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Kid makes interception and scores and is punished

Sick world: An 8-year-old boy took an interception in for a touchdown in a kid’s football game and his team is fined and his coach is suspended.

CBS 46 reports the Lawrenceville Black Knights were winning against their opponents, 32-0, in the fourth quarter. Burrell then intercepted a pass and went through with the touchdown, failing to comply with the league’s mercy rule. That six-point score caused the Georgia-based team to surpass the 33-point rule, which earned the coach a week-long suspension and the team a $500 fine.

Burrell’s mothers, Brooke Burdett, told CBS 46 that she and her son were “beyond excited” at first, before learning of the fine. “He had no idea” Burdett said. “This is his first year. This was his first touchdown. He is an 8-year-old boy making a pick-six.”

Heaven forbid we have an 8-year-old boy achieve something cool, get thrilled about it, and think he can do great things in the future. Noooooooo, we have to squelch that sense of worth and achievement so that the failures in life won’t have hurt feelings.

These idiotic parents and the people who run this league obviously don’t remember what it is like to play kids’ sports. Boys aren’t crushed by these kinds of defeats. Instead, most boys use the experience to figure out how they can win the next time. By denying them this lesson in life you act to cripple them.

Genesis cover

On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.

 
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"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News

3 comments

  • Garry

    Sadly, this extends all the way to high school in some states.

    If they are that worried about running up the score, they should impose some type of handicap on the winning team, such as putting in the second string/JV until the score gets closer, or if they want to get drastic, limit the number of players on the field. What they should never do is tell someone playing not to try hard.

    I grew up playing sandlot baseball, football, soccer, hockey, etc. The greatest thing is that we did it all ourselves. A game ends up too one-sided? Just switch players for the next game to make it more competitive. There aren’t enough players to cover the baseball field? Easy, everything to the left of second base is a foul ball. We made all kinds of allowances for unbalanced teams, inadequate fields and equipment, etc., but the one thing we never did was tell anyone not to try as hard as they can.

    We adults have gotten way too involved in children’s sports. There’s nothing wrong with having organized sports, but kids should have opportunities to organize their own teams, their own rules, etc., through which they learn responsibility and creativity.

  • Max

    Very well put, I agree. My nine-year-old grandson has a whole bag full of Participation trophies, He says he’d rather have an ice cream cone.

  • Edward

    Max, your grandson knows what is valuable.

    I notice that he does not proudly display his Participation Trophies on the mantle, as one does championship trophies, but keeps them in a bag.

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