Teaching Children Sportsmanship and Other Woke Values

If we win, we accept the result, if we lose we claim it was rigged and start breaking windows

Hello friends,

It's getting to be middle school basketball season again. I enjoy this time of year because I love watching my girls play sports. I enjoy helping out with the coaching, mainly because I insist on attending every practice.

It always makes me laugh how people say sports are a great place for instilling “values.” Uh-huh. What values are you talking about?

Prior to the season, there's always a meeting of all the parents and participants. This is mainly to lecture the parents so they don't get “too rowdy.”

“Remember that we have to demonstrate respectful behavior. We have to treat the referees with respect. We have to treat the other players with respect.”

This is what the coaches have to tell THE PARENTS!

Nevertheless, last year there was an incident with a couple of idiot dads marching out onto the court flapping their wings like a couple of chickens because of... I don't even know.

But at the same time as I find this annoying, you can't hardly blame even the parents. I mean, the Republican nominee for president constantly calls people names and incites violence. The Democrats don't do that. Apologists try to say they do, but they just don't.

So, when the coach started talking about respect, I called out, “Yeah, sportsmanship is a woke value that I really appreciate!”

That caused like fifty parents to turn and give me a questioning look because the wiring of their brains has been so screwed up it starts to short circuit if you try to connect the concept of “woke” with anything positive.

“What are you talking about, sportsmanship isn't 'woke,'” they say.

“Oh yeah, I forgot,” I reply. “If we win, we accept the result. If we lose, we claim it was rigged, break windows, and then whine about it for the rest of our lives.”

Then they roll their eyes at me.

“Do you denounce that behavior? Do you admit that's not good sportsmanship?”

“Let's not get political.”

“You're the one being political,” I say. This confuses them again. “Hey, if you're unwilling to say that it's wrong to blame everyone but yourself for a loss, then you're imposing a justification of the Republican party on my children. Shame on you. Let's demonstrate respect and sportsmanship. You know, woke values.”

“No, no, no!” they say.

“Yes, yes, yes,” I reply. “Please don't start breaking windows and destroying property. This is a school remember, and eventually most of the people who do things like that go to jail. They go to jail even when the politicians claim it's unfair. That's the funny thing. Politicians will spend years and years encouraging their sore loser supporters to break things, then they'll defend those actions on television, but they never get around to seeing them released.”

Then I smile.

It truly is upsetting the degree to which the normalization of repugnant behavior has been forced upon us. Seriously, how are we supposed to teach our children not to be bullies, when every time you turn on the television you see an obnoxious bully mispronouncing his opponent's name, or calling her “stupid,” or saying all sorts of other vile garbage?

How are we supposed to teach our children to be truthful, when the church, the media, and the Republican party always lie?

How are we supposed to teach our children to respect the law, when Republicans nominate a criminal to be president?

How are we supposed to encourage our children to learn to manage their emotions and seek positive solutions, when Republicans tell their supporters to break windows and indulge in other acts of violence and hatred?

On top of all of this, people try to argue that sportsmanship is not a “woke” value?

Are you kidding me?

Are you going to try and say that it's a “conservative” value? Excuse me while I bust a gut laughing.

HA! HA! HA!

Once again we're facing an election where the Republicans have said they'll only accept the result if they win. You're trying to tell me that's a valid and reasonable approach to things?

Well then, why should only Republicans be able to act like that? If it's an “acceptable” way to behave, why shouldn't I be able to do it more often in my regular life?

If my kids don't get an “A,” they should scream that the class was rigged and start breaking windows.

If my kid's team doesn't win a basketball game, obviously the other side cheated and we should disregard the contest.

In any instance where I don't get my way, I get to throw a temper tantrum and start destroying things. That's what you're telling me? That's the response I have to “accept,” and if I denounce that idea I'm “injecting politics” where it doesn't belong?

Sorry, but when I attend practice, I tell the girls that they should respect the coaches, they should respect the other players, they should respect the refs, and they should respect the contest.

The reason for this is that if both sides don't respect the contest, then there's no point in having it. I'm starting to feel the same way about the election. Life shouldn't be a constant case of “heads I win, tails you lose.” We don't have to submit to bullies all the time. We don't have to live in fear of crybabies who start breaking things when faced with a result they don't like.

Life is a process of learning to accept the results you don't like.

Life is not a process of having a result you don't like imposed upon you because your opponent doesn't understand the concept of sportsmanship.

I encourage my daughter to play hard. When she wins we celebrate. When she loses, we work harder, we get better, we come back the next time, and we win.

If you are unwilling to recognize a loss, then you're unwilling to engage in the process of bettering yourself. That makes you a lifelong loser.

I hope our country wakes up to that fact. Woke values will take us a lot farther than entitled, temper-tantrum throwing losers who only know how to break things. It takes no talent to create chaos. True ability is cultivated by acknowledging your losses, recognizing your weaknesses, and working to get better.

Sportsmanship is a woke value. Throwing a fit and breaking windows won't change the truth.

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