Recently, I read a story about a football coach who could potentially get fined and suspended because his pee wee team beat another team by too many points. At first I thought I thought that it was due to safety reasons, and that maybe he was working his kids too hard. Then I learned that there are a series of rules called “slaughter rules.”

Slaughter rules are a series of rules that prevent one team from beating another team by too many points in order save the other team from further humiliation.

NIGGA WHAT?!?

I read this story to see if there were any safety concerns that may have popped up as a result of this team playing well enough to thrash the other team 36-0. Nope, it turns out that the team was up 30-0; The guy sat his starters, and put in his second string players like any responsible coach would do. This second stringer kid who hadn’t seen much action and wanted to show what he was about ran his nuts over that defense with a dope run.

The coach told him to “fall down” so that he didn’t score, but this nigga clearly was playing to win and gave zero fucks as any competitive person should.

The day I become a parent, I would hope I do a good enough job as a parent to:

1. Teach my kid to give it their all until the clock reads all zeroes.

2. That there are losers in life, and to find the beauty in failure.

There can only be so many winners. For every winner, there are several losers. Nothing in this world is handed to you, and if you want something badly, then you have to fight tooth and nail for it.

These kids went and played their asses off, and their coach could pay the price simply because one second string running back who was taught right by his parents to give it his all did just that.

And you wonder why we have a bunch of entitled people in this world who expect everything to be given to them.

It’s because they never had the room to fail. If your team gets their asses handed to them 36-0, then it’s a good opportunity to coach them to play better so that they don’t get their asses handed to them like that the next time.

From personal experiences, I’ve done a few competitive things in my day. For those who don’t know me that well, I was a pretty serious billiards player back in college. The first time I ever picked up a pool stick, I was trash! I got my ass handed to me many times when I first started, even getting “seven balled” on a few occasions. In between classes when the billiards table on my campus wasn’t busy, I’d play practice rounds on my own.

I would do this for several months on end. The first few times, I would totally suck, but then every subsequent time I would suck just a little less than I did the day before. Over time, I would watch pro players to see what they did and even get tips from them. Before you know it, I was holding my own against some of our college’s best players, and even entered a few tournaments.

It is okay to lose, and we need to do a better job of teaching our kids that lesson. Even 5-7 year olds shouldn’t be immune from criticism (constructive criticism of course).

I know what you’re thinking “oh but people should just be having fun at that age.” If you want your kids to do something simply to have fun, then there are PLENTY of opportunities for them to just enjoy yourself.

If you sign your kids up for a pee wee football team, then would hope that you understand that your children will have to learn some harsh lessons that will mold them in to the best of men.

I dare someone to tell my kid to take it easy after I’ve spent a great deal of time encouraging them to give it their all until the very end. The biggest losers make the strongest human beings in the long run. Learning from failure is what truly separates the boys from the men.

Stay classy…

 

Flemmings Beaubrun is an avid gamer and lover of music. When not working, Flemmings likes to spend his time whipping up dank beats for the masses. He also spends his weekends thrift shopping for rare video games and obscure electronics. Other times he’s in front of a TV with a giant bowl of cereal enjoying shows from the 90s.