Posts Tagged ‘sports’
DeAngelo Williams Little Girl on Twitter
It didn’t quite work out the way they planned it, but this picture of Pittsburgh Steelers’ running back DeAngelo Williams little girl on Twitter is adorable.
My little girl drawing up some plays for Coach Tomlin at the mock game #BeatTheSeahawks pic.twitter.com/nLapRfBtlD
— DeAngelo Williams (@DeAngeloRB) November 28, 2015
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)
Related articles (Note: These are offsite links; DaddyTips takes no responsibility for outside content.)
Tim Brown Happy His Son Is Happy
Former NFL great Tim Brown made it into the Pro Football Hall of Fame after 6 years of eligibility. What’s he most happy about? The fact that his son is happy.
Tim Brown, meet @81TimBrown! #PFHOF15 pic.twitter.com/0nqbBme47w
— Pro Football HOF (@ProFootballHOF) August 9, 2015
On the first night of the NFL Pre-season, the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game, Brown was interviewed by Paul Burmeister, who asked him how it felt to make it to Canton and what’s been his favorite part of the festivities.
Paul Burmeister: What’s been the most memorable part of the weekend?
Tim Brown: My son came up to me, he’s only 12, he didn’t see my career, but after the ceremony, at the enshrinement last night he came up to me and he said, Dad, you’re cool, you’re cool Dad. So to me, that was big time.
What can I say? I love stuff like this. Fathers and sons. Even a football legend like Tim Brown is happy that his son thinks he’s cool. This is one of those rare times when I can honestly say I know how a pro athlete feels.
Related articles (Note: These are offsite links; DaddyTips takes no responsibility for outside content.)
Mike Francesa Says Parents Should Relax About Fandom
Remember when I wrote about raising kids to be fans of perpetually bad sports teams? (If not, I helpfully linked to the article for you. I’ll expect a thank you note in the mail.) Today on WFAN, Mike Francesa took a caller to task about the same issue. Basically, he told the caller, a father and fan of the Jets (I think it was the Jets) that parents should relax about fandom.
(Note: the image above has nothing to do with the story except that it is a sports image, and neither person appears to be relaxed.)
The WFAN host’s point, which I basically agree with, is that people take this whole “I’m raising my kid to be a fan of a perpetually bad sports team” thing much too seriously. Or, as Aaron Rodgers put it — RELAX.
Francesa went on to describe some of the favorite Yankee teams of his childhood, which he described as not being very good but he loved them anyway.
I am also a Yankee fan, and here’s where I have to respectfully… not exactly disagree with Mr. Francesa, but add to his point. When the Yankees lose, it doesn’t hurt the way it does when the Mets lose. The same is true for the Giants and the Jets. Even when the Jets WIN, fans find it painful. The first two years that Mark Sanchez was the Jets’ starting quarterback, which were also the first two years’ of Rex Ryan’s tenure as head coach, they made it to the AFC Championship Game. That’s one game away from the Super Bowl. I watched those games, and the ones that preceded it, with a lifelong Jets fan. You know what? Even the games they won, I could feel the tension. There’s always a sense that something bad will happen. I don’t know why, but I’ve seen it firsthand and discussed it with other Jets fans. They agree. Barring another Super Bowl win (and it is worth noting that the Jets at least HAVE a Super Bowl win in their history, something many other NFL teams do not), I don’t know that it will ever not be at least a little bit painful to be a fan of the Jets.
Does that mean raising your kid to be a Jets fan is somehow bad parenting? Of course not. That’s silly. In my experience kids pick up on fandom naturally — if you’re a Jet(s fan) you’re a Jet(s fan) all the way, and your kids prob’ly will be the exact same way.
Related articles (Note: Some of these are offsite links; DaddyTips takes no responsibility for outside content.)
End of Game Super Bowl Fight Totally Classless
I don’t use words like classless often, because the word is judgy in a way that I don’t like to be. I’m not against being judgmental; I’ve said many times that accusing someone of being judgmental is, in fact, judgmental. But what happened at the end of the Super Bowl tonight was absolutely classless.
The San Francisco 49ers’ Super Bowl XXIX trophy on display at the 49ers’ Family Day at Candlestick Park. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The Seattle Seahawks had lost the game, largely due to what basically everyone is referring to as the #WorstCallEver. (For those who weren’t watching, that refers to throwing a pass that was intercepted by Malcolm Butler instead of giving the ball to Marshawn Lynch at the goal line.) The Patriots were backed up into their own end zone, trying to avoid a safety, which would have given the Seahawks one last chance to win. The ‘Hawks jumped offsides, the Pats got five yards, and were a kneeldown away from victory.
Then this happened.
That’s just not cool. I’m sure the players were pissed off. They lost the Super Bowl. I’m not going to pretend I know what that feels like; I have one career sack and it was in high school during the Junior/Senior football game. (For the record, sacking the quarterback was really fun.) There are hamsters with more athletic ability than I do. Hell, there may be pieces of furniture with more athletic ability than me. But if by some chance I ever found myself on the losing end of a big game, even the biggest of all big games, I really, truly hope that I would show more class than these guys did. Good sportsmanship.
What does this have to do with parenting? Kids watch these games. Much like I prefer to avoid using the word classless, I also mislike the phrase “think of the children.” But here, I’ll say it. It’s not about being a role model. It’s about not acting like a big baby when you lose. Not throwing punches. No temper tantrums. Behave yourselves, guys.
For the record, here is a tweet from Seahawks star player Richard Sherman.
