There will be winners and losers – deal with it!

Richard Sherman’s post game interview after the NFC Championship game has received a lot of comments, blog posts and of course opinionated comments via social media.  When I saw the post game interview, my first reaction is I didn’t fully understand the source of Richard’s comments.  However, I did understand his trash talking.  I remember playing basketball (hey, don’t laugh I use to play).  There was a lot of talk of who was better than who, and of course things were said before the game and on the court to force the opposing team to lose focus.  A competitor wants to get into the other team members head and cause them to be consumed with the head game, and not play the game that is taking place on the court.  After hearing more of the backstory of Sherman’s rant, I support him and wanted to learn more about him.

Richard Sherman is a young man that grew up in Watts and Compton.  His parents would be considered middle class.  I was reading his blog, which you can view here:http://mmqb.si.com/2013/07/18/richard-sherman-introduction, and found out some interesting facts about him.  This young man’s parents pushed him to excel in the classroom.  He went to Stanford and earned his degree.  After his interview, he has been called the N word, thug, ape, classless, and the list could go on and on.  It seems the racists decided to let us know how they really feel.  His stats on the football field speak for themselves.  Clearly, he was the better than Crabtree that night, and like any competitor would do, he rubbed Crabtree’s face in it.  Back in the day trash talking like that would cause the other player to practice harder and be ready to show what he/she is made of the next time they are competing against one another.

Well, here’s how I feel:  this world has become so politically correct that a competitor can’t trash talk.  We are living in a world where everyone on the team is given a trophy.  Seriously?!  Our children need to know that someone will win and someone will lose.  I know this seems to be a difficult concept for some – deal with it!  Recently, a friend told me his child was on a team and everyone was given a trophy!  This is too politically correct for me!  When did we start celebrating being mediocre?!  If you want to be the best, you have to put in the work to be the best!  If you want to be the MVP, you have to put in the work to be the MVP.  What are we teaching our children by giving everyone on the team a trophy?  

I will tell you what we are teaching them.  We are teaching them it’s okay to be mediocre.  You don’t have to practice longer or work harder.  You will still get a trophy?  This concept is one of the reasons some children do not try to excel.  Look at No Child Left Behind.  Did you know that once your child reaches a certain age in Junior High, the child has to be socially promoted to high school?  So, you have Child A that was taught by their parents that mediocre is not acceptable and has worked hard to make good grades and successfully pass, and then you have Child B who gets to walk across the stage and receive a diploma because he/she is too old to be in junior high.  Where are the good old days that included having to repeat a grade because you failed?!  You did not successfully learn what you were suppose to learn, so you have to repeat that grade.  What happen to those days?  Where are the days of the MVP receiving a trophy for being the best all around player and the others that were number one in various categories are awarded trophies for being the best in that category?

I refuse this mediocre concept and this politically correct concept of no trash talking.  Let’s teach our children to strive to be the best, and banish mediocre concepts and values.