Wednesday, October 18, 2017

In Defense of Joy, Celebration & Dawg Piles


I've written here before about how to be a delightful fan. Athletes are under a lot of scrutiny because those who behave badly get a lot of press. In youth sports, parents and their children are under the same microscope for the same reason. For any youth athlete, an emphasis on sportsmanship is important and I am incredibly grateful to the coaches who have taught and modeled good sportsmanship to my kids throughout the years. There is a right way to both win and to lose. 

In the NFL there is a penalty for too much celebration. I understand that sometimes it gets to be too much. I am never in favor of taunting or belittling an opponent with celebration, of course. As well, there is a popular quote that is prevalent among athletes, even the young ones. It discourages too much enthusiasm and is known as the "Act like you've been there before." rule. I'm pretty sure my husband would ascribe to this theory. But, I was contemplating these ideas recently and this is what I thought. 

It's pretty profound, so get ready.

Those kinds of rules? They totally bum me out.

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