Thank you God for giving us the opportunity…. That's all you can ask for….Thank you everyone for the support all year
— Richard Sherman (@RSherman_25) February 2, 2015
See? That’s classy. And Sherman was far from happy. Can I get a gif? Yes. Yes I can.
Super Bowl Fight! Super Bowl Fight! (Gawker)
Related articles (Note: Some of these are offsite links; DaddyTips takes no responsibility for outside content.)
Raising Kids To Be Fans Of Perpetually Poor Sports Teams
A debate on Twitter — maybe not a DEBATE exactly, more of a series of tweets, some of which are amusing — regarding the raising of kids and whether or not it is a good idea to indoctrinate them into becoming fans of your favorite sports team, even if that team isn’t exactly known for winning it all. (Apologies if anyone is offended by the language of the Tweeter’s username. I’m not offended, but maybe someone else is. If so, sorry.)
My view? Don’t force the issue. If you’re a real fan of a team, your kid will probably pick up on that fandom as they grow up. Sometimes strange things happen; it’s easy to forget that our children are humans with minds of their own.
In my case it’s easy — I’m a Yankees fan and a Giants fan. Neither team breaks your heart the way the Mets and the Jets do. But if I lived somewhere other than New York, I would be more inclined to encourage my kids to consider our local franchises, even if I maintained my own life-long loyalties.
Here’s the tweet that spawned this post:
IF IT WERE ME THE KID WOULD SHARE IN MY RESENTMENT SUFFERING AND MISERY FOR ALL OF FUCKING TIME. DONT BE LIKE ME pic.twitter.com/X8STBMTp5h
— ZODIAC MOTHERFUCKER (@ZODIAC_MF) January 23, 2015
This reply amused me:
@ZODIAC_MF I'm raising my kid an Eagles fan and it feels abusive, somehow.
— Kyle (@Kyle19152) January 23, 2015
The thing is, if you live in Philly, and you’re an Eagles fan, there’s nothing wrong with passing that fandom onto your children. Maybe you shouldn’t encourage them to boo Santa Claus, though.
And for anyone out there who thinks being a Yankee fan is easy, one word — A-Rod. Is that even a word? I don’t know.
Related articles (Note: Some of these are offsite links; DaddyTips takes no responsibility for outside content.)
DaddyTips Comment 12-20-14 (Video)
The third DaddyTips Video commentary has arrived. Today, 12-20-14, I’m talking about NFL football.
Because this video is a little bit longer than usual (it’s about 3 minutes long; the other two have been closer to 2 minutes), and because I wrote it out rather than improvising, I’m going to include the full text here. It’s still faster to watch the video, unless you happen to be a speed reader. But if you don’t watch, you miss out on my stellar wit and brilliant facial expressions.
So here we go. This is fun. If you like the video, please share it with anyone and everyone.
Thanks for reading/watching/sharing, and most of all thanks for just being you. Happy holidays!
(Text of video follows.)
<singing>
The NFL, The NFL
Today I’ll be talking / about football-all-ell
</singing>
Today is Saturday, December 20. There will be 2 football games, billed as a special Saturday edition of Thursday Night Football. Despite the fact that that phrasing is a sign of the apocalypse – kind of like midnight movie premieres that are actually at 7pm – I like football enough that I’m going to watch the games.
Today’s comment is not about one of the Saturday games, it’s about the Bears/Lions game, which is on Sunday.
Apparently the Bears are going to start Jimmy Clausen instead of Jay Cutler. This quote is from an article on Michigan’s MLive.com written by Kyle Meinke, titled “Golden Tate hopes Jimmy Clausen ‘stays safe’ against Detroit Lions defense“.
“He may give us a spark. Who knows? We’re not sure, but I think it was a good time to take a look.”
That’s Chicago Bears coach Marc Trestman talking about his decision to start Clausen instead of Cutler.
NFL coaches are an intriguing breed. Generally they live and breathe football. They spend endless hours studying tape, coming up with plays, and thinking of ways to motivate their players.
“He may give us a spark. Who knows?”
Compare this to Arizona Cardinals coach Bruce Arians, who, when asked if his team could win the Super Bowl with their backup quarterback, said yes. To be fair, he was ASKED. He didn’t make a proclamation like Rex Ryan, the sometimes crazy coach of the hapless New York Jets.
The Cardinals have suffered a pile of injuries to key players, including starting quarterback Carson Palmer. They are currently 11-3, first place in their division, the NFC West. They are also the ONLY team in the NFC that has clinched a playoff spot.
The Bears are 5-9. That’s LAST place in the NFC North. They haven’t lost their starting quarterback. Until Sunday, when they plan to put in a guy who hasn’t started a game since 2010. Because they’re out of the playoffs.
Maybe coaching does matter.
It was suggested to me by a friend that I end these videos with a Tip, since they are being posted on – wait for it – DaddyTips.com. My tip today is:
Be more like Bruce Arians than Marc Trestman. I don’t follow the Cardinals closely, but from what I’ve heard and read, Arians appears to do everything he can to help his team win, including convincing his players that they CAN win, no matter what. Trestman – you know, the guy who said “Who knows?” when asked if starting Jimmy Clausen would help the Bears beat the Lions, would seem to be cut from different cloth.
My point? Buck the odds. Say “why not me?” instead of “who knows?”
Happy holidays.
(Note: The music used at the end is “I Am A Bear In A Lady’s Boudoir” by Cliff Edwards, recorded circa October 25, 1933. It’s in the Public Domain and available for download at the invaluable Internet Archive.)
Previous DaddyTips Video comments:
