Wussification

I am going to take a page out of Ryan McGrath's book...

Tonight I was watching Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel. I think this is one of the best shows on TV. It's 60 Minutes meets sports. I worked on a show like this while I worked for The Weather Channel, but that was more like 60 Minutes meet the environment...and I don't really care so much about the environment (That was a joke, but really "green" things simply don't interest me. Not that I hate green, but you know, it just doesn't interest me). Anyways, enough about me.

Real Sports had a story about how a group of PE teachers were hoping to stamp out Dodge Ball as an activity during gym class because it "feeds on the weak" and "produces losers". Instead they want kids to jump rope (without using actual rope because that apparently can make you feel bad if/when you trip and fall), that lame rainbow parachute game and some boring stretching exercises. The bottom line is, they didn't want to make people feel bad about losing. Give me a break! I was the biggest loser in the United States from years 1986 through 1989. It's true, check the internet. I sucked at every sport I tried. I scored 2 points one SEASON in basketball before doubling my season total to 4 the next winter (insert a Borat "high five!). I don't think I ever scored in soccer, but I do recall the coach and his son making fun of me while I ran back and forth trying to get the ball. Come spring, I never made a Little League team, instead I had to play in the "Farm Team" which was basically me, a half dozen overweight kids who sucked even worse than I did at anything physical, and a few deaf girls. I think I was the best on the team. Anyways, I lost and lost and lost. My confidence was shattered many a' time. But truth be told, I think it made me a much stronger person. Heck, look at me now, I am the toughest sonofagun around (at least in my building filled with elderly people). The point is that you HAVE to lose to win. If you never lose, you never will succeed. We all must see the darkest of days before we can the light and before we can gain our own personal glory...whatever that might be.