^^ Good thoughts. Must be us crazy liberal oregonians. IMO, making their baseball team time affected by what they do in the offseason or summer is so stupid, it's unbelievable. Note to coaches: We're kids. We don't care THAT much about baseball, we do not think nor will we ever think that removing us from a team was a good idea. We will remember you, smile, and think "that dickhead kicked me off the team for something that wasn't at all related."
If you want to take an issue with behavior in uniform, that's fine. I think the rule should be, possibly, that you can't play while suspended. Possibly. What good does it do to remove kids from things they like? What's the rationale? "Gee, that'll teach him, if we remove any constructive activities for him to do. Because you know that if a kid isn't doing anything for a year and doesn't have anything to look forward to, he's sure to not start drinking or smoking again."
I do not understand why this country goes ballistic about alcohol. Honestly. Does the rest of the civilized world drink? Yes. Do they have school shootings? No. Is there a correlation between alcohol and crazy lawless teenagers? No. Don't make it so taboo, and we won't want to do it.