The End of the Dance

After taking as much grief as I have about covering the debacle around the Minnesota State High School Dance Line Championship from Valentine's Day night of this year, it finally has come to an end.  The Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) has handed down the punishment; a year suspensions for all coaches involved in the bullying and taunting of the Faribault high school team on the night of the competition.  Like I said this morning, I completely agree with the MSHSL ruling on this.  For more background information, there are a few posts about it the last few months.  Please browse.

Before I get into why I did make this story a major issue on my show, let me explain why I didn't make it an issue.  I didn't talk about this because I'm a fan of Faribault.  I'm not a dance line fan.  I'm not trying to make a marginal sport more popular.  I didn't talk about it because I needed an easy topic due to not prepping my show.  I didn't make this a priority because I dislike the five schools who were caught taunting and bullying.

I also didn't talk about this because I'm afraid of talking about politics.  I talk politics constantly on the Morning Grind, and frankly, I'm damn proud of the shows Bryan and I have put together over the last month.  We've been the only morning show giving the Democratic leaders of this state a true open forum to talk about the end of session, the last second bills and the special session negotiations.  I'll continue to dedicate the majority of time on my show to covering local politics.

Everyday...every single day, I get e-mails and messages criticizing me because I'm not talking about this issue, or that issue.  In the last few days, I have e-mails wanting me to talk about bees, mines, parks, too much government, not enough government, South American politics (?!), 9/11 (I get a lot of 9/11 stuff), police violence, native American schools, water quality, this politician, that politician...I can't possibly talk about every issue which is important to every single person.

I also can't just focus on politics all of the time, and will, at times, talk about social issues.  I, like many people, have kids, three active ones to be exact, and the social impacts of our schools and our athletics are an issue many people in the Twin Cities and Minnesota are interested in.  We talk a diverse range of topics because life today is diverse.

Numerous other media outlets, including KARE 11, Fox 9 and the Star Tribune also covered this story from the beginning, although with varying degrees of agenda behind their editing.  Even the MSHSL validated the punishment they handed out by saying this was the worst sportsmanship they had ever seen.  It wasn't just me.

Why did I make this an issue?  A big reason was the social media posts from February 14th and 15th, social media posts long erased by the cowards who placed them online in the first place, only to realize too late what they had really done.  Waking up and reading the vitriolic hatred aimed at a group of high school kids was a rude awakening indeed.  The calls for swift and harsh punishment of the Faribault coaches, athletic department, Faribault teachers and administrators, judges from the night's competition, anyone from the MSHSL involved in 'the greatest Minnesota injustice of all time,' and (worst of all) the kids themselves was too much for me to just sit on the sidelines and shrug my shoulders.  When I discovered what really had happened that night at Target Center, I was furious.  How could coaches and parents be so out of control that they turn a simple dance line competition in theater of the absurd?  This was a story that needed attention.

In the end, this story was about some very talented dancers from Faribault getting booed during the competition, bullied and taunted off the floor at their championship moment, harassed throughout Target Center in a Mean Girls script come to life, and then publicly shamed online for 36 hours...for winning fair and square.  Isn't standing up for the little guy who is being held back by nefarious forces part of what I'm supposed to do?  Shouldn't my show present injustice when it happens?  I'll be the first to say; it's not as urgent as other issues, but my daughter wasn't dancing for Faribault on that floor.  It was a major issue for the girls, family and school on the receiving end of the negativity deluge.  As much as you might not like hearing it, because it's not the one issue you wish I was talking about right as you want me to talk about it, I stand by bringing it to light and talking about it on air.

Now, since there is a resolution, will someone please tell the coaches suspended for a year to sit down and shut up so we can all move on.