{"id":1145,"date":"2013-11-06T12:00:04","date_gmt":"2013-11-06T06:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/?p=1145"},"modified":"2013-11-08T14:40:17","modified_gmt":"2013-11-08T08:40:17","slug":"scout-leaders-messed-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/?p=1145","title":{"rendered":"Scout leaders messed up"},"content":{"rendered":"

The aphorism, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The road to hell is paved with good intentions,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d has an interesting pedigree, variously credited to St. Bernard of Clairvaux, a 12th century cleric, and to Virgil\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Aeneid written shortly before the time of Christ, and whose translation reads, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s easy to go to hell.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/span><\/p>\n

Those notions certainly apply to the three men who are likely to be facing felony charges for toppling over a huge rock in Goblin Valley State Park in Utah. The unusual formations date back to the Jurassic era.\u00c3\u00a5<\/p>\n

The three are David Hall, Glenn Taylor and his son, all Boy Scout leaders, who used a twisted bit of logic and rationalization in modifying the position of a 200-million-year-old rock at that park.<\/p>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s inconceivable that the three would struggle so tenaciously to tip over a massive rock. The park contains many unusually shaped mounds that officials say look like goblins. Remember, now, the ostensible reason for the Scout leaders\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 vandalism was to protect others who, after all, could be crushed should the rock tumble. So exhilarated were the three that they videotaped their efforts and spend lots of time high-fiving one another over their accomplishment.<\/p>\n

To which we ask, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153What were they thinking?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

After what they might have considered a humanitarian deed, the three broke into raucous laughter and rationalized their act, claiming, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We have modified Goblin Valley.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d They spoke of meritorious service, as they asserted they saved the lives of a family that had passed through there earlier, and whose lives might have been in danger.<\/p>\n

Sorry, gentlemen, but Mother Nature ought not be toyed with. If park officials were to sense imminent danger \u00e2\u20ac\u201d for example, someone\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s being crushed by a loose formation \u00e2\u20ac\u201d it would be theirjob to restrict access to that section of the park by possibly cordoning off the area close to the formation and by posting warning signs.<\/p>\n

But the Scout leaders, perhaps believing they were performing a magnanimous act, went ahead, leveling the stone on their own. Assuredly, the three must have thought they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d be greeted as heroes. So exuberant were their feelings that they put the video online.<\/p>\n

It went viral and in no time was seen by park authorities. David Hall\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s voice on the You Tube video can be heard singing \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Wiggle It Just a Little Bit,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d a 1990 hit by the group, 2 In A Room.<\/p>\n

Ironically, Glenn Taylor claims to have been injured in a car accident in 2009, and only this year filed a personal injury lawsuit. He says he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still taking medication for his condition, an injury that nevertheless allows him to topple rocks.<\/p>\n

One writer, incensed by the bout of bragging by the three, posited that maybe Taylor will \u00e2\u20ac\u0153go to Redwood National Park and cut down all the giant redwoods to make sure they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t suddenly fall and crush some family of picnickers.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hope they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re banned from the park, lest they try to perform further surgery in the guise of enhancing public safety. If the three scout leaders are convicted of a felony, that ends their relationship with the Boy Scouts.<\/p>\n

And that kind of expulsion would be well-deserved, given the foolish act committed by these grown-up men.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2\u00c2\u00a0\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2\u00c2\u00a0\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2<\/p>\n

In the olden days, the \u00e2\u20ac\u02dc50s, there were many more schools, most of which no longer exist. There was a team from Cerrillos, one from Montezuma, and a host of parochial schools from virtually every sizeable town.<\/p>\n

The late Eddie Groth, who wrote sports for decades, was instrumental in archiving prep school records. New Mexico journalist Ben Moffett, who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s now producing a quite comprehensive work, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153New Mexico Basketball, 1898-2012,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d also has reams of information on the sport.<\/p>\n

A while back, Groth wrote:<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I have a copy of the 1949 District 2 basketball program played in Santa Fe Feb. 23-26. There were 21 teams in the tourney, both large and small. The smaller schools (Madrid, Mora, Penasco, Stanley, ICHS etc.) played in the Elimination Round. The losers went home and the winners moved into the regular bracket.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153What happened was the smaller schools would get defeated and then go into the consolation bracket. The larger schools were St. Michaels, Santa Fe High, El Rito, Espa\u00c3\u00b1ola, Las Vegas High and Taos.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153In 1949, St. Mike\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s defeated Las Vegas High 38-36 in the championship game and El Rito defeated Espa\u00c3\u00b1ola 39-34 for 3rd. The consolation was won by McCurdy Mission 41-27 over Costilla. Sorry to report but I.C. beat Chama 44-27 but lost to Tierra Amarilla 39-26.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Eddie provided the rosters for Las Vegas High School, West Las Vegas High School and Immaculate Conception High School.<\/p>\n