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Mixed Feelings About James Harrison And Participation Trophies (UPDATED)
NFL player James Harrison does not believe in participation trophies. Even if they’re for his own kids.
James Harrison and coach Keith Butler can be see in the background. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Via ProFootballTalk:
Anyone who’s ever watched Steelers linebacker James Harrison play football knows that he’s an intense competitor who wants to win at all costs. So perhaps it shouldn’t be surprising that Harrison is passing along that intense competitiveness to his sons.
That’s a good, but imperfect, description of what Harrison did. Here’s the post from Harrison’s Instagram:
In general I agree with the notion that we have gone too far in the direction of “attaboy” awards for children and for adults. So while at first I might be inclined to join the chorus of “yay! Go James Harrison!”, in this specific case I think returning the trophies puts Harrison’s kids in an uncomfortable situation socially. Granted, their father is a professional football player, and a well-known one at that. (He’s not Tom Brady or Peyton Manning, but most NFL fans know who James Harrison is.) That makes it easier. And I would never presume to tell someone that they should go against their personal family values, even if that person isn’t someone who can throw me across a room with his pinkie. (That doesn’t mean I think people can beat their kids, or do other harm to their children in the name their individual “family values”.)
However. In this specific case, everyone gets a trophy. I admit those trophies look a lot bigger than the crappy ones that we got “just for playing” when I was young. But youth sports often have a participation trophy, or certificate of completion, or something along those lines. This analogy isn’t perfect, but if a player is injured, he still gets paid, right? The backup quarterback of a Super Bowl winning team still gets a ring, even if he never played a single down. (I know the analogy isn’t perfect. If you have a better one, let me know and I’ll post it.)
Maybe you’re a good player on a crappy team. In my case, I was a crappy player on a great team, at least my first year in youth baseball. The team was so good we won the championship. I didn’t do much to contribute, but I got a HUGE trophy. Should I have given it back because I didn’t do enough to earn it?
This is in no way a commentary on James Harrison’s parenting skills. (And not only because he could hurt me if he wanted to.) I don’t know what kind of father Mr. Harrison is, and I’m glad to see that he is, at minimum, an involved one. But while I agree that “sometimes your best is not enough, and that should drive you to want to do better” I’m not sure it follows that participation trophies are given out because kids “cry and whine until somebody gives you something to shut u [sic] up and keep you happy.” That certainly wasn’t the case when I played, nor was it the case when my own children played.
The truth is, part of life IS about showing up. Maybe the answer lies somewhere in between. Kids who never missed a game or a practice without a legitimate medical reason get a trophy, while kids who only bothered to show up every other game get bupkis. That won’t happen, but it would be a happy medium.
UPDATE: Albert Burneko wrote a piece on this topic for Deadspin that is less restrained than mine. (H/T Whit Honea.)
Source: James Harrison won’t let his sons accept participation trophies (ProFootballTalk)
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Books – The Original iPad
I recently received an email from a PR person touting the success of electronic devices giving parents some time to themselves. This is true. But it doesn’t only apply to electronics. It also applies to books.
When I was a kid, there were electronics, but they required dinosaur toenail clippings to run. (Little joke there.) I spent plenty of time in front of a screen, usually a television, because that’s what we had. I also owned a lot of handheld games, like this miniature Pac-Man machine. Eventually I had a TRS-80 Color Computer which I used to play games and also write programs in BASIC.
English: Tandy/Radio Shack TRS-80 Color Computer 1 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
But before any of that, I read books. So many books. The Hobbit. Lord of the Rings. Bored of the Rings. A Wrinkle in Time. The Fletch and Flynn series by Gregory MacDonald. (I was too young for those but I read them anyway.) Agatha Christie. Sherlock Holmes. Comic books.
Reading gives parents a break as much, if not more than, electronics do. I’m not anti-screen time. I try to manage it, and I recommend that parents with very young children manage screen time closely, mostly because I don’t see any reason for a 6 month old to be playing with an iPad. But as a kid who grew up watching a lot of TV, it would be hypocritical of me to say that I’m anti-screen.
But a good book will always trump electronics. A good book — I’m talking about a really good book — is hard to put down. Sometimes it is impossible to put down. “Just one more chapter. Just one more page.” Sound familiar? Sure, the same can apply to a video game. “Just let me beat this boss.” But it’s not the same thing. A book requires imagination, and therefore uses more of the brain than anything involving a screen does. (Kindles count as books, although there is an argument to be made that plain ol’ paper books are more involving because it’s just the book, no buttons, no screen. It’s not necessarily an argument you will win, but you can make it, and I’d back you up.) (Note: the statement “uses more of the brain” sounds like I’m making a scientifically proven statement. I’m not. I think it’s likely that my statement is correct, but I don’t have the science to back it up.)
Not all kids are readers. I was, and luckily so are my kids. I like to believe that because they grew up in a house where reading was a regular activity, they naturally became readers themselves. I have no idea if this is the case, and I never will. Maybe I just got lucky. But I can confidently say that once your kids learn to read, it has the potential to be life changing… for you.
Kids who love to read get involved in their books. And when they’re reading, they don’t ask you to look up a walk-through so they can beat a section of the game they are playing. Also, reading is a quiet activity. Books don’t make noise. And readers rarely make noise when they read. (Occasional exclamations of surprise and/or joy don’t count, although they are wonderful to hear.)
Again — I am not knocking screens, literally or figuratively. Heck, unless you printed out this blog post, you’re reading it on a screen. And video games are fun. My point is simply that back in my day, when dinosaurs roamed the Earth, books provided a service to parents that electronics do now. And they still can.
