I was all fired up, and then Ed stole a bunch of my thunder! No worries though, I’ve still got some fire in my belly.
First, I agree with Ed that we need to first separate professional sports into a category all its own. Maybe you can include college athletics as well, because as you both well know, I consider college to be the minor leagues for professional sports. When you start talking about professional sports, you are talking about money, and that changes everything.
Winning = money, and that bottom line drives a lot of the really poor behavior that you see on the athlete’s side as well as in the fans. Fans feel entitled too, as if the team owes them something. When you’re paying thousands of dollars for season tickets to watch a team that sucks and loses all the time, you probably get frustrated and that inevitably will start manifesting itself in behavior toward the refs, the coach, and the players.
At the professional level there are some good examples, but for every good example, there is a bad one. For every Mike Tomlin there is a Rex Ryan, for every Peyton Manning there is a Phillip Rivers, for every Troy Polamalu there is a Terrell Suggs (okay, I’m a little biased on that one), and for every Larry Fitzgerald there is a Plaxico Burress. You get the picture. In the end even if you’re mean and nasty, if you can still play ball with the best of them you can get away with whatever insane or inappropriate behavior that you choose. Two examples come immediately to mind for me. First is Ray Lewis, and yes, I’m the president and CEO of the Ray Lewis Hater Club. He got away with murder (quite literally in my book) and was voted Superbowl MVP the following year. What’s an obstruction of justice conviction in a double homicide investigation when you can still knock people’s teeth out on the football field?? The other example is Michael Vick. He ran an illegal interstate dog fighting ring for five years and was convicted of federal felony charges. He tortured and executed dogs. But hey, the man can still throw the rock, so he recently signed a six-year, $100 million contract. I know I’m not saying anything you don’t already know, but the bottom line in professional sports is performance on the field (or court). “Good guys” have it a little easier, but even the “bad guys” will eventually find someone who will pay them (i.e. Dennis Rodman, Terrell Owens). So, professional sports is not about sportsmanship (although you do still see flashes of it).
Youth sports. Oh lordy where do I begin? This is one of the few reasons that I’m glad that I don’t have kids. From what little I know, youth sports is a tragic mess. And I’m not going to say that it’s all gone bad in the past 10-15 years. I remember coaching 5th grade basketball when I was in highschool and they didn’t even keep score. But I know for a fact that the parents were keeping score in the stands, and I know for a fact that some of the parents were mad at me, especially when I benched the best kid on my time because he wouldn’t pass the ball. He would shoot every time that he touched it.
Sportsmanship aside, my frustration with kids and sports is that there is no room for kids to learn anymore, or simply play for the exercise or recreation. Just like everything else in our society, it’s ALL OR NOTHING. You are simply not allowed to be no good anymore. I can remember my first year in Midwest after pee wee league. I played for Tim’s Tropical Fish, and when I say played, I mean sat on the end of the bench and watched. To this day I remember how that felt as an 11-year-old (or close to it). Ed, you bring up a good point about separating competitive leagues from recreational leagues. With kids, rec leagues should be mandatory equal playing time, REGARDLESS of talent level.
What I can’t quite figure out is how much of the problem with kids and sports comes from the parents. My first instinct is to say that MOST of it comes from the parents. Ed provided the perfect example; the PARENTS are the ones making the phone calls to try to finagle a “better” team. Sixth grade? Are you serious? In sixth grade Dad was still trying to get us to keep our hands up on defense and dribble with our opposite hand! Maybe my memory is skewed, but I don’t have any recollection of wins or losses in sixth grade.
I’ve said it a million times but I’ll say it again: People want to blame TV and video games for obesity in children, but I put as much blame on the fact that kids just can’t play sports for fun anymore. If you’re kid wants to play a sport, he/she better be good at it, because there’s no room for kids who are just doing it for fun. You have to be “all in”. For example, it cracks me up when I hear about second grade soccer teams that have practice three times a week and then a game every weekend. To quote Allen Iverson, “We talkin’ ‘bout practice man.” Practice? Do second graders really need to spend eight hours a week playing soccer? What if you just want to play soccer for two hours a week? Sorry, you’re not all in, so you’re out. I can still hear Dad saying, “Everything in moderation,” and it was one thing that I’ll keep with me always. As incredibly wise as that is, it goes against everything in our culture these days, our culture of extreme, ultimate, epic, humongous, and super. You’re either all in, or you’re out.
Gosh, I haven’t even touched on the money part of kids athletics yet! Remember the good ole days when $5 got you a t-shirt, one game, and one practice per week? I have too many friends that are going broke trying to fund their kids’ athletic endeavors. Maybe you’ve experienced this one Ed! Why do 8-year-olds have to have complete matching pick-your-sport uniforms with gear bags and a trip halfway across the country to play in some tournament? It’s ridiculous, and it prevents lots of kids from participating in sports. LOTS of kids. But hey, let’s blame Xbox, because it’s a lot easier than adults having to evaluate their own motives when it comes to kids sports.
Why’d you have to bring this up Brad??? I need to take a walk and cool down!
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