Randy Smith: Time To Weigh In

  • Monday, September 22, 2014
  • Randy Smith
Randy Smith
Randy Smith

After several weeks of reading and hearing about spousal abuse, child abuse and other atrocities in the sports world, it's finally time for me to weigh in. Neither spousal abuse nor child abuse should ever be considered a racial problem. It is a problem in our society; one that we have been dealing with for years. I wanted to state that fact first before going any further. The video of Ray Rice slugging his wife on the elevator is undeniable evidence. Despite her public pleas to the contrary, Rice should be severely punished. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's lack of swift action against Rice is also a big societal problem; in other words, sweep it under the rug and be quiet about it and maybe it will go away. With social media having such a firm grasp on each and every one of us, things like that will never be swept away.

Adrian Peterson reportedly abused his young child with a switch, causing bruising and severe marks on the child's legs and backside. I'm really surprised at how many people jumped to Peterson's defense by saying, " My daddy did that to me and much worse, and I turned out okay." Well guess what.....my parents also used a switch on me; to the point of whelps and marks on my legs. And you know what else? I did the same thing to my two children, but that doesn't mean it was the right thing to do. My mother would tell me, " Go get me a switch." Usually I would get the smallest one I could find, bring it to her and hope that she had a change of heart. She would always send me back to get a bigger one, and no, she never changed her mind. Now that I have grandchildren, I can't stand to see them be whipped by the two kids that I once whipped with a belt, switch or my hand.

We all grow and mature with time. I don't know that I have matured to the point that I am past corporal punishment for children or that I have just become an old softy in my older years. Either way, I feel that I am a better person than I was thirty years ago.

"How do you punish kids for misbehaving if you don't use a switch or a belt?" That question is one that is going through a lot of minds right now, and I can honestly say this; reasoning with them and taking things away from them seems to work better. Taking away valued privileges and giving them "time outs" works, but only if you are consistent and only if you stick to your guns. It takes more time and effort for parents to hand out punishment like this than it does to give them ten lashes with a switch. When you whip them it's over, and parents can then go on about their business. If you sentence them to a "time out" you are forced to stay with it and make sure they aren't really enjoying themselves.

I once saw a man who whipped his son unmercifully for hitting another child. What kind of lesson did that teach? To hit a child as punishment for hitting someone else defeats the purpose. Consistent love as well as consistent punishment works much better than a whipping, though I don't consider myself to be an expert on child raising. I was wrong about a lot of things, but I can say this; both my kids were raised with love more than anything else. And when they were standing in front of the church on Sunday morning singing, "The Lighthouse" together, I have never been more proud of them.

The NFL and all sports have a lot of work to do concerning spousal and child abuse. Athletes need to know right away that this kind of behavior will not be tolerated, period. In addition, I would like to send a message to Coach Jimbo Fisher at Florida State; someone needs to get control of Jameis Winston soon. The fact that Winston dressed for the game and went to pre-game warmups is just wrong. Coach Fisher you were right to send him back inside to change out of his game uniform, but you were totally wrong to allow him to stand on the sideline with his teammates; the same ones that he let down to begin with him. He should not have been allowed to even be inside the stadium. By letting him roam the sideline, he took all the attention from quarterback Matt McGuire. It wasn't about Jameis Winston at all. It was about Florida State doing what the Seminoles had to do to beat a pretty good Clemson squad. Unless Jameis has a big change of heart soon, he is just like a cancer; one that will eventually destroy his team.      

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Randy Smith has been covering sports on radio, television and print for the past 45 years. After leaving WRCB-TV in 2009, he has written two books, and has continued to free-lance as a play-by-play announcer. He is currently teaching Broadcasting at Coahulla Creek High School near Dalton, Ga.

His career has included a 17-year stretch as host of the Kickoff Call In Show on the University of Tennessee’s prestigious Vol Network. He has been a member of the Vol Network staff for thirty years.

He has done play-by-play on ESPN, ESPN II, CSS, and Fox SportSouth, totaling more than 500 games, and served as a well-known sports anchor on Chattanooga Television for more than a quarter-century.

In 2003, he became the first television broadcaster to be inducted into the Greater Chattanooga Area Sports Hall of Fame. Randy and his wife Shelia reside in Hixson. They have two married children, (Christi and Chris Perry; Davey and Alison Smith.) They have four grandchildren, Coleman, Boone, DellaMae and CoraLee.

To contact Randy: rsmithsports@epbfi.com



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