Friday nights...

...goes pro.
(sic)

Burke Magnus, ESPNU’s vice president and general manager, has heard the criticism that it is crossing the boundaries of exploitation. ESPN’s ombudsman, George Solomon, for one, wrote in an online column on Aug. 31 that the network’s push “tells the world high school sports are about winning, big-time recruits and ratings — but not education.”

Magnus said: “Is there a concern that there is an exploitive element to it? Absolutely. We think about it all the time, but we live in a different world than we did 15 years ago, and if people have an interest to get this content, they’re going to find it.

“We’re beyond the point of time where you can prevent something like this from pervading into culture."

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Dan Moffett takes on a local social problem:

It will be easy to construe what follows as an indictment of bleeding-heart liberals and their approach to solving complex social problems. So, let me start by saying that I believe I'm well-qualified to offer the commentary, since I've lived most of my life as what's easy to construe as a bleeding-heart liberal.

That disclosure aside, you've probably noticed the alarming increase in youth violence throughout South Florida, but particularly in Palm Beach County. A spate of killings in West Palm Beach has claimed the lives of dozens of young black men during the past few years. Street muggings against immigrants have increased, as they have in Martin County. The crime wave in West Palm Beach has touched even CityPlace, an upscale shopping enclave guarded by city police and private security guards. If you can't keep people safe at CityPlace, a couple of blocks from the city's police station, there is little reason to feel confident about safety anywhere else.
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Last week, Mayor Lois Frankel and Police Chief Delsa Bush called a news conference to announce that the city is budgeting $1 million to spend on two centers and other programs to curb youth violence. Details are sketchy, but at least the mayor can say the word million whenever she gives speeches about crime prevention. Nobody can be against providing recreation and help with homework for kids. But the notion that this will strike a mighty blow against teen violence is a feel-good fantasy.

If you're going to be serious about turning the worst neighborhoods around, you have to take a long view and deal with two realities that are politically unpopular and won't offer immediate political payoff during election campaigns.

For one, society must accept that many teens cannot be saved, and it's a waste of time and money trying. Killers won't stop killing because a well-meaning person tosses them a basketball. Better to spend resources on more police and also prosecutors who are committed to getting convictions in court, rather than pleading cases out and spinning the revolving door.

Second, and more important, society must recognize that most of these lost teens were lost while they were in diapers, or before. Society must intervene much earlier, and that means doing something about teen pregnancy. It is astonishing that the Criminal Justice Commission would spend 18 months producing a study that has no significant mention of teen pregnancy. It is regrettable that city and county officials will spend millions to help kids with their homework but next to nothing to educate them about sex. As long as babies are born to babies, as long as children come into the world to single mothers who know nothing about caring for themselves - let alone a young life - then the production of young killers will continue.