Tigers X - Number one Source to Talk Auburn Tigers Sports
The Library => Haley Center Basement => Topic started by: Snaggletiger on May 29, 2009, 12:21:22 PM
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Shaking my fist at the world.
Not complaining...or maybe I am. I was reading Rangers post in the political forum about coaching baseball and kids today being softer and overall, sporting a higher degree of smartassitude. As a man in his 40's..ish...or thereabouts, and a father of 2 (One graduated high school Friday and the other is 8...so I get to do it all over again) I've made the following observations in recent years about changing times and how differently kids are brought up as opposed to even a short 20-30 years ago.
As I said, my son is 8 and just yesterday, finished the second grade. We just finished up baseball season, which I coached and which also took up no more than a few hours a week of his time. Outside of the games and me working with him in the yard on hitting etc. I have him enrolled at one of these sports academies for baseball skillz one afternoon and a speed and agility class on Monday nights. He enjoys all that but would easily opt for other things if given the chance. The "Other things" he has available to him goes to the heart of the differences in kids and to a certain extent, young adults today.
Here's where I sound like everyone's father talking about the way things were and walking 5 miles to school every day...barefoot...up hill both ways...in the snow...and we liked it. At my son's age, coming home from school (And yes, I either walked or rode my bike) the last place I wanted to be was inside the house. I could not put my books and school stuff down fast enough to get out the door. Fortunately, there were about 7-8 kids within about a year or two of my age living on the same block and we all had the same mindset. Get out of the house and get into anything our imaginations could dream up. Typical of my childhood was:
Besides organized sports, we'd play the usual back yard football, basketball in the driveway til' we couldn't see at night. I was probably the baddest mofo of a whiffle ball player anyone ever encountered. Clearing the row of Azalea bushes was a home run.
Fixing up bicycles and jumping anything we could put a ramp on.
Stealing wood from some local construction site and building "Forts" in the back yard.
Launching water balloons at cars and passing school buses from behind the bushes at the edge of Lee Chancellor's yard. (We had an escape route that was fool proof...never got caught)
Exploring the huge drainage ditch at the end of the block. Even got some old tire intertubes after it rained like a bitch one day and negotiated the rapids.
Sneaking over the neighbors wall and swimming in their pool every chance we got.
Riding our bikes almost daily to the 7-11 for the latest Spider Man, Hulk or any other new Marvel comic that may be out. 3 Muskateers and a Jungle Juice were standard parts of our diet as well.
Fighting. Not a week would pass where a couple of us weren't throwing haymakers and wrestling to the death...only to be best friends again the very next day while stirring up fire ant beds, catching bumblebees in mason jars or trying to climb every tree in the neighborhood.
So, what are my son's preferences for entertainment? UNFORTUNATELY, we don't live in a neighborhood with a ton of kids his age and we certainly aren't in a day and age where you let your kids just walk out and go find their friends...just be home by suppertime or you'll get the belt. His options are things that didn't exist when I was growing up. There were 4 channels you could pick up with the rabbit ears...ABC, NBC, CBS & Public Television. Now, basic cable gives you about 75 channels to surf. Computers in my day were big, wall-size monstrosities on TV with blinking lights and some reel to reel shit going on. I don't need to go into what's available to people of all ages on teh intrawebs. (Save the porn jokes) He's no different than anyone else, he can sit at the Dell for hours and be perfectly happy and completely entertained. He has teh Wii's, Guitar Hero, Nintendo, Playstation and on and on and on.
We had Atari Pong. Boop
There were no DVDs and Movie Gallery or Ipods or even cell phones. Overall, technology simply didn't play a big part in my upbringing. I would dare say that most 12 year olds are more technologically savy than I will ever be. My son gets a new game, opens it up, plugs in all the wires and controllers and is working Level III or some shit in 15 minutes time. I'm watching all of it going, "I don't get it". I don't want to get it. I had to be pulled kicking and screaming into Verizon just to upgrade from my 7 year old flip phone. I could make calls...why do I want want more? You people constantly talk Madden and NCAA 09' and Legions of Dungeon Doom and Gloom. NCAA 74' for us was a little electric football field board with football player cutouts that you placed where you wanted and flicked the switch on the board while they rattled around. Operation and Twister were the bomb. Still are.
