Post: #1

link

Quote:No thanks for playing.

Not everyone gets a trophy in James Harrison's house, as the Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker wrote on Instagram on Saturday. Harrison is taking away his kids' participation trophies because he wants them to "EARN a real trophy."


Explaining his position, Harrison said he's proud of his two sons and will always encourage them. But the "2015 Best of the Batch Next Level Athletics Student-Athlete Awards" are going back.


"I came home to find out that my boys received two trophies for nothing, participation trophies! While I am very proud of my boys for everything they do and will encourage them till the day I die, these trophies will be given back until they EARN a real trophy. I'm sorry I'm not sorry for believing that everything in life should be earned and I'm not about to raise two boys to be men by making them believe that they are entitled to something just because they tried their best...cause sometimes your best is not enough, and that should drive you to want to do better...not cry and whine until somebody gives you something to shut u up and keep you happy." #harrisonfamilyvalues



This ought to get the attention of a few parents out there. Parenting styles aside, Harrison's football background might provide insight into why he feels this way. Harrison was a Kent State walk-on who went undrafted in 2002, played a season in NFL Europe and was cut by the Baltimore Ravens before latching on with the Steelers and becoming a force. That all drove him to "do better."

Harrison can also be a fun dad, as evidenced by this Instagram post from the pool this summer.

When asked while walking off the practice field Sunday whether he's returned the trophies yet, Harrison said, "they've already gone back," then kept walking into a haze of autograph-seekers.

"I appreciate what you're teaching your sons," one fan yelled while he signed.

Harrison, 37, sat the first few weeks of training camp but returned to action Friday night in a 23-21 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, against whom he recorded a strip sack of quarterback Blake Bortles. He's battling Jarvis Jones for a starting spot.

Of course the National media is putting him on blast for being insensitive.

Edit: Couldn't post the picture at work so I just copied what he said.

Post: #2

Many parents teach their kids "the most important thing is the participate".

Just no.

The most important thing is to be the champion and get the first place. Participating is worth nothing if you lose. Good daddy.

Post: #3

I would love to see this build momentum. Its bad for the kid. Like Carlin says below, the kid doesn't find out he is a loser until he is in his 20s... if ever. How is anybody supposed to improve in the participation trophy culture?

Post: #4

(08-17-2015 12:46 PM)Rawmeo Wrote:  Many parents teach their kids "the most important thing is the participate".

Just no.

The most important thing is to be the champion and get the first place. Participating is worth nothing if you lose. Good daddy.

Not everybody can win at everything so I think it should be kept within reason.

I'm satisfied with the most important thing being to try your best and never accept failure. Be the absolute best you can be at everything you attempt. Then, find what your good at and win at it.

By 'try your best' I truly mean try your best and not just calling participation ones best efforts.

Post: #5

Agree with everything he wrote. Participation trophies are fucking bullshit. I will do the exact same thing once I become a father.

Thanks for sharing.

Post: #6

This is so true! Thank you James Harrison for speaking the truth!

Post: #7

Bold added to the snippets below for emphasis:

(08-17-2015 12:37 PM)Mentavious Wrote:  Of course the National media is putting him on blast for being insensitive.

(08-17-2015 12:37 PM)Mentavious Wrote:  When asked while walking off the practice field Sunday whether he's returned the trophies yet, Harrison said, "they've already gone back," then kept walking into a haze of autograph-seekers.

I love that "non-PC" statements are slowly starting to gain traction in the popular opinion. The idiot SJWs can't see through the return of the participation trophies as being meany hurtful and instead completely miss the genuine fatherly love, undying support, and forward-thinking decision making that this guy provides.

Post: #8

I love this guy and praise him for his great ideals.

I am older then most here. When i was a kid, the best team got a big trophy and the worst team got a ribbon that said participant if anything at all.

of course everyone was jealous of that big trophy and we knew, had we played better, we would have a chance at getting it next year. it was a great thing to strive for.

The worst thing to get was the participant ribbon as it made you feel like everyone else and not special. Would have been better to get nothing then the same thing everyone else got.

No one I knew ever showed off their ribbon but damned sure they had their trophy front and center because they earned. It proved they were the best.

By the time my kids were playing sports this started to change and they would have a big box of trophys at seasons end that would get tossed in the closet as soon as we went home from the pizza place. Nit as bad as it is now but still a waste of time and money that no one valued.

Post: #9

Interesting. I wonder if they do participation trophies in my city?

If they do, I think I might dig up some of my old hockey trophies that we won and put them on display for my son. Is this what a trophy room is for? To give your kids something to strive for?

If their is participation trophies in my city, it would be easy for my son and his friends to compare what a trophy earned and won is versus a trophy not earned nor won.

Post: #10

I threw mine all out. Stupid waste of space.

In the great words of Flo," Sprinkles are for winners." Trophies should be too.

Post: #11

My first thought was "Meet The Fockers":

   

Post: #12

I only got one participation trophy and a few participation medals.

I realized on my own as a kid that I didn't win shit.

My competitive side always came out playing sports out in the streets as a kid, I'd always want to crush my opponents.

It's funny because I ended up being competitive in Jr. High with math field day (yes I know not a real sport), but man....that RUSH you got when you won, especially when your team one also...is next to none.

The people faux outrage to this is a joke, talk about a bunch of pussies.

