Participation trophies aren’t the problem

Youth sports teach plenty of valuable lessons and most importantly, keep kids active. Shouldn’t we be encouraging kids to keep playing however we can?

I understand what James Harrison is saying.

I get the perspective that he’s coming from.

Harrison is an NFL All-Pro, a Super Bowl winner, and he did all of this as an undrafted free agent out of Kent State.  Nothing in his career has been handed to him.  He’s earned his success.

He’s trying to teach his kids that in life you have to achieve something before you are rewarded.

He’s almost 100 percent right.  Except for the part about the trophies.

It’s not the trophies that are the problem.  I’d go so far as to say the trophies have done more good than harm.  And I can say that from experience.

I am a parent of two and a youth sports coach.  I know what those “participation trophies” can mean to a kid.  I’ve seen kids who have no social skills, some too afraid to talk to other kids and some that need tremendous amounts of attention.  I’ve seen kids whose parents show up for every practice and some with ones that I don’t meet all season. Kids who want to chase butterflies all practice and kids who show up with their own theme music.

The kids I work with right now don’t keep score.  Everyone gets to play roughly the same minutes/innings.  It’s not competition.  Nor, in my opinion, should it be.  Not at this stage at least.

Believe me, our practices are competitive.  During basketball we keep track of which group completes their drill the fastest and in baseball we see who can run the bases fastest or make the most catches without dropping.

My goal is to make sure that every kid has fun and gets better.  But my practices have to be more than just about skill development.  I’ve got to make sure that the kid who has a lot of potential as a person and a player learns to be a part of the team rather than try to show off every chance he gets.  I have to build up the confidence of the kid who looked like he’d never seen a baseball on the first day of practice.  I have to help the smallest kid on the team feel like he’s as big as anyone when he stands at the plate and I have make sure my girls know that playing like one isn’t a problem.

At the end of the season our league gives out medals with the name of the sport on them.  They don’t say “Number 1” or “Champion” on them.  But as I put them on each child’s head and onto their shoulders, I watch how they lift them and stare for a moment or two.

James Harrison has admirable goals for his children, but trophies are the wrong target for his anger. (Photo: Charles LeClaire, USA Today)

I know for a lot of kids, particularly ones who are self-motivated or have enough support or who are just wired a certain way, those medals just end up as trinkets that are easily dismissed.  I also know that there are plenty who wear them all day and all night.  That little medal a reminder of friends made and games played.  For some, an investment of a few dollars is what gets a kid who doesn’t have any plans of being the next (insert famous athlete here), motivated to play another sport or another year.  How is that a bad thing?  Especially when participation in youth sports continues to decrease.  From 2008-13, nearly one million fewer kids aged 6-12 were active through organized sports.  With less recess at schools and childhood obesity on the rise to near epidemic levels, encouraging kids to play seems worth it physically and mentally.

Those trophies don’t tell kids that they’ve won anything.  They tell them it’s okay to try and that they should keep doing so.

One more story.

My first coaching job came at a girls’ summer basketball camp. The first day the players are given ratings in different skill areas and then grouped into teams, hopefully creating a pretty decent mix of talent on each team. Over the course of the week, the talent began to separate itself.  You could see that some of the girls had come with a purpose. Not only to get better but to gauge themselves against other players their age.  Others were there to have a good time playing a game.  A few were there because someone forced them to be.

I remember one girl though in particular.  Not her name but the sight of her.  She was one of the older girls, but she wore her hair in short pigtails on the side with ribbon.  She competed all out in every drill.  Her attitude was always positive.

But she wasn’t very good.  I can recall her mother asking one of the coaches about her chances to play on the collegiate level and I remember the coach trying to be very positive while at the same time clearly telling the mother that her daughter was not a Division I basketball prospect.  Her kid’s dream (and maybe Mom’s too) was ending right there.

At the end of the camp she got her participation certificate just like every other camper and she smiled.  Here I am twenty years later writing about her and remembering a kid just because they tried.  She gave it everything she had.  It wasn’t good enough for basketball, but maybe she took what she got from going to those camps and being encouraged and applied that to her life.  Maybe she’s doing something great right now.  If those certificates and participation trophies she earned over the years represent a good thing to her (and I hope they do), it’s because they represent the time spent in pursuing something you love.  Even if her ultimate goal of playing major college basketball wasn’t reached, she learned about discipline, teamwork, and she got to play.  Again I say, how is that a bad thing?

Young people learn far more about entitlement from athletes on their television screens than they do by getting a trophy. Watch SportsCenter on any given night and see examples of academic fraud, unfair perks, and a different standard for athletes in the criminal justice system.

I can’t believe it’s the participation trophies that lead people to bet on the outcome of youth football games or causes parents to fight each other or other coaches or officials.

There are plenty of things that we could change surrounding the culture of youth sports in America.  But leave the trophies alone.

I don’t see this hand-wringing over the “swag bags” that celebrities get at awards shows, even when they don’t win.  I’d rather see kindergarten and middle school “promotional exercises” eliminated.  You ever try to get a job with a sixth grade diploma? Those are false entitlements and they’ve been going on for decades.

If kids grow up to believe they are supposed to have things they didn’t earn, it’s not because of a trophy. It’s because we failed to put things in perspective for them.  I’ve never told a kid that a trophy indicated they were the best or had reached a milestone.  Honestly, I don’t think I’ve met too many kids who took them that way either.  So stop making it about the trophies. The problem isn’t them, it’s us.

Payton, Saints may be entering final season together

Could Sean Payton make Dallas his full-time home if the Saints have another disappointing season? (Photo credit Bill Nichols/Associated Press)

New Orleans Saints fans got their first real look at the 2015 edition of the Black & Gold last night with the team opening Preseason play against the Baltimore Ravens.

The view was hazy at best after the Saints dropped the exhibition contest 30-27 in a game that was not as close as the score indicated.

The game was marred by poor execution, injuries and penalties.

New Orleans was into the second quarter before they earned their first offensive first down.  Cornerbacks Brandon Browner and Delvin Breaux as well as linebacker Dannell Ellerbe all left the game involuntarily and the Saints were flagged 16 times for 143 yards.

The Saints defense, which gave up 26 points per game last season, also looks like it has a long way to go.  The defense generated no real pressure on the Ravens’ quarterbacks and allowed Baltimore to run the ball 39 times.

Worst of all, after rebounding from a 14-0 first quarter deficit, New Orleans gave up the winning score after a pass interference call on Jamarca Sanford got the Ravens down to the Saints’ one yard line.

Even without Drew Brees and Marques Colston, who both sat out by design, this was not the debut that Payton and staff had in mind.

With one month to go until the team kicks of the regular season in Arizona it isn’t too early to start thinking about the future, both near and distant.

The near future looks like another Saints team that fails to win the Super Bowl.  The not-too-distant future might be one that doesn’t include Sean Payton.

2015 marks Payton’s tenth season in New Orleans (his ninth on the sidelines due to the bounty suspension).  Only Jim Mora has more seasons as head coach in franchise history.  Only Bill Belichick, Tom Coughlin and Marvin Lewis have been with their teams longer among current NFL coaches.  There’s no mistaking he is one of the brightest offensive minds the league has ever seen.

But…

The Saints have won just one playoff game since the Super Bowl in 2010 and have seen a decrease in scoring in each of the past three seasons.  They have an aging, expensive quarterback.  They are paying millions of dollars to players who will not score a single touchdown or make a single tackle for the team this year.

The Saints’ looming salary cap problems have been documented for each of the past two seasons.  They’ve been kicking the financial can down the road for almost four seasons and those bills are about to come due.  A team with precious little in the ways of elite talent will have to jettison some of it to get near the cap for next season.  They already have a whopping $155 million in cap commitments for 2016.

Payton doesn’t seem like the type who longs for a complete rebuild at this stage in his career.  It has appeared he’s had one foot in Dallas ever since his 2012 suspension.  It doesn’t seem far fetched to imagine a scenario where the Cowboys and Saints both fail to win the Lombardi trophy and Payton makes a move to Big D.  He and Jerry Jones have remained friendly and Payton seems to yearn for the spotlight that only “America’s Team” can provide.

Add to that the uncertainty surrounding the Benson family and the succession of leadership with the franchise along with the old adage that every coach reaches a point where the players start tuning out and this could realistically be Sean Payton’s last season with the Saints.

As fans sit awash in the optimism that a new season brings; the cold, hard realities of the NFL await just ahead.  It’s no stretch to assume that there are fewer days with Payton at the helm ahead than there are behind us.  Just how many, remains to be seen.

Grizzlies positioned as dark horse pick for 2016 NBA championship

This appears on ConcierceSports.net

Since the 2010-11 season, the Memphis Grizzlies have a record of 248-146 (.629 winning percentage).  In that time span only Chicago (255), Miami (261), Oklahoma City (266), and San Antonio (286) have more wins.

The Grizzlies have won 50 or more games in three consecutive seasons.  Only the Spurs have a longer active streak, having topped the 50-win plateau in each of the past sixteen years.

They are 4-5 in their last nine playoff series, with three trips to the Western Conference semifinals and a visit to the conference finals in 2013.

Memphis also played last season’s champion Golden State about as well as anyone in the playoffs, including the Lebron-led Cleveland Cavaliers.  The Grizzlies were up two games to one over the Warriors before dropping three straight.

So why isn’t Memphis mentioned more often as one of next season’s early NBA championship favorites?

