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| Flag Football Proves Too Punishing for Ore. Prison |
| By The Oregonian |
| Published: 08/06/2003 |
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Back then, not even the embarrassment of the Pendleton prison's first and only breakout could sack the flag football program. Prison officials were reluctant to end a wildly popular, team-building activity. Now, however, they say unnecessary roughness by inmates on the field has gone a yard too far. Prison officials say flag football won't return in September because injuries from last season's games cost taxpayers about $25,000 in medical bills. 'This is supposed to a noncontact sport,' said Doug Harder, a prison spokesman. During the September-to-March season, games turned into tackle football, complete with split lips, broken bones and lacerations. One weekend, the medium-security prison sent seven players with injuries to the emergency room at nearby St. Anthony Hospital. Tony Santos, the prison's superintendent, said some inmates probably started using the games to collect unpaid debts, maybe with a punch or a broken arm. 'It's prison culture,' Santos said. To ease inmate angst about the end of flag football, the current softball season will be extended a couple of weeks, with a local men's league expected to show up to compete against inmates -- complete with aluminum bats. Volleyball, soccer and badminton will be introduced. The prison yard will get tables for chess, checkers and other board games, along with more pay phones. Eastern Oregon's ejection of flag football is the latest example of state prisons moving away from activities that either jeopardize inmate safety or do little to prepare them for life after release. Free weights were dropped because of concerns that they could be used for thumping instead of pumping. The last boxing match was held two years ago on a worn and stained ring inside the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem. 'We encourage inmates to engage in activities that will contribute to their rehabilitation and physical well-being,' said Perrin Damon, a Department of Corrections spokeswoman. Snake River Correctional Institution in Ontario is now the only state prison offering flag football. Damon said officials will watch closely to make sure it doesn't decline into the mayhem and medical bills that plagued games at Eastern Oregon. When the games began to get rough in Pendleton, the prison warned players to go easy on each other, reminding them that they need only rip a flag from the person with the ball to end a play, Santos said. As trips to the hospital persisted, Santos let inmates know that he was evaluating the program. Still, the injuries didn't stop and the hospital bills mounted. 'Considering the dwindling resources, we had to make a decision about whether we were going to continue the program,' Santos said. The escape of the prison's most famous flag-football star, James Kinney, played no role in the decision, he said. But prison officials say the chain of events won't soon be forgotten. In 1998, prison officers found a rope made of nylon flag football belts in Kinney's cell and confiscated them. But that didn't stop Kinney from collecting several more belts from prison-yard football games, which he managed to hide in a prison chapel. On Oct. 2, 1999, the violent criminal, who was then serving a 37-year sentence for raping a 12-year-old girl, made a Tarzan-like escape from the chapel roof, over the razor-wire fence. After 19 days, the clock ran out on Kinney. He was captured in Southwest Oregon and eventually sent to the Oregon State Penitentiary. With the escape conviction added to his sentence, Kinney won't walk free until April 2037, Damon said. In the meantime, Kinney, 43, helps out with sporting events held by the penitentiary's athletic club. 'He might be someone who times races,' Damon said, 'or passes out equipment.' |
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