It's really hard for some of you to grasp a world without having "the world" at the press of a button. It did actually exist a few short years ago. Are my son and kids in general smarter and better able to face the technological challenges of that world in years to come? Probably so. Are they "softer" overall and lack many of the basic one on one communication skills? Without a doubt. Just like at this very moment, 90% of our interaction these days is typed. We email. We text. We post. Talking is done via Blackberry or Iphone. If we actually meet, we need to get shit faced just so we'll have something to say. Better to sit back to back and text each other.
Watching my son hit a line drive up the middle and come off the field grinning ear to ear is as they say...priceless. Having to call him 6 times to come to supper because he's absolutely entranced like a zombie in front of the TV, Nintendo or computer..does nothing for me. Can he program my Motorola Q9 better than I can? I'll wager he can. Can he throw a water balloon over a 10' hedge and hit a Plymouth Volare traveling 26 m.p.h.? I think not.
I think I'll go out back to my tree fort and read the latest issue of Iron Man.
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So, to sum it up for you:
Vandalism and thievery - good.
Technology - bad.
Gotcha. I liked you better when you were a simple unfrozen caveman lawyer.
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So, to sum it up for you:
Vandalism and thievery - good.
Technology - bad.
Gotcha. I liked you better when you were a simple unfrozen caveman lawyer.
I stole the comic books
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If we actually meet, we need to get shit faced just so we'll have something to say.
If your ever in Dallas- I'll buy.
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So, to sum it up for you:
Vandalism and thievery - good.
Technology - bad.
Gotcha. I liked you better when you were a simple unfrozen caveman lawyer.
You touched on something here that kept going through my mind with each item I read from Birdman's diatribe.
Class b felony
class a felony
terrorist activity charges
etc.
I remember a lot of the same things but I would be put under the jail now for a lot of the stuff I did/made while growing up.
Pipe bombs come to mind as one example.
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You touched on something here that kept going through my mind with each item I read from Birdman's diatribe.
Class b felony
class a felony
terrorist activity charges
etc.
I remember a lot of the same things but I would be put under the jail now for a lot of the stuff I did/made while growing up.
Pipe bombs come to mind as one example.
The times they are a-changin' and Birdman is getting left behind. Sad, really.
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This guy is about my age. I remember a lot of this stuff growing up.
http://vaiden.net/childhood_memories1.html (http://vaiden.net/childhood_memories1.html)
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You touched on something here that kept going through my mind with each item I read from Birdman's diatribe.
Class b felony
class a felony
terrorist activity charges
etc.
I remember a lot of the same things but I would be put under the jail now for a lot of the stuff I did/made while growing up.
Pipe bombs come to mind as one example.
Whatever. Water ballooning is clearly a Class C Misdemeanor. I would have gotten Youthful Offender status anyway.
Hey, text me and we'll email lunch tomorrow.
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All of the activities you mentioned were still abundant with my generation raised in the 90's.
My parents still live in the exact same neighborhood I lived in when I was in 5th grade, but you don't see kids riding bikes or playing flag football or driveway basketball anymore like we did.
We had Nintendo (hell SUPER Nintendo by 5th grade), and VHS movies, but there's just something generationally different about kids these days. They're a generation of pussies, basically. I remember when I was in High School and Taylor and I were YMCA daycamp councellors. Those kids we looked after were in like 5th and 6th grade and actually LIKED N'Sync, Backstreet Boys, etc. I'm thinking, what the fuck, when I was in 5th grade we were into Green Day, Offspring, Weezer, shit like that. I was getting into more underground punk and metal shit like the Misfits for example around this time. Also, for "movie day", I brought some of my favorites from when I was a kid. Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory, The Goonies, The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Movie, etc. These kids complained to their parents that I was showing them "R-rated movies".
And yeah, we played outside like it was no one's business.
I blame the parents of this fagged up generation more than anything. They're scared to death to let their kids outside because the 24-hour sensationalist news channels have them convinced there's a child rapist on every suburban street corner foaming at the mouth to abduct them. Look at their smooth, plastic playgrounds. We had rusty sharp-edged slides that you could easily contract tetanus from, and no one seemed to care.
