I’ve had it with people’s screwy attitudes about sports.

I'm not talking about obnoxious parents or disrespectful kids. I'm talking about a much bigger problem:

The overall erosion of old school athletic values and attitudes by everyone involved.

For example ... call me crazy, but I happen to think competitive sports should be competitive -- meaning it’s OK to win a game by a large margin without worrying about your opponent’s feelings. I also think starting spots and playing time should be reserved for kids who work hard to develop their talent and then demonstrate it by being better than the other kids.

I think parents need to quit fighting their kids’ battles with coaches. But at the same time, I think coaches need to demand better performance of themselves -- at least the same level of excellence that they demand of the officials who ref their games.

Why do those opinions sound so radical?

Because competitive sports have become a mirror of modern society, whose motto seems to be, "Blame everyone else, take no personal responsibility; and above all, make sure we don’t damage anyone’s self esteem."

In the process, the people involved in competitive athletics -- parents, coaches, teachers, school administrators and even players -- have lost sight of some basic truths.

• We think sports are for everyone (they’re not).
• We think they should be de-emphasized (they shouldn’t).
• We think they teach kids about commitment (they don’t).
• We think an all-star high school career guarantees college opportunities (it doesn’t).
• We think kids will burn out if they practice a sport year-round (they won’t).
• We think everyone who shows up for practice has earned to right to play in the game (they haven’t).

I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore.

On the pages of this site, I’ll take a hard look at these and other examples of "conventional wisdom" related to kids and sports -- and expose them for the nonsense they really are.

I’ve faced all of them, and then some, over the past 30 years as an elementary school teacher, a coach in both youth and high school programs, and a parent of three student athletes -- two daughters who played various club level sports, and a son who was a multi-sport athlete through high school and now attends college on a football scholarship.

No matter what irrational theory or unfounded fear I tackle, you’ll notice four common themes in the way I think:

1. I believe athletic talent is as important and worthy of respect as any other talent – whether it’s musical, artistic or academic.
2. I don’t believe competition and winning are four-letter words.
3. I believe parents make far too many excuses for their kids’ athletic failures, instead of demanding that they either work harder, find a different level of sports participation -- or find a different hobby, altogether.
4. I don’t believe that the ivory tower experts -- including psychologists, teachers, school administrators and even former pro athletes -- have much to contribute to this discussion until they successfully parent a few athletes of their own, or until they produce clinical, scientific proof that kids suffer permanent emotional harm if they lose a youth football game by 50 points or don’t make the Under-10 Elite Platinum Premier All-Star International Pele-Protege Travel Soccer Team.

Whenever I say these things to people, they agree 100%. Unless we’re talking about them and their own kids. Then it sometimes gets ugly.

So I won’t be surprised if you and I get into some pretty heated debates.

In fact, I’ll be surprised -- disappointed, even -- if we don’t.

Let the games begin!

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