Cheesy, but ...

Well I won't back down, no I won't back down
you could stand me up at the gates of hell
but I won't back down

Gonna stand my ground, won't be turned around
and I'll keep this world from draggin' me down
gonna stand my ground and I won't back down

Hey baby, there ain't no easy way out
hey I will stand my ground
and I won't back down

Well I know what's right, I got just one life
in a world that keeps on pushin' me around
but I'll stand my ground and I won't back down

Hey baby there ain't no easy way out
hey I will stand my ground
and I won't back down

No, I won't back down

**********

... you get the point.

I figure it's better to do the following with a job I don't actually need now, then try to do this later when I'm forced to work to survive. Hey, maybe I'll learn something. Hopefully they will.

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THE STORY

I was waiting at the bus stop late last week and decided to pick up the FSView & Florida Flambeau. After checking out my section, "Arts & Life," I turned to "Sports" to see a commentary by my Editor-in-Chief:

Here's a thought: go to the game

Brandon Mellor
Editor-in-Chief

Here is my futile attempt to prevent something from happening that is all but etched in stone as a guarantee.

I ask you, the student body of Florida State University, to attend Saturday's game between FSU and Virginia at Doak Campbell Stadium.

Just go. It's not that difficult.

To those of you that think this is a ridiculous request, I applaud you for being a true Seminole like me. You don't need an article to tell you to go to a football game. Walking into the house that Bobby Bowden built every Saturday for the remainder of this month is a given.

And that's the way it should be.

But for your morons out there that have something better to do (outside of work, family, personal situations), perhaps you should take a gander at transferring. Just think, you could be at a college where you don't have to live and die with the football team.

But alas, I can see it now. Hundreds of empty seats where the students should be when the Tribe trots on to the field to face UVA.

I have already heard the excuses.

"It's a noon game. It's going to be too hot to sit in the stands."

"We are just going to lose anyway."

Spare me.

Support the Seminoles despite their struggles. Support Xavier Lee and have his back as he makes his first start in Tallahassee. If the 'Noles struggle, don't boo them. Don't start chants about who should be fired. None of that has ever or will ever make a difference.

I promise you that this program is going to rise once again, and I am helping you avoid making the mistake of losing faith. You already look stupid, you might as well avoid embarrassing yourself even more.

Smith Needs More Bats

Sophomore tailback Antone Smith needs to be featured more this weekend than ever before. The Pahokee native is a homerun threat every time he touches the rock, and it is imperative to the success of the team and Lee to that he gets as many opportunities as possible.

Smith's rare mix of speed and physicality is something that
is made even more dangerous combined with Lee.

How is a defense supposed to defend against a backfield that features a player that could beat anyone in a foot race and another that can throw a 110-mph fastball or tuck it and run for a first down?

Incorporate starting tailback Lorenzo Booker, too. He just may be the second-best wide receiver in garnet and gold. Get him the ball in space and let him do his thing.

Thank you. This is coach Brandon "NCAA is Just Like Real Life and if it Works in the Game it Should Work on Saturday" Mellor signing off.


**********

Notice the grammar mistake in the key line, "But for your morons..." Also notice that there was not enough material for the main point of the commentary, so the second half was just football advice(???).

I have been through a lot at the newspaper: many changes, many challenges, many time-consuming, tedious tasks, many unreliable writers. I have no reservations over what I wrote, or how I executed it. I deemed my response commentary both professional and painstakingly respectful of a person who called a portion of the student body "morons," "stupid," and not "true Seminoles" for not participating in the activities he does.

I wrote and submitted the following commentary to my section for print in Monday's issue. It was pulled, evidently by someone who did not deem it professional nor respectful.

**********

On being a ‘true Seminole’

Justin de la Cruz
Arts & Life Editor

Last Thursday, FSView Editor-in-Chief Brandon Mellor wrote a sports commentary, “Here’s a thought: go to the game,” about attending football games. In it, he presented a few criteria for what it means to be a “true Seminole,” namely undying support and allegiance to the FSU football team. The timing of this could not be much better — an argument such as this could extend into the realm of contention placed around being a “true American,” or a “true” participant in any organization. I will take the time here to respectfully address Mr. Mellor’s criteria and present some of my own.

“To those of you that think [asking students to attend football games] is a ridiculous request, I applaud you for being a true Seminole like me.” Here, Mr. Mellor presupposes that the section of FSU students that attends football games, of which he is a part, is somehow elevated above others, who do not attend such events. This is, in fact, his only use of the term “true Seminole” in his article, however, the rest of his claims are spurred by this terminology and suggest that missing a single football game to do something else is tantamount to being anti-Florida State. I would have not taken so much offense at this statement had he written “true Seminole football fan,” which would have been a slightly different matter.

Following this, Mr. Mellor wrote, “But for your [sic] morons out there that have something better to do (outside of work, family, personal situations), perhaps you should take a gander at transferring.” This was the pivotal part of the article, with Mr. Mellor attacking and insulting specifically, ad hominem, those students (over whom he is elevated, remember) who choose to spend their time on activities outside of Florida State football games. At this point I must confess my personal bias (if not apparent by now): I don’t attend football games anymore. I can’t even remember the last time I went to one. But, on the other hand, I also do not openly harangue those who do not participate in the school-oriented events that I do as not being “true Seminoles.” (Forgive me for all the negatives in that last sentence, but I do hope you gathered the point.)

I don’t lambaste students who fail to attend the marvelous concerts at Club Downunder, nor do I label “morons” those who miss out on the enriching films at Student Life Cinema. These are the activities I enjoy participating in by the student organizations I honor and respect. Even if students miss one of the movies at SLC, like A Tale of Two Sisters last week, I don’t suggest they look into transferring to another school (it was actually a good call to miss that jumbled Korean mess of a horror movie).

Furthermore, Mr. Mellor wrote, “Support the Seminoles despite their struggles ... If the ’Noles struggle, don’t boo them. Don’t start chants about who should be fired. None of that has ever or will ever make a difference.” For the sake of having a bit of fun, go back and replace “Seminoles” with “government” and see what you come up with. This is where Mr. Mellor’s arguments could be examined under the lens of political government — should we blindly follow an organization, no matter what it does to or for us?

I encourage everyone from the student population to write into Arts & Life (a&e@fsview.com), Brandon Mellor (editor@fsview.com), and everyone here at the FSView & Florida Flambeau with your thoughts on what constitutes a “true Seminole.”

**********

(Oh, yeah, almost forgot, I guess the kicker is that I'm being considered for termination over me writing this commentary and trying to get it published.)