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Hey, text me and we'll email lunch tomorrow.
Do you even try to keep up with the world anymore?
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Do you even try to keep up with the world anymore?
Sure he does. If by "keep up with the world" you mean sipping ghey lattes at Miss Lucille's Gossip Parlor.
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Pipe bombs come to mind as one example.
We were all about The Works and tin foil strips in Gatorade bottles. Fun times.
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Do you even try to keep up with the world anymore?
There's something besides the X??
Seriously, I don't think technology and all the things discussed are a bad thing. However, as Chad mentioned, it's causing a different minset in the generation of kids coming up today. I have kids. I know. While I recognize it and try to steer my son towards more physical activities, he would MUCH rather just veg out with his joystick. Now, I enjoy time with my joystick too but my arm gets so tired.
Chad also hit on another point for those that have kids. Growing up, even at 8-9 years old, I walked out the door and my parents didn't care for shit where I went or who I was with. They knew I was around the neighborhood, but they didn't have to worry about my picture winding up on the back of a milk carton.
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but they didn't have to worry about my picture winding up on the back of a milk carton.
That had more to do with milk companies not wanting to hurt their sales.
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That had more to do with milk companies not wanting to hurt their sales.
point taken and agreed upon
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There's something besides the X??
Seriously, I don't think technology and all the things discussed are a bad thing. However, as Chad mentioned, it's causing a different minset in the generation of kids coming up today. I have kids. I know. While I recognize it and try to steer my son towards more physical activities, he would MUCH rather just veg out with his joystick. Now, I enjoy time with my joystick too but my arm gets so tired.
Chad also hit on another point for those that have kids. Growing up, even at 8-9 years old, I walked out the door and my parents didn't care for shit where I went or who I was with. They knew I was around the neighborhood, but they didn't have to worry about my picture winding up on the back of a milk carton.
Chad and I grew up in the same neighborhood and all the shit he said is true. The funny thing is Steve, I grew up in the 90's and am only 26 years old, but all of those things mentioned in your rant were things we did as well. Isn't is crazy that one generation changes that quickly?
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My neighborhood's covenants prohibit plywood forts and drainage ditch innertubing.
We did it to ourselves.
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That's why I like living in the country. If I feel like leveling a few fire ant hills with my Garand nobody cares.
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That's why I like living in the country. If I feel like leveling a few fire ant hills with my Garand nobody cares.
The old M-80's did the job in disposing of a big fire ant hill.
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The old M-80's did the job in disposing of a big fire ant hill.
They did, we preferred kerosene and matches to clear out ant hills. Of course that could have easily got away from you and you could have got you in some deep shit when you burnt up half a yard......I still feel the lingering effects of that ass whipping.
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They did, we preferred kerosene and matches to clear out ant hills. Of course that could have easily got away from you and you could have got you in some deep shit when you burnt up half a yard......I still feel the lingering effects of that ass whipping.
Now see, if you'd been inside, pale and pasty white, playing Ultra Mega Chambers of Death on Playstation 3....you would have never gotten to experience that ass whoopin'.
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Steve, I am right there with you man, except I keep up with the technology a little better then you. However, I don't really don't get into all the new gaming systems except for when I want to play Guitar Hero.
I grew up in a rural area and I had three cousins and a best friend all my same age that lived around me. We were always outside and our parents had to make us come inside. When were not playing a game from our organized sports leagues or having to do our chores around the farm, we were either playing wiffle ball, tackle football (in our pasture full of horse poop), fishing in our pond, playing war, riding horses, riding 3 wheelers or dirbikes, catching crawdads in the local stream, or finding something we can jump our bikes on. Nintendo came out when I was about 14 or 15, but still was not enough to keep us in the house on a nice day.