Vegas has the Grizzlies as team ninth most likely to win the title in 2016 at +3300.  To put that into perspective, Memphis is almost as close to the Los Angeles Lakers (+6600) as they are the Cavs, the current favortite at +275.  The Lakers have 48 wins combined in the last two seasons.

Courtney Lee will be counted on to help the Grizzlies improve on their 22nd place ranking in three point field goal percentage.

The Grizz have improved this offseason with the re-signing of franchise and Memphis icon Marc Gasol.  Retaining Gasol reinforces the notion that ownership has made a commitment to sustaining a winner at The Grindhouse.  Pau’s little brother has joined Elvis Presley and Jerry Lawler as the reigning King of Memphis after being named to the All-NBA First Team this past season.  Marc Gasol posted averages of 17 points (career-high) and eight rebounds while also dishing out four assists and blocking 1.6 shots per game.  Gasol has evolved offensively while maintaining his status as an elite post defender.  He has ranked in the top ten in Defensive Win Shares three of the past four seasons (he missed 23 games in 2013-14, the only season he didn’t qualify).

Memphis has also added Matt Barnes, Brandan Wright, and rookie Jarell Martin to its core of Zach Randolph, Mike Conley, Jeff Green, Tony Allen, and Courtney Lee.  The Grizzlies have gotten deeper, taller and tougher.  That depth was lacking during their playoff defeat to the Warriors.

Memphis’ greatest cause for concern is their lack of three-point shooting.  In today’s NBA it is very hard to succeed without the three; and with a pair of premier low-post scorers in Gasol and Randolph, there will be no shortage of long distance opportunities.  Last season the Grizzlies averaged just over five three pointers made per game and ranked 22nd in the league, converting on .339 percent of their three point attempts.  No other playoff team had as low a number of makes or as poor a shooting percentage.  Last season’s conference finalists (Golden St., Houston, Cleveland, Atlanta) averaged 10.6 made threes and scored on 37 percent of their shots from behind the arc.

A deep playoff run for Memphis would have to begin with a top-three seed in the Western Conference.  Playing in the Southwest Division makes that a tall order.  Houston was a conference finalist last season and the Spurs have been declared the offseason champion.  New Orleans also expects to improve.  The Grizz have to stay healthy while hoping that San Antonio takes its time finding chemistry and that Ty Lawson isn’t the answer at point guard that Houston needs.  Outside of the division Memphis will be contending with Oklahoma City, who has to get healthy at some point, as well as the Clippers and of course the defending champion Warriors.

That being said, the Grizzlies have shown that their style of play is effective, both in the regular season and the postseason.  There is an established identity and culture of Memphis basketball.  If they can stay true to their roots while improving in one key area, the Memphis Grizzlies could be the long shot that pays off next June.

Follow David Grubb on Twitter @DMGrubb

Elston King leaves SUNO after 41 years and countless memories

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina Elston King and his wife, Imogene, found themselves in the attic of their home; waters rising and in need of a rescue.  Help did arrive, but they were only taking women, so King waded through the water with his wife on his back, getting her to safety.  Eventually Elston King was lifted by helicopter off of the roof of his home and taken to Baton Rouge and reunited with his wife and with his other family; Southern University at New Orleans.

The recovery for both the Kings and SUNO started in those days and weeks while both were displaced in Baton Rouge.  Elston and his wife in an apartment and SUNO temporarily housed by Southern University’s flagship campus on the bluff.  By 2005, Elston King had dedicated more than three decades to his beloved Knights and he wasn’t about to let a storm wash all of that away.  He thought about that time as his tenure at the University comes to a close.  After 41 years as a student, coach and athletic director, Elston King is retiring.

“We stayed there [in Baton Rouge] for nine months but we knew we would come back”, recalls King.  “Out of everything I’ve done at SUNO, I think rebuilding the program after Katrina, from nothing, into a winning program…a program that can be respected, that’s has to be right up there with anything I’ve done in my career.”

It wasn’t the first time that Elston King, who has been involved with Southern University at New Orleans since 1974, was asked to build something from nothing.  After graduating from SUNO as a history major in 1981 he was tasked with restarting the women’s basketball program at the university.

“Morris Bates found me coaching semi-pro ball and he asked for my help in bringing a women’s basketball program back to SUNO”, he added.  “There wasn’t any money in it (just $200 per month), but it was something I wanted to do.”

“Things really changed when the great Harold Hunter came to SUNO in the mid-80’s”, said King.  Hunter, who was the first African-American to sign an NBA contract, came to SUNO after successful stints at New Orleans’ other two HBCU’s (Historically Black Colleges and Universities), Xavier and Dillard.  “Coach Hunter was taught by John McClendon (legendary coach enshrined in both the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the College Basketball Hall of Fame), who was taught the game by James Naismith.  I was able to work under him as a women’s basketball assistant until he retired in 1989.  It’s funny, but I see Phil Jackson and other coaches talking about “the Triangle”, and that was the offense we were running in 1985. Coach Hunter just knew the game.”

