friends. I know how lucky I am that I've made it this far with nothing tragic like this story happening to me or to one of them because I'm know how easily it could of. It's a freak accident and could of happened to anyone anywhere. Like the Buck said it could of happened at someones perents beach house down in Dewey. I'm sure this kids parents did trust him because he was such the big time football player coming out of high school with a free ride. I got myself a full ride to college and I bet everything I have my mother would have let me go on this trip. Would that make her a bad parent? I dont know? Would I have fallen off a 4th floor balcony? I dont know. It's life..... I can walk across the street behind my house right now and get hit by the gay ass Fire Chief Penuel Barrett who NEVER STOPS AT THE STOP SIGN and die. Who knows!
I don't have children yet as I know Fritz, The Buck, Rollin, Motor and soon Mass will have so I can't quite comment on the story the same as they do but I do know My Mother gave me and my siblings (they may say different) alot of freedom growing up. There was a lot of freedom but at the same time we never took things too far. You can only do so much. There are those way over protective parents out there and there child ends up an addict or pregnant at a young age. It's hard raising kids with all these temptations all around us.
I wish all you fellow bloggers a Happy Easter!!!
Anonymous... Glad to know who it is!
LET'S GO DUKE!!!
Happy Birthday to me.
First of all I wish to extend the happiest of happy birthday wishes to Bottle Service. Your pizza party Friday night was fantastic. Would of been even better if you beat TL up.
ReplyDeleteI really couldn't agree more with your perspective and also think Penuel Barrett is a gay dousche. But you have to be to work at First State Chevy Olds and Pinto. Maybe he will run that stop sign one day and hit a propane truck instead of you.
As far as kids go... Your thought process will change some once you have your own. Maybe not a lot but it will.
I know we all did some stupid stuff growing up. It's a wonder I didn't kill myself with some of the drunk ass stuff I did.
Hell... I know we have all done stupid stuff when we were all grown up. Word of advice to all... Don't take a 90 degree turn, on a wet road, going 60 mph. You won't make it. Unless you count ending up in the marsh, with the car on it's side, as making it.
I saw more details on the James incident today. Sources say he was down there with 40 other kids and several groups of parents were with them.
Does this make it even worse? That adults were present and this kid (according to the police) was drunk off his ass in the hotel.
Glad to see the police are going to press charges once/if they fing out who supplied him with alcohol. Those parents better pray that they were not the ones.
Happy Easter Day!
....i still think we could have made it...
ReplyDeleteHappy Easter to all and Happy Birthday Service!
ReplyDeleteI feel sorry for the parents of this young man. Having to live with the fact their son died let alone the fact its from something stupid he did. Cant really blame them for letting him go on this trip. Like Bottle said i am about 99.9% sure i would have been allowed to go in this trip, and in high school we had plenty of parties and in no way do i believe my mother was a "BAD" parent. Would it be the parents fault if this happend at his dorm room next year at ND after a football game. His parents let him go their without them to supervise.
Again i feel sorry for the parents and friends that lost this young man. I find it hard to pass judgement on these parents because i have seen ALMOST everyone on here who has drank with/bought/served underage kids and had no problem with it. Am i saying you still do it, NO but you have before you just happen to luck out and no one died.
Happy B-Day bottle service, good times... In the immortal words of George COOOOOOSTANZA "and then their were 2". Duke will roll tmrw night!!!
ReplyDeleteHappy Easter to everyone!
Go DUKE!!!!