Where is sport steering youth?

Perhaps better said it is "where is sport steering the parents" ?


I disagree that is an assumption that sports build character---any sport teches a kid how to accept defeat and accept winning---it teaches the kid to work within the framework of team with a boss (the Coach)---


Sometimes I have to wonder about the people who write these articles--a guy can be a great coach without having attended college especially if he is an ex pro player in any sport

quote:

Originally posted by TRhit:
Perhaps better said it is "where is sport steering the parents" ?

Is it the parents or Coaches?

Either way the kids seem to be affected.

Their whole premise is incorrect. Freely stolen from my favorite WS sign ever:

Athletics do not build character, they reveal character.

I would respectfully have to disagree with you, pf.

Athletics can help build character. Speaking from experience.

97% of the Websters who read this will find something to disagree with

72% will wonder why the 'Overall' statistic is called "General Student Population" in the article and implies all athletes, including secondary sports in the stats listing

37% will giggle when they see how the football players come off as a bunch of degenerates

63% will presume Lance got bullied by the jocks in hs

To me, this was the crucial point made in the article:

"We have bad sports in athletics, in the political world and in the business environment," Josephson said. "These people are polluting it, and in some cases, they're corrupting it."

There are most certainly behaviors in other sports that I find appalling. Steroid use in baseball disgusts me on so many levels. However, if you want to study why the current generation is taking the Usual Hits on lack of respect and morals, there are some more obvious and pervasive Examples out there than Barry Bonds of the power, fame and/or financial success to be gained by lying, cutting corners, and cheating. And those examples impact all kids; not just athletes.

IF in fact more hs students lie & cheat today than 10 yrs ago how do we know the survey is valid

are they assumed to be truthful only for the purpose of surveys?

do survey institutes fudge numbers for attention more than they did 10 yrs ago?
as can we assume current survey employees were at one time part of a previous survey sample?
so statisticly some lied & cheated to get that survey analysis job

my head hurts

Good points, Bee!

It builds character and reveals it.

quote:

TRhit quote:
Perhaps better said it is "where is sport steering the parents" ?

TR I agree 100%.

This may not be a very popular post and I dont mean to sterotype or make any across the board statements.

I was part of the "Baby Boomer" generation, some fit the tag some did not. I am going out on a limb and call the generation of 25-40 year olds the "Jealous" generation.

1. I firmly believe that many parents are jealous of the opportunities their own kids have and as a result try to live that experience because they didn't have those opportunities. Those opportunities include "state of the art" equipment, travel opportunities, work out facilities, trainers, elite teams, and the list goes on. We have turned a kids life into an adults second childhood. As those kids get older the parents are still have the same mindset, but the stakes are higher.

2. When I was growing up and when my kids were growing up all the parents sat together and rooted for their teams and there were not parent confrontations. Now I go and watch LL and it is Hatfields and McCoys environment, and the attitude is not competitive, it is many times jealousy on one side and pompous on the other.

The bigger problem with this is the nut doesn't land far from the tree. Where are these kids going to fall in the evolution of baseball.

Maybe that move back to wood across the board is a one way to slow this train down.

I'm with ya now PG

Some good posts above...

Observations...

This was a humor post right Cong?

Sports teaching and responsible for the immoral ills of society? …..

Comon…

People much smarter than me have made an excellent case that baseball/sports has historically been a very visual reflection of the issues/trends in the larger world (race, labor issues, globalization, and now win at all costs.) A “canary in the coal mine” if you will.

While I am acutely aware of the ills and challenges of youth and prep sports…this article rather than astutely looking at the larger issues, is a myopic, very lame and misguided attempt to blame sports, offsite coaches for the morality ills of the larger society.

While it is worth looking at…The only really amazing thing is how many wild conclusions they draw…I find it ludicrous to believe that the next CEO at the next Enron, Tyco, or World com will have cut his/her immoral teeth in high school sports at the hands of offsite coaches..

Wait a minute...Lets rethink this....Insider trading? Corporate raiding? Creative accounting? The “gross” difference in pay? Hand slaps for white collar crime?…

Think Dennis Kozlowski (Tyco) will consider a coaching job for us when he gets out?...

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