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ON THE PORCH by Will Davis
W the death of Pike County High School junior
acker Dylan Thomas over the weekend,
Persons coach Brian Nelson assured the
rter that the Bulldogs are as pro-active as any
program about taking care of head injuries.
Thomas, of course, died on Sunday at Gmdy Hospital after fall-
ing ill during Friday's game against Peach County.
There's still some mystery about what caused Thomas' death. He
had a brain bleed, but did not appear to have suffered a contact
injury on Friday night. An autopsy is planned.
Fox 5 reports that Thomas was wearing a 2018 model Riddell
Flex helmet. Nelson, who addressed his team on Monday about
the tragic death, said that some MP players regularly wear that
same model But Nelson noted that it is considered among the
company's tested, top-of- the-line models.
He said, "The stuffwe put on these kids is as safe as ever
been?
Nelson said he has always stressed to his players the importance
of reporting injuries and said he reiterated that when he spoke
with his team Monday. He said MP follows Monroe County
School and Georgia High School Association protocol on head
injuries. Nelson noted that all MP coaches in all sports are certi-
fied in concussion training and the school also employs full-time
certified athletic trainer Jeff Quinn.
Nelson said typically when a player complains of a headache
during a game, they are immediately removed from the contest.
He said the player is then monitored carefully and restricted from
all activity through the weekend. If the headache lingers into
Monda) that player is placed in concussion protocol Once in
concussion protocol, a player must go five days without symptoms
before being cleared to return to the playing field with a gradual
increase in activity. Nelson said the average length of time for
players to return from a concussion has been about two weeks.
He cited two former star players, Quin Head and Dee High, who
suffered concussions while at MP and noted that High missed a
playoffgame at Buford due to lingering concussion symptoms.
"We've probably been as on top of this thing as most places for
years ' said Nelson.
Sadl Dylan is only the latest young man in Georgia to die play-
ing football. The first football death happened in 1897 when the
University of Georgia hosted the University of V'wginia on Oct.
30, 1897, and it almost ended what is now the state's most popular
sport. Played in Atlanta, that UGA-UVA game was a spirited
contest, as both teams had daimed a right to the Southem football
title in 1896.
UGA was coached then by Glenn "Pop" Warner, whose name
lives on in the youth football league bearing his name.
Warner had a player named Rich-
ard Von Gammon, a 17-year-old
from Rome, Ga.
toHere's what happened, accordingwikipedia: Early in the second
half Von Gammon was on defense,
and dove into the mass around Vir-
gini right tackle. Once the pile-up
deared, he lay there moUonless. Two
doctors in the stands came to his
aid and determined he had a severe
concussion. He was on his feet in
a few minutes, however, and was
being taken offthe field when one
of his teammates, not realizing how
badly he was hurt, said to him:
Won, you are not going to give up,
are you?"
"No Bill ' he replied, "I've got too much Georgia grit for that7
Those were the last words he ever spoke. Upon reaching
the sideline he lapsed into unconsdousness. They rushed him
to Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta. Gammon died in the
early morning hours of Oct. 31, 1897, at the same hospital where
Dylan died on Sunday. As news of Von Gammons death spread,
people were devastated, including the Virginia players.
The Georgia Legislature was in session at the time and public
opinion caused them to pass a bill to ban football in Georgia.
The bill only needed the signature of Gov. William Atkinson to
become law. Rosalind Gammon wrote a letter which landed in
the hands of the governor. She was saddened by her death,
but did not want the sport outlawed. She mentioned in her letter
how his two friends were killed in rock climbing and skating
acddents, and how those sports were not banned. Gov. Atkin-
son vetoed the bill on Dec. 7, 1897. His mother is known as the
woman who saved football in Georgia. Less than three years after
Von Gammons' death, his brother Will died when he fell under a
wain following a baseball game in Cartersvflle. Life is fleeting. But
a grieving mother ensured long ago that Georgia would have the
risks of football rather than life without it.
the Monroe C~mnl
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Publication No. USPS 997-840
PEACH STATE POLITICS by Kyle Wingfield
uicl How much does your
household spend on roads
each month?
It's not a trick question.
gallon of furl you buy
for your vehicle, you pay a tax to
maintain our roads and bridges and
to build new ones. In Georgia, the
combined federal and state tax rate
is 45.2 cents/gallon for gasoline, and
54.4 cents/gallon for dieseL
You might calculate your monthly
tax bill based on that information,
assuming you know how many miles
you drive and the fuel effidency of
your vehide(s). But compare that to
dectricity, natural gas and water - for
which you probably know your usual
monthly bill, even ffyou don't know
the per-unit prices.
