His Dream Deferred

Security costs put an end to King Classic

James Johnson
Staff writer



(January 15, 2007) — For the most part, the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Classic hit its mark during a six-year run.

Jack Purificato, Section V's boys basketball committee chairman, created the showcase of high school games in the spirit of recognizing diversity in Rochester's community.

City School District teams played squads from schools inside and outside of Monroe County at Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial. Players would share soda and pizza in the same room afterward.

"I'm proud of it because we've been able to donate about $30,000 to local charities," Purificato said. "We let the kids know that they were a part of that."

But players will no longer go through that experience.

Escalating costs, among other factors, forced Purificato to put an end to the Dr. King Classic.

"Security costs, especially, have skyrocketed due to excessive violence at games," Purificato said.

Fights broke out inside and outside of the arena during last year's Dr. King Classic.

For some, it was an embarrassment since the games took place on a holiday honoring a man who preached non-violent protests during the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s.

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A great big thank you is owed the architects of "The Great Society".

Let's raise young boys with government checks in place of fathers.

Brilliant.

And they clamor for Bush to apologize for the Iraq incursion.

How many more hundreds of thousands have perished as a result of this great experiment in social engineering?