{"id":251,"date":"2005-07-29T23:26:50","date_gmt":"2005-07-29T23:26:50","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2005-07-29T23:26:50","modified_gmt":"2005-07-29T23:26:50","slug":"super-dad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.calvertgames.com\/cgblog\/2005\/07\/29\/super-dad\/","title":{"rendered":"Super Dad"},"content":{"rendered":"

Youth sports can be wonderful teachers for our children. There are many \u201clife lessons\u201d that can be taught through this vehicle, such as teamwork, how to handle success and failure, setting and achieving goals, self-worth and self-respect, sportsmanship, humility, unselfishness, and the list goes on and on. Youth sports is a wonderful teacher, until ass-clown-parents like Mark R. Downs <\/a>get involved\u2026<\/p>\n

Allegedly, to field the most competitive team possible, Downs bribed another player on his T-BALL <\/b><\/i>team with $25 to drill a development-disabled player in the head, so he wouldn\u2019t have to play him his requisite 3 innings. First of all, why would any T-BALL coach be worried about competitiveness? Kids that age are so far removed from understanding the game of baseball and being able to use the skills required to play it competitively that even beginning to worry about the score and trying to win is inherently moot. Secondly, the purpose of recreational youth sports is to accomplish what I discussed in the first paragraph; not to bring glory to some has-been dad who wants to prove his worth through his T-BALL winning percentage. Ultimately, he got his wish, as the developmentally disabled child was indeed intentionally hit in the groin with a baseball, and was not able to play. I guess Downs had a better chance to win, at the cost of the self-image of an innocent child already with serious issues in life to conquer. <\/p>\n

Mr. Downs deserves a Louisville Slugger to the testicles, and then one upside the cranium, for good measure. There are too many idiot-parents like this one in the world of youth sports today, and they\u2019re stealing the rite of passage of many kids to participate in youth sports to help them grow into quality young men and women, all for their own \u201cglory.\u201d I only wish every child the opportunity to fondly remember their successes on the athletic field, no matter how big or small, and how those successes impacted their growth, and ultimately, their desire to provide the same experience for their children.<\/p>\n

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