Think about it: Those other services
that make up our major infrastruc-
ture are all run as businesses, even ff
some are government entities. They
calculate how much power, gas or wa-
ter you consumed and send you a bill.
The same is largely true for the cable,
intemet and phone companies.
"Of all our major infrastructure,
only highways are vastly different7
says Robert Poole, director of trans-
portation policy for the Reason Foun-
dation and author of a new book,
"Rethinking America's Highways"
Poole, who spoke about his book
at a recent Georgia Public Policy
Foundation luncheon in Atlanta, is
worth a listen. He'S the fellow who
first recommended a network of
variable-priced toll lanes across metro
Atlanta, such as the new, reversible
lanes that opened up on 1-75 and
1-575 in September. The state plans to
continue building out such a network
in the coming decades.
He's now arguing for treating
highways like the other utilities, to ad-
dress chronic road congestion, poor
road and bridge maintenance, and
overly political decision-making that
misallocates too much of our limited
transportation budgets.
That includes more public-private
partnerships to build new road capac-
ity where needed and to
maintain our existing
infrastructure. Dozens
of private investment
funds intended for
public infrastructure
projects have been raised
in recent years, totaling
$450 billion as of 2017,
Poole reports. Using a
ratio of 25 percent equity
to 75 percent debt, that
total would support
some $1.8 trillion worth
of projects.
"But," he cautions, "the
U.S. is getting only a tiny
fraction, so far"
We like to think of our nation as the
world's leading capitalists, but when
it comes to public-private infrastruc-
ture projects we Wail such countries
as Australia, Britain, Canada, Spain
and - gasp! - France. There, private
companies routinely contract with
governments to build and maintain
needed infrastructure in exchange for
the revenues produced. For highways,
that means toll revenues.
This is an auspicious time for our
federal and state governments to
wake up to the possibilities, and not
only because hundreds of billions of
dollars are sitting on the sidelines.
Our interstate highway system was
begun in 1956 "with, depending on
the project, a design-lifetime of 30
to 50 years" Poole says. While some
have been rebuilt, many are now well
past their expected lifespans. What's
more, the increasing budget crunch
in Washington means it's unlikely
the federal govemment can pay for
the next version of the
interstate system.
There's another big
reason. As vehicles
become more fuel-effi-
cient, and increasingly
run on dectric batteries
rather than gasoline,
the fuel tax will become
a diminishing source
of revenue for highway
funding. Tolls will prob-
ably play a big role in
"" replacing that tax.
Speaking of the furl
tax, did you ever figure
out how much you
spend on it? If you're like the aver-
age American, Poole says, you spend
about $46 per month - about half of
the national average for electricity,
phone and natural gas, and less than
two-thirds of the average for cable
and water.
That $46 per month may not need
to rise, or fall. But the way it's cal-
culated, collected and spent almost
certainly will have to change.
The CEO of the Georgia Public Policy
Foundation, Kyle Wingfield's column
runs in newspapers around the state.
JUST THE WAY IT IS by Sloan Oliver
W(ch some old, late Alice instead of Mr. and Mrs. Millen-
ght, TV shows nials, their entire lives, have been told
Johnny Carson/Jack how wonderful they are, that they re
Paar), TV sitcoms the best, smartest, and prettiest. To
(Archie Bunker), or comedy mov-
ies (Animal House, Blazing Saddles,
etc.) and you quickly realize that older
comedy could never
be produced today be-
cause it would offend
a considerable portion
of the population.
Correction - the older
comedy is 0nly offen-
sive to young millen-
nials who seem to be
offended at anything
and everything. Mil-
lennials get offended
to the point where
they actually need a
"safe space" where
they can cower and
quiver with other
offended millen-
nials. They seem to go through life
with "verbal radar" that contorts
word meanings to the point where
everything is offensive. You can't joke
about - women, blacks, lesbians,
gays, bi-sexuals, transvestites/cross-
dressers, illegal immigrants, Asians,
Muslims, dwarfs, handicapped, or fat
people. And you can't say anything
good about conservatives, the police,
the mih Christians, the flag, the
United States or President Trump. It's
gotten to the point where these crazy
millennials get offended if they hear
the National Anthem or the Pledge of
Allegiance. I'm amazed at how quickly
these dainty millennials start melt-
ing and wilting - earning the name
"snowflakes." Snowflake is an acctwate
description, yet that name offends
them. Years ago, normal people would
ridicule and hugh at these wimps, and
mock how quickly they turn to snow-
flakes, but you can't do that because
mocking and ridiculing upsets them
even more.
