Fukudome Attire is Being Threatened by "The Man"

So I have a 12-year old son that is in his first year of junior high school. I know you feel sorry for me. But don't, he really is a good kid for the most. Every evening we gather around the dinner table to partake in a delectable meal that mom has prepared, and swap stories about our day. First there is the 5-year old, whose excitement for the day is whether or not she received a green ticket in class. Usually we know if she received a green ticket, because she is bouncing along when she arrives at the bus stop. You see a green ticket means a sweet reward for her and punishment for us.

We then turn our attention to the boy and his amusing anecdotes. Mainly, ones surrounding girls and the latest middle school gossip. Ah, the 12 year old mind. However, this particular days recollection was about a certain t-shirt that he had worn to school. It was a shirt my wife had purchased for the new school year. You see one of the school administrators had questioned whether or not this particular shirt violated the schools dress code. The reasoning, the style of lettering. Now I may be a little older, but the particular shirt in question did in no way promote or invoke any affiliation or would distract any student from obtaining the realms of higher education.

Right now your probably asking, so what does this have to do with sports?

Earlier this month a sophomore at Elgin High School in Elgin, IL, was asked to remove her Chicago Cubs, Kosuke Fukudome jersey and wear a gym t-shirt to class because of a misunderstanding about how to pronounce the All-Star right-fielder's last name. The incident began when the schools dean stopped her and asked what the name of Cubs player was, and she pronounced foo-koo-DOUGH-may. The school staffer wasn't so sure and consulted with other faculty. The dean then told the girl the jersey was inappropriate and made her remove it.

Maybe we should also ban the study of Uranus in astronomy class as well as ban any atlas or globe that shows the location of Phuket, Thailand.

By late afternoon, common sense -- and proper pronunciation - prevailed as the Associate Principal announced that students could wear the Fukudome apparel at school.