For those of you who believe a twirler should only qualify at one event in a year....who ALSO believe that baton twirling is a sport, please read the following sports story:
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Say all you want about the Giants' pass rush and the miraculous connection between Eli Manning and David Tyree. We say the key to the Giants' Super Bowl upset of the previously perfect Patriots was the Giants' approach to their regular season finale against New England.

With playoff positions set, the Giants had little to gain by going all out against the Patriots in week 17. Tempted to rest players and protect them from injury, instead the Giants Honored the Game, gave their best effort and thrilled the nation by pushing the Patriots to their limits.

The Giants' decision to Honor the Game let players on both teams know that the Giants planned to meet the Patriots in the Super Bowl. The confidence and commitment entailed in Honoring the Game fueled the Giants' unlikely playoff run and eventual Super Bowl championship.

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Granted this is professional sports, however, it might be even more telling that the Giants put forth their best effort when it didn't matter, in spite of risking injury (and lots of money) for the game that really did matter. By asking our twirlers to step aside and let someone else win, who are you really doing a favor to? Not anyone. If a twirler wins 1st in an event that didn't have ALL the competitors present, is that really rewarding? Maybe for 0-6 and 7-9, but once they are older, they know what's really going on and will likely recognize that they won but not against the best their area has to offer.

This post is not asking twirlers to display good sportsmanship, but rather asking them to essentially throw the game! Isn't that illegal...what about that Black Sox b-ball team? or the recent debate about the 1918 Cubs throwing the World Series?

So let's be a real sport and Honor the Game of Baton Twirling.