Little Juan NCLB

I don't know what my reaction should be. Should I be upset, or angry, or disappointed, or all three. I just don't know. Of course, I'm referring to the situation about Juan Rincon. You see, good ol' Juan, the most excellent set-up man for Joe Nathan, has been suspened 10 days by the MLB for violating the leagues substance abuse policy. The duration of the suspension indicates that the substance in question was a type of steroid.

Of course, his suspension will hurt the Twins organization, and financially could have a big impact on Mr. Rincon himself.

Of course I'm upset. With the loss of a great reliever, our starters will have to pick it up a bit, and the other mediocre relievers have to be even better.

Of course I'm disappointed. It appears that Mr. Rincon has made a poor decision that has hurt his team.

Of course I'm angry. I mean, how can Bonds not be doing steroids. No, the MLB has decided to ultimately go after the small market, um... I mean small fry. Mr. Rincon and his paltry 440,000 dollar salary are not filling seats. No it's the likes of Barry Bonds and Gary Sheffield that fills seats, but the MLB would never think of releasing their names unless they were 100% positive. That is 100% positive that it would not ruin their profits. So, the MLB will continue to persue the little guy.

Of course, if Mr. Rincon actually is guilty of using steroids, he should drop his appeal and formally apologize. Oh, and his suspension should be much longer than the 10 days mandated by the MLB and the players association. But I imagine Mr. Rincon will say that his asthma was acting up before the test and his inhaler is a variety that uses steriods monitored by the MLB or something to that nature.

On a totally different note. Today, I'm supposed to have a meeting about a student, lets call him Little Nicky. You see, Little Nicky is in one of those grades that counts. (You know, grades 4, 8, and 10.) So his academic scores are important to the school. If he and his compatriates do not score well enough, our school is reported as not making its Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). Here's the kicker though, Little Nicky seems to be rarely at school. When at school, he is more than content to cause trouble and not do his work. As for the work he missed, well, that won't ever get done. And the work he turns in is of the worst quality. In my book he's just skipping school (even when he's here, because obviously school is supposed to be freetime), but Little Nicky's parents actually will call in and excuse him. So far for the quarter he's missed close to 10 days of school. After 10 absences in one semester, our school technically is supposed to fail him. Here's my question, why is our school being held responsible for this kid's failings, when the Parents have done nothing to help the situation, and everything to make it worse?

So, between Juan Rincon and Little Nicky, this has been just an absolutely wonderful day!