Posted on 11/14/2002 11:56:22 AM PST by SAMWolf
Edited on 04/29/2004 2:01:37 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
Jake Porter is 17, but he can't read, can barely scrawl his first name and often mixes up the letters at that. So how come we're all learning something from him?
In three years on the Northwest High football team, in McDermott, Ohio, Jake had never run with the ball. Or made a tackle. He'd barely ever stepped on the field. That's about right for a kid with chromosomal fragile X syndrome, a disorder that is a common cause of mental retardation.
(Excerpt) Read more at sportsillustrated.cnn.com ...
Ayn Rand.
Ayn Rand.
LOL.
You just made my day.
An Act of Kindness in the Heartland
The Herald-Dispatch ^ | October 24, 2002 | James Walker
Posted on 11/01/2002 11:37 AM PST by XJarhead
Act of kindness speaks volumes about football’s spirit
By JAMES WALKER - Thursday quarterback
In an age when arrogance and "Sharpie" pens steal the national spotlight, it is often the smallest, most unnoticed acts of kindness that remind us that football is merely a game.
The story, which is destined to become legendary in Southern Ohio circles, starts in Waverly.
Northwest football coach Dave Frantz and Tigers’ coach Derek DeWitt shared a conversation the week leading up to the game.
But the two coaches weren’t discussing strategy, instead they were talking about a mentally-handicapped Northwest player by the name of Jake Porter.
Porter, a senior, has a disorder called "Chromosomal Fragile-X," which is the most common cause of inherited mental retardation.
Porter still shows up on time for practice every day and dresses in full gear during games, but he has yet to take an official snap in a football game.
Frantz wanted that streak to end last Friday.
"I told them (Waverly) ahead of time that he can’t take a hit or anything," Frantz said. "If the game’s not at stake on the last play, I wanted him to come in and take a knee."
I can't understand why anyone would complain about letting the kid score a touchdown in a game that had already been decided. When I was in high school our basketball team used to get thrashed (along with every other team in our conference) by an all-black team that turned out NCAA Division I players on a regular basis. The coach of that team would always sit his starters when the score got out of hand, and he was even decent enough to offer little tips to some of our players during the post-game handshake.
Funny how nobody complained when that other high school coach benched 18 players who had been caught drinking at a party -- the team lost, 63-0, in a conference playoff game, and everyone agreed that the coach had set an exemplary standard.
What's amazing is the way he's been treated at that school:
This story is renewing my faith in the younger generation and schools.
BTW -- I work with a group of teens at our church -- they help me out in the 2 yr.-old nursery and they are all kind and compassionate kids -- even the guys will pick up a crying toddler and pat them on the back (a bit awkwardly but they're tryin') or sing the Veggie-Tales songs with the little ones -- it's so heart warming to work with these kids
Smart kid.
Hehe, great story Sam. Thanks so much.
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