A Sad Day for Football

For decades, the game of football has influenced how a boy became a man. It was a right of passage for most teenage boys in Texas. No matter what level any one played at, (High School, College, or Professional) this mighty game could shape a player's lifelong identity and teach him valuable life lessons such as work ethic, courage, loyalty and perserverance. This is all changing right before our eyes now. There was a time when football programs at all levels chewed up and spat out those individuals who could not tolerate the coachs' tongue lashings, extreme physical conditioning, practices running long hours (some two and three times a day) and lest we forget the volatile fall weather. Committment, intensity, and a fighting heart were common traits that were instilled into all men who played the game. Sadly, the reality of football today looks less and less like yesterday. Today, we see football players (and parents of those players) objecting to the very coaching techniques and philiophies that have made men out of boys for decades.

A great example would be of the larger high school programs who can no longer hold "try outs" and must make everyone who comes out a part of the team. Parents and school administrators in school districts everywhere began complaining that their childrens' feelings were hurt when they would not make the team. Wow! Are try outs not any different than a job interview? What will they tell their children when they do not land a job they interview for? What will they tell them when the college they wanted to attend did not accept them? With every one being accepted on the team now, what message is being sent? The message is simple, just show up...you no longer need to "earn" your place. It is difficult for generations past to understand why our society today does not want to allow a child to experience failure. Failure used to be taught as an opportunity to learn and become a better person, athlete, musician, artist and the list goes on. Every human must experience failure in order to gain a true vision and the ambition to do whatever it takes to make his or herself better. High School football is no longer allowed to teach that lesson.

Another great example would be those athletes today who complain about coaches yelling and making them do hard physical conditioning when assignments are missed. Of course parents come running to complain and the school is forced to produce guildelines in which a coach has to abide by for practices and player treatment. What lesson has this taught? It's simple, there are no longer any consequences for a player's failed actions. Nice. Now there are football players who never had to try out and when they do make mistakes over and over, the coaches cannot make a punishment fit the failure in order to teach a lesson and make them a better player. What about when that player is no longer playing ball and has a career working in sales, accounting, or manufacturing? This generation we are raising up will now make a mistake and figure that no consequences will occur. Oh but they do occur and they will, when someone screws up and keeps making mistakes, they get fired. So what now? They will sue the employer. Interesting, from the way things look, there will definitely be a shortage of attorneys to do this for two reasons. First, not many folks will have the ambition to finish law school or even apply for it and secondly, the dockets of civil courts will be over run with cases from crybabies such as these.

My final example (of course) is the obvious debacle at Texas Tech. Recently America witnessed one of the greatest travisties in the history of football. One individual football player along side his father (an affluent former player and college football analyst) brought down a great coach who led a truly great college football program. It has been no secret that this player rode the coat tails of his father's achievements into the Big 12. I am sure Adam James has ridden those coat tails since he was a boy playing in the pee wee leagues. I will not take anything away from him in respect to his talent. The boy is a naturally talented football player. However, the road to the Big 12 and other NCAA Division 1-AA programs is littered with talent. There is evidence to suppport that this boy and his father had been unhappy with this coach because he did not receive as much playing time as anticipated. What? Since your father was a good college football player, you should be allowed to play more? Never. Not in my alma mater and not in Coach Leach's program. "Daddy, please call coach and ask him to play me more". I would lay dollars to pesos that conversation occured and probably more than once. I am sure that this kid played every down during his high school years. Afterall, he's Craig James' son and any Texas high school coach who aspires to land the "big job" would love to stay in the good graces of such an influential figure as Craig James. Shame on you Craig James! Shame on you for not throwing down on your son and kicking him off of your coat tail from the beginning. That proves only that you are a child yourself. You must not have the balls to tell your son that he needs to earn his own respect and playing time. America watched as you hid behind God and told about all of your prayerful consideration that went into your decision to speak with school officials about Coach Leach. Here is what you must have missed in church and in your bible: Christian religion teaches us that we should raise our children with strong work ethic and discipline. If you ever studied 1 Samuel 3:13 this lesson might have sunk in. Adam James is a grown man acting like a child because his father did not have the balls to raise him to be reponsible for his OWN ACTIONS and his OWN SUCCESS. There is a plethora of information about this situation in the media. Every person who is interested in this should take time to read and hear from all sources instead of a few major ones. Any responsible human being's conclusions after 30 minutes on the web at local media sites and 30 minutes surfing news channels will be similar to mine.

The 2008 season was (and forever will be) the zenith of that program. Personally, I did not attend Texas Tech. However, I am a Native Texan and by default a Texas college football fan. Craig James, you are such a child and you have no balls. Adam James, you will never know greatness, I truly feel sorry for you because this will be the mark you wear forever.