By: Matt Petersen
Why do people play sports? Simple question really with many answers: love of the game, the thrill of victory, to idolize their favorite celebrity athlete….the list goes on. That’s definitely why this writer has always had a great connection with the pure Americana that is defined through sports. Sports were a great way for me to learn and experience many things in life such as shame, aggression, pride, and one of the most important aspect for a child to experience: losing. This has recently been derailed by overwhelming sentiment in America to not hurt anybody’s feelings about, well, anything. This can be seen most apparently in the youth sports leagues around the country that are now awarding trophies to everybody…….on every team…..even if they didn’t score a single point the entire sport season. So what happens next? These children never hear the words “no” or motivating insults that encourage them to change their ways and not grow up to be, for lack of a better term, a self-righteous piece of shit.
I have also been victim to this sad mantra as it is not as new as people may think. I remember playing basketball in 5th grade and not doing very well in the season. A few days after the season ended, my coach at the time showed up to my house and gave me a trophy. With a puzzled look on my face, I asked him why and he just patronized me as he knew I was young and naïve. Now looking back, I see I was being played a fool.
Back to my original point, why do we constantly feel the need to make all kids feel good about themselves all the time? Sure, it’s appropriate at times, but only when it’s deserved. No longer should it be such a big deal for people to constantly keep their kids with extremely high morale because as the late George Carlin once put it, “You know who also thinks highly of themselves? Crazy people and serial murderers (fake gasp) imagine that…..”
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