"We're losers. We got beat. There is no trophy for us."

Or an Olympic medalist.

 

LOL. That's the #1 most ridiculous comment that always comes from the "Everybody gets a trophy!" crowd.

Yes. Because I know that if I'm ever 90 seconds late to work I'm out there running laps as punishment. Or if I forget a medical acronym, the boss does everything she can to publicly embarrass me. THAT'S REAL LIFE!!!!!

Most of the coaches who employ these tactics at the youth level are actually quite bad at life.

 

oop, you've been very balanced and thoughtful on this topic.

 

I know you're in blue font territory here ... but the thought of the (chronically late) copy desk at my shop having to run laps in our tremendously out-of-shape condition made me laugh.

If only our youth sports coaches had been cut from the Vince Lombardi mold ...

 

Or you get your participation trophy smashed and get choked out by your sensei.

 

ROFL. Really.

 

I don't really have a strong opinion on this one. I just thought the coach had an interesting, if self-serving, point and it was worth a discussion.

 

The discussion reminds me that my high school, a consistent loser in boys basketball from the early '80s until about five years ago, once played in one of those 16-team holiday tournaments that guaranteed each team four games. The way it was set up, two winless teams remained at the end, and they'd play each other in the final round. My alma mater was one of those winless teams and lost to the other winless team by about 30 points in the "15th-place" game. But every team got a trophy. Our coach wasn't enamored with the idea of a "16th-place" trophy and, according to several witnesses, threw it in the trash before boarding the bus home after the game. The host school wasn't pleased, and neither was my high school's administration (which fired the coach at the end of the season).

 

How many Internet tough parents follow through when it comes to to their own children?

 

In Russia, school graduates you.

 

Yo ...

And ask me again when you've watched yours leave in a police car.