We (me and the other two guys I coach with) were discussing the other day on how kids these days are supposed to be more intelligent, yet it seems like they don't have the self-awareness and initiative we had at their age. Our coaches rarely had to tell us how many outs there was, what the count was, where the play was, or when to tag up on a fly boy. However, with this 11/12 year old boys, we are having to hold their hands and constantly remind them of everything. Heck, in the game we won today, our first two batters each had a 3-0 count on them to start the game. Since the opposing pitcher was struggling to throw strikes, we told them both not to swing, but what did they do? They swung! Heck, the second batter had just saw us jump our lead off batter for swinging at 3-0, and then he gets up there and does the same thing! We have one kid on that team, out of 14, that we never have to remind of the game situation. He also would happen to be by far the best player on our team. For some reason, when it comes to presence of mind during the game, the other 13 seem to lag very far behind compared to that kid.
We play the O-zone rules for our age group which allows playing of the base and stealing. It really kills me when I am coaching bases and I tell my runner to go, and he just stands there and looks at me like a dumbass. Since the can get a lead off the base in this age group, we tell them over and over that if it gets past the catcher, they better be gone and not even wait for us to tell them too. Yet, there is no telling how many times a ball has rolled to the backstop with one of our runners still sitting at the same base the were on when the pitch was thrown. Then again, the give you that big dumbass look like they had no clue what they were supposed to do.
I do blame technology for some of it. These kids don't get outside and work as much at their game as we used too because they have to get to the next level of the current popular game. Hell, I used to toss a tennis ball against the barn, actually pretend like I was pitching a game, when my dad was at work and I had nobody else to throw too. When I suggested to our team they could do the same thing, they looked at me like I was crazy. Also, playing video games all the time does not help develop any social skills at all. The kid does not have to learn to interact and play with a real person when they are playing that video game.
Like some others said, today's environment has a lot to do with it also. Just like some of you other guys, my parents did not have to worry about what was going to happen with me when I jumped on my bike and took off for the day. Despite the stupid stuff I may do, for the most part they knew I was safe on the rural dead end road I lived on. Everybody knew everybody. When I was not at home, I had dozens of other "parents" on that road that looked out for me. The did not have to worry about somebody that lived on our road causing me harm. I also knew that if I got out of line too much, my parents would probably know about it before I even got home, which really did suck sometimes. Yet, even though I am now back living on what was part of our farm where I grew up, I can't have that same trust that my parents had. I really wish my son could have the same type of upbringing and environment I had, because I know he would probably be a better athlete and also probably a more well rounded kid.
The puddification of our nation, especially our kids, has ruined that for them. The irony of the whole thing is the fact that it is my generation, people in their 30s, are the ones that have promoted the softer image, especially for our sons, the most. They try to teach our boys that a macho image of a man is wrong and instead they promote an image of weak, whipped man. Am I wrong?
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Don't blame the kids. We've litigated and organized them to the point we've sucked every ounce of joy out of the games.
I read Ranger's diatribe. How many times did he call kids "dumbasses?" Did you see the part where he "crawled the ass" of a kid who swing at a 3-0 pitch?
Not taking shots at Ranger because he's far from the only one to do it, but it's the organized ball mentality that ruins the game for kids. 90% of the time the games are for the parents and coaches. They're trying to win -- to live vicariously through the kids -- as opposed to teaching them. In doing so, they rob the games of their joy.
Why don't kids get together in back yards to play stick baseball? Because they have to go to practice and get screamed at by men, many of whom were fringe players in high school themselves -- if they ever even played. The game isn't fun. They can't just go out in the yard and swing at rocks without some well-intentioned "coach" coming along and instructing them on the proper technique to roll the wrists.
My daughter played softball from the time she was four until she was 18. In those 14 years she had exactly ONE decent coach who knew how to instruct and keep the game fun. The rest of them made it agony for her. And I didn't help. I put her in softball camps, took her to one-on-one pitching instruction. I pushed her (so I'm guilty, too) and in doing so took away her natural desire to learn the game.
The "sandlots" have been closed anyway. Fenced off and boarded up. Why? Because if a kid slides into tin-can home plate and cuts his knee, mom has him at the emergency room and dad sues the property owner. What ever happened to mecurochrome and "can you walk? Well get your ass back out there."
It's not the technology and it's not the kids. WE did it.
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Don't blame the kids. We've litigated and organized them to the point we've sucked every ounce of joy out of the games.
I read Ranger's diatribe. How many times did he call kids "dumbasses?" Did you see the part where he "crawled the ass" of a kid who swing at a 3-0 pitch?
