More Pussification of America

[milod]

Okay, the old guy's turn.

 

In my state, high school football basically has a 50-point rule, stuff with the clock running, etc. And this is about as "out west wild and stand up and take your punishment, kid" in terms of culture as you can get.

 

Ditto in baseball with a 10-run rule for youth baseball.

 

But no penalties for coaches, etc., just that's the rules and we follow the rules. As mentioned above, around here usually a team with an overwhelming advantage over another will put in subs and I've seen plenty of games with third-tier kids still whumping over the other team up to the "mercy" rule 'cuz you can't tell a kid that's a "scrub" on an outstanding team to back off trying as hard as possible against another team's "top bunch."

 

I've not yet seen where it did not encourage the losing team to do better; and yet it's probably resolved a lotta injuries before they happened in one team simply totally outclassing the other. In American football, 54-0 is a pretty convincing win at halftime. It's not wuss factor, it's simply a recognition that one team simply overwhelms the other.

 

Again, don't get me wrong, it's not considered here a wuss factor, but more like a first round knockout in today's boxing rules. In the old "London" rules in the 19th Century, you could see six, eight or more knockouts in boxing and the fight continue. Yup, sometimes the guy knocked cold could come back and win. But after seeing some pretty bloody ring matches with today's rules, I doubt most of us would consider the fighters "wussy" regardless that we might consider a few "decided on the scorecard" matches a bit questionable. There is something about a broken nose, broken jaw, cuts on the eyes and cheeks that tell a story, and not necessarily a pretty one.

 

There are, however, ways of handling this sorta thing and ways of handling it. I've seen "whipped" teams ending up cheering on the team that whipped them at state championships.

 

BTW, tonight after a small town team 25 miles away plays its 9-man contest and the local high school its 11-man American football game, two of the star players will hop into their parents' pickup trucks hauling horses to head onto a 10-11 hour drive to a 6-state high school rodeo. The two boys are team roping partners. They know, btw, that if they miss a catch, they ain't coming home with rodeo money.

 

m

[Izzy]

Reading your lines, I think I was the same kind of a boy as you were as a girl. Well, there luckily came an opportunity to make my peace with sports rather sustainingly, and it clearly is another mothod of making weak people stronger. I will always be grateful for having been offered for granted the experience I describe here.

 

When I had just become a teenager in 1972, our sports teacher one day decided to set up a basketball match of a team consisting of stronger players against one of weaker players for the last few minutes of a lesson. I was among the weaker ones, and I have to admit that in fact I very clearly was. Setting up a vivid team play, we won 12:4, and moreover, one of my team members and me scored two penalty shots each. We usually didn't get penalty shots at all since we rarely got the ball in teams with mixed abilities of players when attacking. The stronger players just didn't pass it to us. However, in that particular match the stronger players made the worse team since each of these boys tried to make it all alone in his vanity.

 

One of these stronger basketball players is a bandmate of mine since 1986. We came to talk about that memorable match a few years ago, and he told me he still remembers and thinks that he has learned his lesson from it, too.

 

That is one of the coolest stories ever.

 

I had something similar happen to me.

 

I was in 9th grade PE and I was, by that point, allowed to do laps (I ruled at running) and not participate in team things because by then the PE teachers knew I was not going to abide. One day, the soccer teams were not evened out and I had to participate and for some reason that day I sort of felt like playing instead of antagonizing.

I scored 2 of the three goals that helped my team win that match. The first goal people just saw me run with the ball, slackjawed that I was sort of agile; guess I caught the goalie off guard. I don't know why anyone would pass me the ball again but someone did. I was being chased and players were trying to stop me, but for some reason I was able to make that final goal despite the goalie's dive. I had never had more than one classmate like me at a time, but at that moment I had a group of kids run to me, hug me cheering and I was SO happy.

 

If I had learned beforehand that it was set up, that our team was being given some pitty-upper-hand, I wouldn't have bothered.

[pippy]

...If I had learned beforehand that it was set up, that our team was being given some pitty-upper-hand, I wouldn't have bothered...

