Ok, we can go back and forth about smoking pot, should it be tested, etc. But here's the bigger issue for me that I see.
Every team has rules and expectations. You are expected to go to class. You are expected to hit workouts. You are expected to be in the gym, on the field, etc. Like it or not, there is a rule against smoking pot. It's there. Everyone knows about it.
So, to me, for someone who repeatedly flunks a drug test, the concern is not really whether or not they smoke weed. The concern to me is that they have been caught and repeatedly refuse to meet expectations of the program and school. What if a player just decides he's not going to go to practice. Just decides not to show up. He gets suspended. And then he does it again and he gets booted. Would people be screaming about how stupid it is to kick a kid off the team for not meeting team expectations?
You know the rules about pot when you sign up. There are about 100 ways to skirt those rules and not get caught. And you are generally given a free pass for the first time you break them. But once you get caught, in my humble opinion, if you continue to choose to defy the rules, it's not so much about you smoking weed as much as it is your unwillingness to give a shit about how the consequences affect the rest of us. You don't have to like the rules, but they are rules. And if you don't give a shit about the consequences, and how those consequences will affect your team, then I don't want you on my team. If you are willing to get suspended and hurt our team because you don't want to go to class; or you don't want to hit workouts; or because you like to smoke pot, then you probably don't give a shit about what the rest of us are trying to accomplish. And I'm OK with you being shown the door.
So, in the end, it's not about smoking pot to me. It's about being unwilling to recognize that there is something bigger then yourself at stake.
/end rant
Every team has rules and expectations. You are expected to go to class. You are expected to hit workouts. You are expected to be in the gym, on the field, etc. Like it or not, there is a rule against smoking pot. It's there. Everyone knows about it.
So, to me, for someone who repeatedly flunks a drug test, the concern is not really whether or not they smoke weed. The concern to me is that they have been caught and repeatedly refuse to meet expectations of the program and school. What if a player just decides he's not going to go to practice. Just decides not to show up. He gets suspended. And then he does it again and he gets booted. Would people be screaming about how stupid it is to kick a kid off the team for not meeting team expectations?
You know the rules about pot when you sign up. There are about 100 ways to skirt those rules and not get caught. And you are generally given a free pass for the first time you break them. But once you get caught, in my humble opinion, if you continue to choose to defy the rules, it's not so much about you smoking weed as much as it is your unwillingness to give a shit about how the consequences affect the rest of us. You don't have to like the rules, but they are rules. And if you don't give a shit about the consequences, and how those consequences will affect your team, then I don't want you on my team. If you are willing to get suspended and hurt our team because you don't want to go to class; or you don't want to hit workouts; or because you like to smoke pot, then you probably don't give a shit about what the rest of us are trying to accomplish. And I'm OK with you being shown the door.
So, in the end, it's not about smoking pot to me. It's about being unwilling to recognize that there is something bigger then yourself at stake.
/end rant