Hunter’s retirement brought uncertainty for King’s future, but a meeting with the new men’s basketball coach Earl Hill would quickly bring everything into focus.

King said of his first impression of Hill, “I just knew we had a great first meeting and he asked me to join him as an assistant for the men’s team and I was by his side for 15 years.  It was Coach Hill that taught me about creating pressure on defense and about how to make the most out of your practices.  He didn’t believe in wasting time.”

“I learned so much from both of those men”, King added.  “Outside of my own mother and father, there haven’t been any greater influences on my life, not only as a coach but as a man.”

In 1998, Elston King became the women’s head basketball coach while still serving as an assistant for the men.  His first year he went 9-15.

“The program needed something and I think Coach Hill thought I could have an impact.  We weren’t very good that first year, but we turned it around pretty quick.  In 1999 we went 23-5 and won our first GCAC championship.  That team was something special.”

Led by GCAC Player of the Year Andrea Watson (25.9 points per game), the 1999-2000 Lady Knights averaged 92.8 points per game while allowing their opponents to score fewer than 68.  They were ranked 21^st in the nation and made the school’s first trip to the NAIA tournament.

While he was taking the women’s program to new heights, the men’s program kept rolling.  From 1998 until 2006, the Knights won three regular season GCAC crowns and four tournament titles, advancing to the NAIA’s “Sweet Sixteen” twice.

“I got to work with players like Toshay Harvey and Leon Mitchell and Karriem Reed.  There was so much talent.  It was a great time and we won a lot of ballgames”, said King.

Then Katrina happened.  Hill decided not to return to the program and King was thrust into the role of Athletic Director.  The first question he faced was whether there would be a program to direct.

“There was no doubt in my mind that we would rebuild.  I’ve given my life to SUNO.  I think the reason that I can leave now is because the program is on solid ground.  Our teams are competitive.  The gym is finally being restored.  We’re in good shape.”

Others will fill his jobs, with track and field coach Yhann Plummer assuming the role of athletic director and assistant Roshaun Ambrose taking over as women’s basketball coach, but neither can be expected to replace Elston King.

As head coach, Elston King compiled a record of 250-154 and won two GCAC regular season (1999-2000, 2014-15) and tournament championships (2013, 2015). His win total is 94 more than SUNO’s other four coaches combined and is only two behind his mentor Earl Hill for the most by any coach in school history.  All told he has been a part of 566 SUNO victory celebrations.

He may have saved his best for last.  The 2014-15 Lady Knights finished 23-5 and were the first team in school history to win both the GCAC regular season and tournament championships.  They finished the year 16-1 against GCAC foes and won the school’s first ever NAIA tournament game with a resounding 84-56 victory over Vanguard University.

“I’ve seen it all.  The national championships (seven in track and field), the conference championships (20 total), the All-Americans.  I hope that my legacy is that I maintained the respectability of the program that was started by Artis Davenport and that in the end I raised our level of competition.”

“The funny thing is, the game hasn’t changed.  The kids haven’t changed.  I mean, they are better athletically, but at the end of the day you still gotta put the ball in the hole.  You still gotta defend.  What it comes down to is do you have players that have talent and that are willing to work.  I been fortunate with both of those.”

Asked what he is most proud of during his tenure the answer is easy for Elston King, “I most proud of the fact that since I’ve been head coach more than 90 percent of my [women’s basketball] players have been able to graduate.  This doesn’t mean anything if we’re not educating people.  Across our programs we’ve stressed the importance of academics and being student-athletes.  Especially in the last few years we’ve had a number of athletes graduate with the highest overall grade point average in their class or in their department.  Graduation day is my favorite day each year.”

“There’s no magic trick to success.  I think we’ve done good things because I treat these young people like human beings.  They know I’ll go through a wall for them.  I treat them with respect and all I ask in return is the same.”

Though he plans to be around the program, offering advice to the new athletic director as well as Coach Ambrose, he knows things won’t be the same.

“I’m going to miss it. I’m going to miss practice.  I going to miss going up against Bo (Browder, head women’s basketball coach at Xavier University).  He’s special because his teams are just like him.  Very competitive, very tough.  They play hard all the time.  He demands that from them but there’s no arrogance there.  We have a great relationship because our philosophies are so similar.”

“I was 17 years old when I first got to SUNO.  SUNO means everything to me.  SUNO gave me a chance.  I know that’s what this place means to a lot of people.  So I always tried to remember that.  I may be leaving a job, but I’m not leaving SUNO.  This is home.”