+1.

 

For me? That says it all.

 

P.

[surfpup]

Okay, running up the score is clearly bad sportsmanship. Coaches should certainly avoid this. However, isn't creating rules to require good sportsmanship a bit like legislating morality? And what country would do that... oh.. wait... never mind.

[DJ in FL]

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/09/25/head-california-youth-football-league-defends-mercy-rule/

 

The commissioner of the California youth football league who was criticized after reports about the league's tough penalties for coaches who disregard the mercy rule defended his position Wednesday and said despite some recent hate mail, the rule will continue to be enforced.

 

Bill Fox, the commissioner of the Northern California Federation of Youth Football, told FoxNews.com that any coach who runs the score up by 35 points or more will be suspended for a week of practices and one game.

 

"When you see these kids line up at the end of the game to shake hands, there's nothing worse than seeing how devastated these children look who just lost by 50 points," he said. "A win is a win. At this age, there's no reason to run up the score."

 

To be sure, there is heated debate about the merits of a mercy rule. Those in favor of such rules say talented players are taught sportsmanship and losing players face a softer blow to their confidence. Those opposed to these rules say teams should compete from the beginning of the game to the end regardless of the score.

 

The teams in this league are comprised of players between the ages of 6 to 13 years old from various towns in the area. They play from August through October. There are playoffs and an eventual championship game is played each year. There are no individual awards like MVP or Most Improved Player.

 

Fox called earlier news reports that state the teams are fined $200 erroneous. He said there never was a $200 fine for violating the mercy rule.

 

"Bottom line, this is about players having fun," he said. "Not an ego trip for a coach who has a talented team."

 

 

You said this happened in CALIFORNIA...land of absurd instances like this...what else can you say but happening in CA says it all.

[Blueblooded]

I've coached kids sports, mostly ice hockey, but also soccer and baseball for kids ranging in age from 5 or 6 to 16. What you all need to realize about these "Mercy rules" is that they don't really matter. What I mean is that even though you officially stop keeping score, the kids still know what the score is.

[EVOL!]

You silly football people. In hockey there is no rule about running up the score. You just know if you do it, the opposing team's tough guys are going to clean your clock.

[capmaster]

That is one of the coolest stories ever.

 

I had something similar happen to me.

 

I was in 9th grade PE and I was, by that point, allowed to do laps (I ruled at running) and not participate in team things because by then the PE teachers knew I was not going to abide. One day, the soccer teams were not evened out and I had to participate and for some reason that day I sort of felt like playing instead of antagonizing.

I scored 2 of the three goals that helped my team win that match. The first goal people just saw me run with the ball, slackjawed that I was sort of agile; guess I caught the goalie off guard. I don't know why anyone would pass me the ball again but someone did. I was being chased and players were trying to stop me, but for some reason I was able to make that final goal despite the goalie's dive. I had never had more than one classmate like me at a time, but at that moment I had a group of kids run to me, hug me cheering and I was SO happy.

 

If I had learned beforehand that it was set up, that our team was being given some pitty-upper-hand, I wouldn't have bothered.

Glad to hear your story and how happy it made you. In my opinion, there is one important thing that your and my story have in common, the surprise effect. Nobody expected you to run and score goals, and nobody expected my teammates and me to perform nicely as team players. So it was possible for you and for my team to succeed unexpectedly since our behaviour was unpredictable.

 

As for my team that time, I think this win would have been irreproducible, but this is not the point here. I think that our teacher knew well why he arbitrarily selected two teams of very different estimated performance, and it had its effect thereafter, too, although we hadn't turned into top-scorers through this single incidence.

[Bender 4 Life]

How about just not keeping score?

 

Or what about when one team gets to 35 points they all trade jerseys and swap sides?

 

Or what about blindfolding one team member after another each time 5 points is scored by their side?

If the opposition scores 5 points back the opposing team can remove the blindfold from one player!

 

Or what about a handicap system? For each 5 points scored one team member must put on an item of clothing such as a pair of flippers or else have to carry something like an inflatable crocodile?