prove how great they are, they got a
trophy for everything. The parents
abdicated all adult authority and al-
SO, WHO is this group ofeasily
offended millennials? Mostly, they are
20-something, privileged white kids
who think the world revolves around
them because their parents spoiled
them. They've been spoiled, not so
much with material possessions;
instead they've been spoiled with an
easy life by parents who wanted to be
their friend instead of their parent.
Parents ofmillennials made them-
selves "age peers" by insisting that 3
and 4-year-olds call them Bob and
lowed 5 and six-year-olds
to make family derisions
- such as homework,
chores, TV watching,
bedtime, and vacations.
Millennials were never
disciplined, never had
to do any chores (that's
beneath them), never told
they were wrong, and
always told how great they
were. Millennials' parents
lived to please their
children, and parents'
lives entirely revolved
around the children - to
the point where these
millennials feel that they
are the center of everything. Now that
these mttlennials are adults, they're
discovering that the world doesn't
always agree with them, and they
can't handle it. They don't know how
to cope with opposing ideas because
they have an arrogance of superior-
ity which causes them to melt when
confronted with reality.
AN(YrHER GROUP of the "eas-
fly offended" miUennials is minori-
ties. Blacks, gays, lesbians, women,
Muslims, and iUegals - have been told,
their entire lives, that they're victims;
victims of a racist country who have
oppressed them - mostly by white
males. In reality, they're not victims
and haven't been oppressed by any-
one, but that's not what you hear from
the mainstream media or from pop
culture. How else do you explain mil-
lionaire, black football players think-
hag this country has wronged them
or oppressed them? As victims, they
strike back against those who victim-
ized them, which is our sodety- to
include the police, the justice system,
and the economic system.
GIVING SNOWFLAKES any
legitimacy is the stupidest thing that
we can do. Instead of treating them
like the mot-nosed brats they are,
society coddles them and tiptoes
around words in order to "not offend"
them. Well, screw that. I'm offended
that parents of these brats brought up
an entire generation of snowflakes
who wilt and crumble at the slightest
offense. I'm offended that we've raised
millions of young people who are
unable to function in society. I'm of
fended that these precious snowflakes
are unable to articulate any coherent
thought, they're unable to cope with
any opposing ideas, and their only
response is to physically threaten any-
one who thinks differently than they.
A PERFECT example occurred to
me a little over two years ago. Re-
call when North Carolina passed a
bathroom gender law? The law was
along the lines that in public, you're
supposed to use the bathroom of the
gender you were born. Sounds simple
enough; if you were born male, you
use the male bathroom. However,
that law angered snowflake millen-
nials who feel that anyone should be
able to use the bathroom of whatever
gender they identify with on that day.
According to these confused snow-
flakes, if you're a 30-year-old male and
identify as a teenage girl, you should
be able to waltz into a girl's locker
room, strip down and take a shower.
And ifyou disagree and thinks that's a
crazy idea - it's you who's being hate-
ful and intolerant. When that N.C.
law was passed, one of my 20-some-
thing family members was so upset
that he screamed on social media that
he wanted to kill anyone who agreed
with the law. In all capital letters, he
typed, "IF NOT FOR PRISON, I
WOULD SHOOT ANYONE WHO
AGREES WITH THE LAW.' I was
shocked at his outrage, asked if he had
read the law, and told him that he was
being more "intolerant" than those
with whom he disagreed. I didn't
call him a name: I only asked several
questions, and told him that wanting
to kill someone was intolerant. I was
further shocked when he called me
an assortment of vile names and even
more shocked when only one other
person called him out on his vitriol.
Apparently, we're supposed to allow
millennials to be offended at every-
thing, to throw temper tantrums,
accept their uncivil behavior, and not
say anything about it. If that's the case,
we've sunk to a new low in socie .
WEEKLY Quote: "If this artide
angers you, then it's spot on; flit made
you laugh, it doesn't apply."
Sloan Oliver is a retired Army officer.
He lives in Bolingbroke with his wife
Sandra. Email him at sloanoliver@
earthlink.net.
L ? l'
