Comments on: Justice Department Official Gives $500,000 Anti-Crime Grant To Well-Connected Group For Golf Lessons

By: DLS

DLS — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 01:12:10 +0000

“How's that going to keep them off the streets at night?”

Light the courses or give (excuse me, lend) them super-expensive night vision (thermal imaging) equipment “not needed” in Iraq or Afghanistan, maybe.

By: DLS

DLS — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 01:10:15 +0000

Tully — there's no need for midnight basketball in Paradise Valley, AZ (where the staff at the country club I visited referred to every man there as “sir” — no doubt the women were enjoying spending money as well as time on shopping for expensive toys or on other indulgences), Greenwich, CT, Longboat Key, FL, or other such hotbeds of Tomorrow's Future Hardened Criminals.

Come to think of it, in Greenwich and Longboat Key, they could get sailing lessons, too.

(It's probably better than Ted Kennedy giving them driving lessons or Cheney teaching them a hunter safety course.)

By: GreenDreams

GreenDreams — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 22:19:17 +0000

Yeah? 30 kids on the golf course. That's going to play well with golfers. This piece cracked me up. Greens fees at the country club are quite steep and the capacity very small compared to any team sport, plus team sports encourage, well, teamwork. Half a million bucks. That is a LOT of soccer balls.

Joe, maybe you can get a half mil to teach them to blog. Now that could actually get them to focus on current events, develop and articulate their views.

By: Loviatar

Loviatar — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 17:19:21 +0000

Manchester2,

The key take away from this story is that "even though Justice Department staffers had rated the program 47th on a list of 104 applicants" it received a $500K grant over 46 more worthy applicants.

Paraphrasing what Joe said, in a time of an anemic economy and tightened federal purse strings this blatant act of cronyism really stands out.

By: Manchester2

Manchester2 — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 17:07:42 +0000

Tiger Woods regularly promotes golf to inner city kids, so there is precedent. It would only take one bus to haul thirty kids to the course for a day. There something about the calming effect of nature that you just don't get on a basketball court or a worn-out ball diamond. Can you tell I'm a golfer?!

By: Amanda

Amanda — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 16:41:51 +0000

How many inner city kids want to play golf? How many have the means to get to a golf course if they are interested in playing? I'm not a fan of the sport myself, so I don't know where too many courses are in this area, but I doubt that any of them are on a bus line and I don't recall seeing any in downtown Baltimore. It just seems like a wasteful, if well-intentioned, program. I think if you want to get inner city kids interested in sports, you'd be better off starting free football, soccer, basketball, baseball, and rugby leagues. Plus, team sports would give them more opportunities to develop positive social connections and the ability to cooperate and work with others. It's also a lot more cost-effective to buy a couple soccer balls to entertain 50 kids than it is to buy even one set of shared golf clubs.

By: Tully

Tully — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 14:24:23 +0000

Golf? How's that going to keep them off the streets at night? Midnight basketball is the answer!

By: Manchester2

Manchester2 — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 14:24:05 +0000

Golf is a great sport. It builds self-esteem, and teaches kids to overcome challenges. How many inner-city kids would get to play golf if such a program didn't exist? How about kids from rural Kentucky? It could be that government funding gets it off the ground, then communities can find alternative ways to fund it once the program proves its worth. In any case, like all government programs, there needs to be a way to measure its impact. If the government program doesn't meet its objectives, discontinue it.