 

P.

 

 

so funny I almost peed myself !!!

 

 

and the "offending" coach has to wear a tutu (in team colors of course) to the next game......

and fine every coach that wins a game $100 per incident, payable to the local P.A.R.D.

[BlackWater]

1380305288[/url]' post='1430440']

Well, while I don't even know what peewee football is and don't care at all (my comment was more general), I wish I had time to comment in threads I find uninteresting just to say I find them uninteresting.

 

Mmm.... Was kind of thinking along similar lines myself, reading this thread,-the words: ' all the fuss about,and, what is' sprung to mind....old photo of Michael Palin,was more relevant,I think!.......

[badbluesplayer]

Speaking of pussies, who complains about the rules in sports?

[James Allen]

We dont teach real sportsmanship anymore. We dont teach how to win with grace or lose with dignity. That starts with coaches and parents.

[Blueblooded]

We dont teach real sportsmanship anymore. We dont teach how to win with grace or lose with dignity. That starts with coaches and parents.

 

Excellent point, James. My experience is that the kids know the score anyway, and that these kind of rules are created because of the childish adults (parents and coaches) that can't stand to lose. The coach, parent and whatever ruling sanction's job should be to make sure that kids sports are fun for the kids. These kind of rules don't change the fact that there will be dominate players and teams -- that's a part of life and should be learned at a young age. I think the kids learn it regardless of these poorly concieved rules. I feel bad for the kids who's parents complain because they're not happy and usually those kids are exposed to the ranting of those parents away from the game which is damaging to those kids. I've seen it first hand.

[Cougar]

.

 

OK, this is how you modify the rules in sports....

 

.

 

[nick_s]

This is actually quite scary from my perspective.

 

As a youngster, I followed my dad into playing rugby. He played in the army, and later on in life, in the police force. I started playing because I was interested in the sport. I did quite well, but only by following a learning curve. In my early days playing on the blindside, I got my arse handed to me on more than one occasion. It hurt at the time to be made to look insignificant on the field, but, and this is a big but, it showed me my weaknesses, and where I could improve.

 

By basically removing someones ability to lose in emphatic style, you are losing an element of character building. You are also forcing people who would otherwise excel in their particular sport to be nothing more than good. To me, this is only going to foster an 'oh well, I'll only do just enough to get by' attitude. By losing or being shown to be found wanting will force you to up your game and improve yourself in whatever discipline it is, be it sport or even guitar.

 

Learning to lose is an important part of life if you ask me.

[Cougar]

Learning to lose is an important part of life if you ask me.

 

Well, sure. But learning to lose is one thing. Losing 87 to 3 is another. Does that make you want to up your game, or give up your game? Which is fine. Not everybody is cut out for sports. Give 'em a guitar instead of a football!

 

Plus, I second the comment about sportsmanship. This was a major thing when I was growing up. Now that the NFL has done away with sportsmanship altogether with their in-your-face sack dances and over-the-top TD celebrations, it's a tough concept to maintain. Baseball's much better. Golf - the best.

[nick_s]

Well, sure. But learning to lose is one thing. Losing 87 to 3 is another. Does that make you want to up your game, or give up your game? Which is fine. Not everybody is cut out for sports. Give 'em a guitar instead of a football!

 

Plus, I second the comment about sportsmanship. This was a major thing when I was growing up. Now that the NFL has done away with sportsmanship altogether with their in-your-face sack dances and over-the-top TD celebrations, it's a tough concept to maintain. Baseball's much better. Golf - the best.

 

Ahh, you and I differ my friend :D For to me, golf is a way to spoil a good walk :D Crazy golf, now that's another story[tongue]

 

My team lost spectacularly a few times, it happens. It was quite distressing to watch try after try go down for the opposition, but we didn't lose heart. The team I was part of was the regional champions. I found the losses we were subejcted to humbling, keeping us grounded if you will. I can see though, that if you were on the end of a heavy defeat week after week it would be soul destroying, but that is part of life :( We win some, we lose some, in the end we all die (which is the biggest loss of all). I think losing did me good. It made me realise I could not afford to be complacent, and that I can't win every time. I didn't feel like giving up, it gave me the rocket up my backside I needed to consider all aspects of my game and that I (and the team) was not invincible, as the trophy cabinet suggested.

