NFL draft observations...Day 1 Rant

You may be one of those people who think kids are coddled to much in the world of little league and think only winners should get trophies. On the other hand, you may be one of those who think sports is to competitive and every kid should be heralded as winners and "it's not if you win or lose". I am somewhat of a mix because I hate to watch jacked up NASCAR dads blowing out an artery at a tea ball game. I have had plenty of experience with the politics of park ball all-stars and the parents who force little johnny to run laps if he strikes out. I also believe strongly in keeping score and letting kids know that sometimes you loose. For me park ball should be fun. For Christ sake nobody is scouting your nine year old from the stands. Once a kid gets to high school...then parents can begin pushing and motivating.

I love the hard nose, blow a gasket coach for high school sports....WHY?
Walk onto any college practice field and listen to what it's like. Sport reflects life...you compete and you either make it or you don't. There are no trophies for those who just are not good enough. Unfortunately, we seem to think 6 year old need to know this.

Most of you who read this are as old as me and grew up playing pee-wee ball with a coach you thought killed at least 5 kids a year. We were paddled in school, then paddled at home 4 hours later. We played "battle ball" and actually picked teams at P.E. We were told to solve our own problems with bullies and had to actually try out for school teams. We do not have 45 participation ribbons but Cherish the few trophies we do have (they all say champions). We have had our face mask jerked so hard our neck was sore for two days. Now, I think that is not the best approach, but we all turned out O.K. I am in favor of a happy medium, but it seams that the "don't hurt feelings" people have worked long enough to change the mentality of not only many school boards but the NFL.

For example.......................................
Poor Brady Q. began the slip-n-slide party early Saturday morning. As every pick was announced the magazine model looked more and more like the chubby kid we pummeled during dodge ball. Even the announcers of the picks began to play into the whole situation. Boomer, Keyshawn, and the rest of the heads used phrases like.."somebody take this young man", "everything is going to be all right", ..etc..etc. Then I was actually shocked that the commissioner took the Q out of the green room (away from the cameras and media)to hi special underground bunker. We have a man here, who is about to be an NFL QB, and we need to put him in the bunker to protect, pat him on the back, save him from the evil world of competition. THEN....he comes out after being selected and looks pissed at the world. Like many 20 year old....they assume that they should get everything they want and never loose. This on the heals of the Eli Manning silent temper tantrum on stage because he did not want to play for the Chargers. Forget that this is big business, I am Eli Manning.

It's harder and harder to find players today that remind you of the NFL.
Well, I am going to go dig out my old football cards and remember guys like Jack Youngblood, Jack Lambert and Ronnie Lott. People wonder why Brett Favre made the statement.."I am not here to coach new quarterbacks, It's up to them to watch and learn". STOP THE BABYSITTING!!