Hate to say it but the cannon's gotta go. Few years ago I almost had a heart attack when hat cannon fired. I was not aware of the tradition. It was very intimidating and I can only imagine what our players thought at the time. Highlands plays in an odd setting with the stadium backing up against the school. Loads of tradition already there combine that with the cannon and its really an imposing force. I can understand why the Bluebirds want to keep it. However I cannot imagine how the school board will allow this now that this tragedy has occurred. Even if an injury occurs one in ten thousand shots its not worth it and you know an accident will occur sooner or later.

 

Cannon's gotta go too dangerous

Don't know what happened to my earlier post but just wanted to send our family's thoughts and prayers out to the injured crew. They're the best!

How long has Highlands fired the cannon? How many times has it been fired over the years?

 

How many "accidents" have there been? I can now think of 2.

 

The cannon doesn't need to go. The crew needs to be sat down and talked to about their procedures and make sure they do not shortcut any of those procedures.

There was an accident at Scott County this year and they retired the cannon.

Very well said! It's like anything in life; when you add the human element, accidents can occur. But these gentlemen are all very well trained and willing to accept their own risk. You can get hurt doing almost any activity. If someone were to (God forbid) fall off the roof of the school building...would you tear it down? No. I see this the same way. It's a terrible accident; but I don't feel it requires any dramatic action.

 

Your analogy is a little concerning. I'm glad you're not representing the Ft. Thomas School District or least I hope you’re not. When you evaluate these things you have to consider foreseeability. It's not really foreseeable that a student or parent would fall of the roof of the school building during the normal course of use. However it's far more foreseeable that shooting that cannon off in the midst of people whether fans or the cannon crew creates a far greater potential for a problem. Remember earlier in the year when the thing accidentally went off. Luckily no one was standing in front of it. This decision I'm sure has already been made. Let's look for another tradition where the potential ramifications from a mistake or malfunction won’t result in a severe injury.

I hate to see the Cannon go. I honestly do not think a football game at David Cecil would be the same. But in the day and age of the lawsuit... whoever bears the liability must cover their butts. Taking the cannon away will hurt, it would be like taking the Who-Dey away from Bengal fans or taking My Ole Kentucky home away from UK games. It's gonna sting.

Then let's throw it at the lawyers.

 

I have this mental picture of Highlands scoring a touchdown and then leatherneck getting pelted with candy.:lol:

Your analogy is a little concerning. I'm glad you're not representing the Ft. Thomas School District or least I hope you’re not. When you evaluate these things you have to consider foreseeability. It's not really foreseeable that a student or parent would fall of the roof of the school building during the normal course of use. However it's far more foreseeable that shooting that cannon off in the midst of people whether fans or the cannon crew creates a far greater potential for a problem.

First of all, I think a few of you are getting a little to caught up in a particular analogy and missing the overall pont of it.

 

Secondly, the cannon is not, nor will it ever be, fired "in the midst of people."

Prayers again to the injured crew member.

 

There is no reason for the cannon to go, period. It was a horrible accident that happened, yes, but knee jerk-reactions are ridiculous to say the least and getting rid of it would be a knee-jerk reaction. If your child fell off his/her bike and was seriously injured, would you get rid of it? If your 17 year old wrecked their car and seriously injured themselves, would you tell them never to drive again? Should we ban bikes and cars forever? How about skateboards, skates and on and on? If a kid is seriously injured playing football or any other sport, should we ban the sport? Would you tell your kid to never play a sport again? I think you get my point.

Bikes,cars ect. are privately owned and insured. School districts CAN NOT afford to have liabilities like this on their books. There will be financial ramifications because of this accident.

Prayers again to the injured crew member.

 

There is no reason for the cannon to go, period. It was a horrible accident that happened, yes, but knee jerk-reactions are ridiculous to say the least and getting rid of it would be a knee-jerk reaction. If your child fell off his/her bike and was seriously injured, would you get rid of it? If your 17 year old wrecked their car and seriously injured themselves, would you tell them never to drive again? Should we ban bikes and cars forever? How about skateboards, skates and on and on? If a kid is seriously injured playing football or any other sport, should we ban the sport? Would you tell your kid to never play a sport again? I think you get my point.

 

Comparing bikes and cars to cannons.....lol, that's the best one yet!

Prayers again to the injured crew member.

 

There is no reason for the cannon to go, period. It was a horrible accident that happened, yes, but knee jerk-reactions are ridiculous to say the least and getting rid of it would be a knee-jerk reaction. If your child fell off his/her bike and was seriously injured, would you get rid of it? If your 17 year old wrecked their car and seriously injured themselves, would you tell them never to drive again? Should we ban bikes and cars forever? How about skateboards, skates and on and on? If a kid is seriously injured playing football or any other sport, should we ban the sport? Would you tell your kid to never play a sport again? I think you get my point.

RTS since you are the firearms expert , can static electricity ignite black powder ? Or does there have to be a flame as a source of ignition . . In my opinion the cannon should stay until the school is forced to discontinue it , and in this day and age of litigation that just might happen .

Comparing bikes and cars to cannons.....lol, that's the best one yet!

In the context of the way the cannon is operated? Yes, it makes sense.

RTS since you are the firearms expert , can static electricity ignite black powder ? Or does there have to be a flame as a source of ignition . . In my opinion the cannon should stay until the school is forced to discontinue it , and in this day and age of litigation that just might happen .

I'm not really an expert but I seriously doubt that static electricity ignited the powder. Black powder is a fair conductor of electricity but I think it would take much more current than could be provided from a static-like source.

In the context of the way the cannon is operated? Yes, it makes sense.

 

From the sound of things, the cannon hasn't been operated so soundly of late!