Accountability

     J's ball hockey team lost 10 to 4 today. His team was in first place and the other team was winless. A kid on the other team scored seven goals. It was a monster effort. He worked his butt off fighting for the ball all game long. J's team's effort was weak at best.
     After the game I followed J's team into the dressing room to pick him up. The coach immediately launched into whining about how hard it is to compete when the other team's best kid is able to play 90% of the game because they only had eight players. Is this really what we want our kid's coaches to be? Apologists and excuse makers when the kids themselves haven't given a good effort? Personally I think the coach owes it to the kids to be honest with them. As a parent I put my kid in sports so they can get exercise and learn about a variety of things: being part of a team, competition, accountability, decision making, the value of hard work and practice and many more. This type of coaching helps with none of that.

Preseason

     Heard a great quote recently attributed to Emmitt Smith: "All men are created equal. Some work harder in preseason.". I think this is a great concept and I try hard to teach it to my children particularly my son where his sports are concerned. I tell him it's perfectly ok to play a sport recreationally. To show up once a week, play the game and let the chips fall where they may. However if you are going to complain about losing and you want to play better, win etc. it's all about how hard you work in between games. Despite what many in this world seem to believe you can't improve very much by complaining. You have to get up and do something. Practice, reflect, strategize, exercise, work on skills etc. depending on what it is you are trying to excel at. It's ok to dabble in something and just have fun with it. However if you are going to complain about your results do something about it. The time to do something about it is in preseason. For us everyday folk that means in between games, in the driveway or the basement gym when it would be easier to be watching TV, at work when others have slowed down and are spending the last hour of the day chatting, on Saturday afternoon when it would be more fun to be sitting around drinking beer etc. Work on your craft, work toward your goal and then you will beat the ones you started out equal to.   

Great Reaction From the Catcher

Some of you have probably heard me rant about "participation" medals, not keeping score in kid's sports etc. Frankly I think sports and competition are great tools for raising young people. That being said I LOVE the catcher's reaction to this home run. This is the type of passion sports should be played with.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CmwMyQn5wg&feature=player_detailpage#t=42s

It's More Important To Be Kind Than To Be Right

     Yesterday a woman knocked on the door. The kids answered and she asked to speak to an adult. When I got there she started to pull some material out of her book. I have little patience for door to door people at the best of times let alone Sunday morning. I coldly told her I wasn't interested and shut the door. A few minutes later sitting on the couch Jason asks: "Dad why couldn't you have been nice to that woman and heard what she had to say?".......sometimes it takes a kid to re-adjust our values. It's more important to be kind than to be right. We shouldn't forget this because we're busy or tired or have our own petty grievances.

Role Models

      Found this quote today: "Being a role model is the most powerful form of educating. Youngsters need good models more than they need critics. It's one of a parent's greatest responsibilities and opportunities." - John Wooden
     Something that amazes me is when I see parents doing things in front of their kids that I can't imagine they would want their kids to do. Yelling at their kids is a good example lol. Seriously though I think we all can take some time and reflect on what behaviours we want our kids to model and then try to do more of them. Surely we can't aspire to have our children cut people off in traffic, be rude to strangers, cut in line at stores or amusement parks etc. etc. etc. I think a good thought moving forward for the New Year would be to try and consider that the little people are always watching and ultimately they will learn how to behave as adults from watching the adults they are around the most: us. 

Facebook

      I think sometimes businesses etc. lose their way when they start catering outside their target audience. I think it happened when the NHL tried the glowing puck etc. to try and get people who didn't care about the game to care about the game. I think it happens in baseball when they try to find ways to speed up the game. The true baseball fan is sitting in the stands in the sun with a beer (or several) and isn't complaining about the speed of the game.

      It seems like the same thing is happening on Facebook. I like Facebook. Always have. I like that it helps me keep up with what friends are doing, thinking etc. It seems like now people are being chastised for doing what made Facebook what it is. I see lots of posts (and may be guilty of jokingly sharing a few) saying: don't share your political views, or I don't care if you went to the gym or what you had for dinner.                     

      Personally I say update it. I want to see it. I like knowing what is going on in my friends lives. If someone posts too much stuff you don't want to see and you can't just ignore it then hide their updates or change which ones you see. I like the original way people used Facebook and I hope people continue to do it.

Voting

"We have a duty to another very special group of patriots: our veterans. Do we really understand the sacrifices they have made, that they fight for our right to be free? Voting is a fundamental demonstration of gratitude to those who have risked and even given their lives for us." Harvey Mackay

I actually don't agree with the word duty in this context. To me the people who fought for our freedom gave us freedom that allows us the maximum amount of choice possible without infringing on the rights of others. This includes not voting if that is what you wish. However that being said I think voting is incredibly important and is a great gesture of respect to our veterans. 

"Impress upon children the truth that the elective franchise is a social duty of as solemn a nature as man can be called to perform; that a man may not incorrectly trifle with his vote; that every elector is a trustee as well for others as himself and that every measure he supports has an important bearing in the interests of others as well as on his own." Daniel Webster