Jim Caple has a nice editorial on the state of playground athletics and their respective administrators. I still contend the downfall of the playground started when they removed the wooden jungle gyms, and replaced them with the sterile plastic ones that generate so much static, I've seen sparks as kids ride down the slides. There was something about getting a four-inch sliver in your ass and the burns on your forearms from sliding down headfirst on the metal sides that taught you a valuable lesson: Don't do that again.