Post: #13

(08-17-2015 07:22 PM)kaotic Wrote:  I only got one participation trophy and a few participation medals.

I realized on my own as a kid that I didn't win shit.

That's it exactly. You don't win as a parent by taking away participation trophies.

If your kids aren't smart enough to figure out that they are nothing to be proud of, they'll just view you as a monster for doing this.

If they are smart enough to figure it out on their own, you won't need to take the trophies away.


Really, trophies are stupid anyway. Winning is the point.


As a parent, you should be creating opportunities for your boys to succeed without riding on the coattails of some team or due to genetic advantage.

Take them on a long hike some summer or canoe done some river. Go for a longer and more challenging trip the next summer.

Don't make these adventures, but when your child does take interest in something on their own, encourage them to put their best effort into it.

My parents were funny. They encouraged my participation in activities that were in no way man builders. And yet, it took me a year to convince them to let me buy a budget guitar with my own money.

They never encouraged me to practice...I self motivated and got good at it, because it was something I wanted to do.

I think if my parents had supported that and other passions (such as sports, which they didn't let me participate in beyond casual pickup games), the journey to manhood might have been shorter.

Post: #14

Trophies are just a representation of pillage or war. There is something in the male brain that gets satiated when, all is said and done, they walk away with some shiny metal. Throw in a sex fueled celebration party and we are doing a culturally condoned Viking conquest.

But kids should play sports because they want to. Encouraged, yes, but not forced.

I think that kids need to learn pack mentality and I know this will go against what non athletes have experienced, but those that dont play sports are often the anti social ones. Being in a strict hierarchy from a young age where the only way to move up the ladder is to get better, teaches kids hard work and perseverance.

Post: #15

Participation trophies are for losers that didn't win anything.

At the recent Charity Shield match in England, Mourinho threw his runners up medal into the crowd. Meaning he doesn't value second place.

I am competitive, I can except I will not win all the time. I don't want a pat on the back for trying.

Post: #16

James Harrison has it right. I would not let my children take a participation trophy because it shows that no matter what kind of effort you put out, you still get something for being on the team. That's bullshit to me because it provides no incentive for children to be competitive in sports. Weak parents are the ones that accept those participation trophies so they can have their children grow up to be pussies. If you want a trophy, work your ass off and earn it.

Post: #17

(08-18-2015 11:31 AM)Laner Wrote:  But kids should play sports because they want to. Encouraged, yes, but not forced.

I think that kids need to learn pack mentality and I know this will go against what non athletes have experienced, but those that dont play sports are often the anti social ones. Being in a strict hierarchy from a young age where the only way to move up the ladder is to get better, teaches kids hard work and perseverance.

Are you talking about kids from middle school/high school age range? Typically by signing your kid up for sports when they're little you could basically say you're forcing them to play since they really have no agency. But that's what you're supposed to do as a parent. Force them to do things that they wouldn't do otherwise.

I was put into team sports as a kid, and that would drive me to get better because not only did I want to become better for my own sake, but also so that when it came down to me I wouldn't be the one fucking up.

There were also cases where I adamantly refused to do some sports or events my parents tried to get me to do. Only to try them out later and really regret not starting from a younger age. Notably wrestling, having gone to a high school that was among the top 3 in the nation and not taking advantage of that opportunity.

But yeah, just like James Harrison is doing I have zero intentions for praising my kids for simply standing on a field/mat. For the things they do well, they will get recognition for that and encouraged to build upon what skills they have. But just like life, you can't appreciate winning without understanding the feeling of losing.

Post: #18

(08-18-2015 08:58 PM)cascadecombo Wrote:  

(08-18-2015 11:31 AM)Laner Wrote:  But kids should play sports because they want to. Encouraged, yes, but not forced.

I think that kids need to learn pack mentality and I know this will go against what non athletes have experienced, but those that dont play sports are often the anti social ones. Being in a strict hierarchy from a young age where the only way to move up the ladder is to get better, teaches kids hard work and perseverance.

Are you talking about kids from middle school/high school age range? Typically by signing your kid up for sports when they're little you could basically say you're forcing them to play since they really have no agency. But that's what you're supposed to do as a parent. Force them to do things that they wouldn't do otherwise.

Its a tough question in regards to what is forced and what is coerced.

I started skating at age three, and was only four for the first months of hockey in my first year. Was I forced? I cant even barely remember. All my parents knew was that I had a lot of energy, loved to smack things with sticks and growing up in the north of Canada there is little else to do in the winter. It just so happened that I loved hockey enough to practice on my own and strive to be a better winger and score more goals. When I was voted in for my first "A" I was ecstatic. But I also remember the next season not getting it and knowing exactly why. I was only about 7yo.

I think kids should only be given two options. Treating them to a democracy at such a young age is wasted on them, and yet they get to grow up thinking a single voice should be heard just because. Its probably a major reason we have SJW's throwing tantrums over the most mundane shit.

Post: #19

Is there a balance, something along of the lines of "son great you got a trophy for participating, but do you notice everyone got one? So does that make it as valuable as if you were the MVP or won the championship?"

When I grew up we had valedictorians, etc. We played to win. We knew who the smartest kid in the class was. I want that for my kids, to push themselves. But at the same time when they are 3 or 4, I am not sure if they would grasp it all. And I don't think I need to crush them early, but I do need them to enter adulthood understanding how it is lame to be like the masses. Only winners get to know the good stuff in life.