every person who breathes an award of some kind. It happened again at the UT versus Auburn basketball game Saturday evening.
As best I recall, two of the incidents occurred during a timeout, or maybe it was during half time. At any rate, a long line of college students was marched out to midcourt. Announcer Jeff Jarnigan then informed folks that two national championship teams were about to be awarded plagues to recognize their achievements. The first were members of the wakeboard team. Yep, I said wakeboard team. Evidently, the event was part of the 2011 Alt Games held in San Diego and aired by CBS Sports. It must have been a real slow sports weekend. Other events in the games include flowboarding, skateboarding, and beach volleyball.
UT student participants lined up, and each received a plague and handshake from someone representing the university. The crowd politely applauded for ten seconds or so and then returned to conversations and concessions purchases.
The next group of students recognized were members of the collegiate national paintball championship team. This year 78 teams competed, but in the end, UT’s team had splattered the competition on its way to claiming the national title. These participants waved to the crowd as they accepted their awards, and again, only a few seconds of polite applause came from basketball fans.
Congratulations to the members of these two groups for their successes. I’m happy for them as they fared well against teams across the country. However, these clubs aren’t any more exceptional than are those which enter robot construction or alternative automobile competitions. There’s no need to march these guys out in front of a captive crowd and tell their stories. It’s done to kill time during the half and distract crowds who are more interested in going to restrooms and concession stands.
Before the game, a long line of elementary school children from Sequoyah Elementary School marched to center court. They were introduced and honored for being named as winners of the terms Character Counts award for their school. Each carried a certificate with that proclamation.
At half time, another large group of young people, probably 4-6 years of age, found their spots on markers on the court. Each carried a ball, and I thought they’d be one of those groups of whiz kids who can dribble and handle a ball. Wrong. These kids took their balls and held them over their heads; then they held them and jumped; next they passed them around their feet. Finally, they did dribble the balls, but that turned out to be a disaster. Kids lost control, and balls scooted across the floor. In fact, most of the action took place as they zipped across the floor in pursuit of escaped orbs. Folks clapped loudly for these little guys, but I never figured out why. More than likely the reason centered on the fact that they were young. Everybody loves little children.
Just because those people are on the floor doesn’t mean they are doing anything special. They weren’t! The kids struggled to hold on to a ball, not to mention the fact that they couldn’t bounce it two times in a row. Still, they were stuck in front of a crowd as if they were super athletes. Just because they tried, fans were expected to cheer them on and ooh and aah over their abilities.
This country has gone haywire. The prevailing thought is that everybody gets a trophy. At the same time, everybody gets to perform in front of a crowd, even if their abilities are negligible. I’ve viewed too many bad dance teams; I’ve listened to too many terrible performances of the national anthem; and I’ve seen too many groups of kids who’ve done wonderful things like picking up paper in their communities to collect money for some nonprofit. What I want to know is this: aren’t most of these things kids should do because they’re good citizen? Can’t kids just play games like baseball, football, and soccer simply for the fun of it? Why do they need a trophy?
No, I’m not picking on kids. I love them. I just don’t think we’re doing them any favors when we teach them that they get an award for doing anything? Enough is enough! Get it over it.
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