I see a whole generation of children in America unable to acknowledge defeat in sports, academics, court of law, anything that ever requires one group or individual to succeed and others to lose. Poor sportsmanship will be the next American pandemic.
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Or at least a pale subset.
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Flynn is not a child, and the attitudes he professes to hold cut across generational lines. Please don’t make this a divide-and-conquer generational war.
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Did…did you just turn the discussion of this traitor’s actions into a “millennials are snowflakes” thing?
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Yes. There have always been anti-democratic authoritarians in our midst. But by electing one and then deferring to him, we may see a generation raised to see that as normal. And we can and should worry about that.
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They’ll get participation trophies. Already happening with 6yrs olds from millennial parents in my social circle. 🤦
As a child I played soccer, baseball, and basketball every year. I got a participation trophy every year for every team. It in no way impaired my ability to accept defeat with humility
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i’ve never understood hostility to participation trophies. i’ve participated in numerous types of competitive activities as a child and i’ve coached academic competitions as an adult and the one thing i have seen over and over again is that those people, no matter how poor their basic abilities at the endeavor they are are working towards, who are always there at every practice, who are always there cheering for every play whether they are in the game at that moment or not form the backbone of the team and are usually the most important to the team. as far as i’m concerned participation is the heart and soul of competition and without it there is a nullity.
why the fuck not celebrate participation?
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I was a swimmer. There was never any question of winning or losing, you got to the wall first or you didn’t. As an individual sport, the concept of beating your best time was always there as well, but beating the snot out of the kid next to you was extremely satisfying.
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I think the origins of the participation trophy, and the criticism, is that it is supposed to give one a false sense of accomplishment and bolster self esteem for not good reason. I don’t think that is the case, though.
Granted, I haven’t gotten a bunch of participation awards, but like I had HORRIBLE luck with softball as a kid. Like even though I was on 2 different teams, we won like 1 game over two years. Yikes. I was really upset the last game of that second year because - well - losing sucks. I don’t think a participation trophy would have taken any of the sting out of it, nor do I think I would suddenly think we were a “good” team. I think the theory behind kids not having self esteem being harmful is correct, but also trying to bolster it via this method doesn’t really work either.
But I also don’t think they are harmful. Maybe they aid in some peoples’ self delusion, but I think that number is relatively small. Mostly they are more or less souvenirs or mementos that you did a thing. And had I had a more mixed year in softball, a participation trophy would still be a “Hey, you did pretty good. Good job for trying your best.” reminder. Or like in marathons and those obstacle course runs I see some of my friends do, they get a little medal. That’s cool, they did the thing! Most of them don’t finish well (One friend does pretty good on those tough mudders he does), but it still shows grit to finish the event. I can’t do those things (though that is due to disability more than laziness. But let’s be frank, even if my leg worked right, i wouldn’t be doing that thing, probably.) But I don’t think there is anything wrong with a token of accomplishment, even if it isn’t a “winning” accomplisment.
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and don’t forget my overarching point from above that it is those who participate who make up the backbone of the team activity. being there is incredibly important.
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It’s a worthy thing to recognize the work and dedication that goes into it, as well, especially with youth team sports. It’s rarely the 10 y.o. phenom who goes on to higher levels of the sport.
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yep, every race I do, be it a 10k , marathon or trail race has a medal for every finisher. I’ve never met anyone who hasn’t been trying to have their best race, or to have confused the finisher’s medal with the winner’s one.
We should be encouraging everyone to participate to the best of their abilities.
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Back in the day (it may have changed post-VietNam) US Army recruits who didn’t wash-out in Basic were awarded the National Defense Service Medal (ribbon) aka the Road Guard Ribbon, meaning you probably hadn’t let marching formations get run over by traffic. When/if you graduated Basic, you had a colorful decoration to display. Yes, even the US Army celebrated participation if not excellence.
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I think it’s similar to pinball score inflation; when I pinballed in the '70s as a teen, the smallest bumper value was 10. There must have been a time when the min value was a single digit, since I’ve seen machines with the LSD “0” just painted on. High score in the hundreds of thousands. And we liked it!
Last time I played, min. value was 1,000. High scores would be in the billions.
When I played minor hockey, school sports, etc., the “participation” award was a ribbon with the event details. Trophies for winning the league were modest; my mom still has one from a weekend hockey tourney in Staynor, Ont. We won, and each player got a simple ~8" trophy. Team got a modest 3-footer.
Everything just gets bigger. Except hamburgers. Ten-year old me couldn’t believe how big a Big Mac was. Now they look like overgrown sliders. Pants too… forever getting smaller.
Edit to get back on topic… so Flynn’s guilty of sedition, no questions asked. Will anything happen?
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The National Defense Service Medal was awarded during the span of the Vietnam war, the period from the start of the gulf war up until Nov 1995, and again from 11 Sep 2001 until the present. Possibly other periods too but I didnt check.
Current Army graduates of Basic Training receive the Army service ribbon. After 60 days of continuous active duty or 90 days of non continuous active duty a Soldier is also eligible for the Global War on Terror ribbon (GWOT).
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I’m jealous of your upbringing, environment & the adults in your life who contributed to you becoming that well rounded child.
…I’m getting way off topic though.
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Ah, the good old Army surf team…
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