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Oh My, It’s Comic Con Time
To borrow the words of the ever-wonderful George Takei: Oh my, it’s comic con time.
What are we talking about? Why, the San Diego Comic-Con of course. It happens every year.
(Here’s a video of George saying “Oh My” in case you need to hear that. There’s never a bad time to hear George.)
Anyway, San Diego Comic-Con has been around for awhile, but in the past decade, it has become big news. Geekery, as we all know, is no longer a hidden pleasure for many. It’s become a billion-dollar business. Amazon recently introduced their Geek Boutique, which about as mainstream as it gets.
One could debate when this all started, the explosion of so-called geek culture into the real world. I’ve been a Geek Gold Card member for my entire life, but suddenly people actually want to know who the hell Ant-Man is. (If you are one of those people, just ask. I’m nice that way. For example, here’s the latest “Ant-Man” movie trailer, complete with a reference to The Avengers.)
The links below give you more information about the big event than I ever could, and not only because I won’t be there. I’ve actually never attended the San Diego Comic-Con, just the New York Comic Con. But there will be lots of announcements about nerdy stuff (or perhaps I should say formerly nerdy — is something still nerdy if it’s immensely popular?) like movies, TV shows, video games, and yes, even comic books.
Here’s how to follow io9’s coverage of Comic Con. (We like io9.) The Mary Sue is also a good source. For example, here’s Betty White as Wolverine.
And then there’s this, via Polygon.com. Watch it at your own risk.
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No Voices In Music Problem Solved (Tips)
I got a pair of fancy headphones for Father’s Day. Then I have this weird problem — no vocals in music when listening on a laptop. Weird, right? After a few attempts at finding the correct Google phrase (“beats headphones hard to hear lyrics” did it) I found the answer. I thought perhaps other people could be having a similar problem, so I made it today’s tip.
Ready? Because this is really dumb.
Pull the headphones out of the jack, and put them in part of the way.
It works. It’s stupid, but it works.
Here’s the original question that was asked:
Hello, When any headphones or speakers are hooked up to my laptop, music plays but voices don’t. This happens when listening to music, watching movies, or watching videos online. Configuration: Windows XP / Firefox 3.6.4
And here is a link to the answer, from a user named razzman.
Yay Internets!
Source: CCM
Sopranos for Fathers Day
Last year, HBO recommended an episode of The Sopranos for Fathers Day. It kinda makes sense, as long as you don’t watch it with your kids (depending on how old they are, of course).
The specific episode recommended by HBO is called “College” (Season One, Episode Five).
In it, Tony Soprano (played of course by the late and very great James Gandolfini) takes his daughter Meadow (Jamie-Lynn Sigler) on a trip to visit colleges. Since this is The Sopranos, Tony gets sidetracked by some unexpected business.
It’s an early episode of the show — it first aired on February 7, 1999, according to Wikipedia — and is very good. (Sorry! Forgot to say “spoiler alert.”) It certainly deals with father-daughter issues in a unique way, as did the show as a whole. One of the many great things about The Sopranos was seeing Tony try to be a dad while also conducting his, ahem, legitimate business dealings.
If you want to double-down on Gandolfini for Fathers Day, you can also watch the film Enough Said, which stars Mr. Gandolfini and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. (Catherine Keener is also terrific in a smaller role.) The two have great chemistry, and it’s a nice movie that is also parenting/dad-themed, and it has a fun twist. Here’s the trailer.
There is, of course, an extra note of sadness to the film because it is James Gandolfini’s last starring role.
You can watch The Sopranos and Enough Said via HBO Go and probably HBO Now. (I don’t have the latter and don’t want to say something that isn’t true.)
So if you’re looking for some dad-themed stuff to watch for Father’s Day, here are two solid suggestions… or perhaps we should say… DaddyTips.
Happy Father’s Day to all dads out there!
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Childhood Obesity Meets Bad Parenting
What happens when childhood obesity meets bad parenting? You get overweight kids. And at least one bummed out blogger. (That would be me.)
Check out the lede from this New York Times story:
Not only was the 16-year-old boy 60 pounds overweight, but a blood test showed he might have fatty liver disease. At last, his mother took him to a pediatric weight management clinic in New Haven. But she did not at all like the dietitian’s advice.
“I can’t believe you’re telling me I can’t buy Chips Ahoy! cookies,” said the mother, herself a nurse.
You “can’t believe” it? Lady, according to this story, your kid might have liver disease. And your response is that you “can’t believe” the dietitian is telling you that perhaps the cause is cookie-related? Read more »
Shatner on Sunny Side Up Show
He’s gone where no man has gone before, and now he’s on the kiddie TV channel Sprout. Ladies and gents, here it is — video of William Shatner on Sunny Side Up Show.
Apparently, Mr. Shatner is an expert on something called The Clangers. (Something tells me his appearance is mostly for the adults who have to watch Sprout with their little ones.)
But, y’know, Shatner. Is there anything he can’t do?
William Shatner’s star on Canada’s Walk of Fame (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Apparently he’s going to do some voice acting on The Clangers, which is a show we’ve never heard of but it seems that it used to exist and is being revived. (Michael Palin, of Monty Python fame, is also on it.) In addition to this, a quick news search tells us that The Shat will be on an upcoming NBC show with Henry Winkler (Ayyyy!), AND he’s driving cross-country on some sort of odd vehicle. You can read about all of that, as well as the fact that there’s apparently a fake Shatner on Snapchat, via the related links below. All this is in addition to the many other projects Mr. Shatner always has going on.
We hope to have half as much energy as ol’ Bill has at his age. Heck, I’d settle for having that much energy NOW.