 

We are all different though. Some people may not be able to stomach heavy defeat at sports, in which case I have to ask, is that person really cut out to play a competitive sport if they cannot handle losing (no matter how great the loss)? After all, that is the nature of sport, and indeed life.

 

Apologies if I have rambled, it's that kind of day.

[BobF_]

Lets start by saying NO KID is going to be so BAD at math that he/she won't know the real score and the real lameness of their team should they make a comeback.

 

I'd make my own league for friends and make it private and use REAL rules if I had a kid. Bunch of pansy motherfkrs.

 

When I was little I sucked utterly at sports, so bad it was sad. I once was so behind on a bicycle race I just sort of zoned out and started going the opposite direction, a parent pushed me across the finish line. I was SO lame at competitive sports.I cared for a minute until I realized I was different in ways that were positive too.

 

No one could argue with me and win. English and theology teachers feared me when I raised my hand because I'd be likely to say something brilliant and confuse the other kids and make them question their beliefs. The fact that the other kids were better at sports evened out the score. Had I been awesome at sports I may not have pursued reading and smart-assing so aggressively.

 

What's next? No girl left without a date to the dance? Make ALL the boys who are shorter than average wear tall shoes?

 

Character is built when we get pooped on or when we fail. Damn it this pisses me off and I don't even have kids. This is why no one will stand up and face opposition to make meaningful change. Once, we were a nation that encouraged little girls like Ruby Bridges to stand up and be strong. Today, we can't even play sports like normal. China is gonna kill us with their "family dishonor if you get less than an A," attitude.

 

Good for you ... +1 on your entire post, but I would like to point out something. When you said this:

"What's next? No girl left without a date to the dance? Make ALL the boys who are shorter than average wear tall shoes?"

 

 

the logic is opposite from reality. Equalization isn't done by making everyone a winner. It's done by making nobody a winner. So NO girl gets a date to the dance and boys taller than average will have to walk on their knees. It's NOT about lifting up to achieve equality. It's about knocking down until all are equal.

 

Izzy I love your attitude.

[EVOL!]

 

Plus, I second the comment about sportsmanship. This was a major thing when I was growing up. Now that the NFL has done away with sportsmanship altogether with their in-your-face sack dances and over-the-top TD celebrations, it's a tough concept to maintain. Baseball's much better. Golf - the best.

 

Baseball is better because it has a self policing mechanism. You excessively celebrate a home run? Expect to get a fast ball across the shoulder.

[surfpup]

Equalization isn't done by making everyone a winner. It's done by making nobody a winner. So NO girl gets a date to the dance and boys taller than average will have to walk on their knees. It's NOT about lifting up to achieve equality. It's about knocking down until all are equal.

 

Is that Harrison Bergeron I smell?

[BobF_]

Is that Harrison Bergeron I smell?

 

It sure seems to fit.

[Californiaman]

Having just trounced, trucked, whollupped, and totally anihalated our opponant 40-0 Friday afternoon, I'm sure glad the opposing coach let us play it out without running the clock. Every single kid on our team played Friday. That's what you want.

Everyone plays. Everyone gets to see action and be a part of the win. I'm proud of the hard work our team put into that game. Proud of each and everyone of those boys. I expect next weeks game to be a similar experience. We play our across-the-street-rivals Friday and we will show them no mercy. No quarter will be given. I think this line from Conan the Barbarian best sums it up.

 

What is the best life? Crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of the women!" –from "Conan the Barbarian"

[BobF_]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odY8nff3h0w

[surfpup]

Kinda surprised the auto ***** whatever thing allows "pussification" - what a great new word! In fact, I think I am going to try to use the word pussification as much as possible today!

[Californiaman]

Pusification.

Pusification.

Pusification.

 

I too like the way it sounds.