Not taking shots at Ranger because he's far from the only one to do it, but it's the organized ball mentality that ruins the game for kids. 90% of the time the games are for the parents and coaches. They're trying to win -- to live vicariously through the kids -- as opposed to teaching them. In doing so, they rob the games of their joy.
Why don't kids get together in back yards to play stick baseball? Because they have to go to practice and get screamed at by men, many of whom were fringe players in high school themselves -- if they ever even played. The game isn't fun. They can't just go out in the yard and swing at rocks without some well-intentioned "coach" coming along and instructing them on the proper technique to roll the wrists.
My daughter played softball from the time she was four until she was 18. In those 14 years she had exactly ONE decent coach who knew how to instruct and keep the game fun. The rest of them made it agony for her. And I didn't help. I put her in softball camps, took her to one-on-one pitching instruction. I pushed her (so I'm guilty, too) and in doing so took away her natural desire to learn the game.
The "sandlots" have been closed anyway. Fenced off and boarded up. Why? Because if a kid slides into tin-can home plate and cuts his knee, mom has him at the emergency room and dad sues the property owner. What ever happened to mecurochrome and "can you walk? Well get your ass back out there."
It's not the technology and it's not the kids. WE did it.
Fuck that. WE didn't do it. We've "Litigated" these kids out of playing???? Are you fucking insane? There hasn't been one lawsuit filed in my entire area over tin cans or coaches or players or any other make believe thing. Litigated??? Now you're blaming the lawyers?? I didn't say kids weren't playing ball. I said kids are opting for the 400 other choices out there. Would a kid rather shoot hoops in his driveway until the sun went down these days...or play Nintendo, Playstation, guitar Hero or surf 125 channels? How many threads have you participated in about the very same things? And you think it's the fault of "Litigation" that kids prefer the incredible advances in technology to working their asses off in the back yard to get better???
My coaches from the time I was 6 until high school were parents from the bank, accountants, warehouse workersd and Real Estate agents. They volunteered their time just like I did the past 3 months. We had 2-3 coaches in ourl league who took it seriously and rode their kids. The overwhelmig majority of us kept it fun for our boys and girls and tried to teach them the best we knew how. I played baseball into college. Most of the coaches never set foot on a high school fileld. Who gives a fuck? We volunteered and did the best we could and tried to make it fun and instructional for the kids. And guess what? No one got sued.
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Note to self: Lawyers get panties wadded up when you mention litigation.
Say what you want. I'm not blaming the lawyers, I'm blaming the parents who sue at the drop of a hat and are completely overprotective of their kids.
I'm blaming parents who are terrified to allow the kids to get out of sight because of what they've seen on Nancy Grace or shit like that. I had this argument with my wife not two days ago. She contends that there are a lot more perverts out there and kids are at constant risk. I disagree. There are no more perverts than there were before, but now we're just bombarded with the crap by the media so we know more about it.
When I was a kid, we knew we had to stay away from Ralph Snider's house because he was crazy. Our parents told us not to ride out bikes in front of or behind his place. So we went around the block to avoid it. Turns out they were right. He killed some people and was killed himself in that very house.
But back then we could call Ralph Snider crazy and warn each other to stay away. Now? That wouldn't be politically correct.
I don't know where you live, but far too many of the coaches I've had the (dis)pleasure of working with and watching coach other teams have been ill-prepared and living vicariously through the kids.
Yeah, we've litigated ourselves to death. Not the lawyer's fault, its ours.
Choosing other options is part of it, yeah. But so is the fact that kids can't be kids because practices are regimented and their parents have them in skills camps and being taught by specialists. They've got Ron Polemus(or whatever) teaching them speed and Crunky Whizenhunt teaching them pitch mechanics, and some other kid's dad screaming at them because they missed a steal sign.
Fuck all that. I'd choose other shit too.
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I'm blaming parents who are terrified to allow the kids to get out of sight because of what they've seen on Nancy Grace or shit like that. I had this argument with my wife not two days ago. She contends that there are a lot more perverts out there and kids are at constant risk. I disagree. There are no more perverts than there were before, but now we're just bombarded with the crap by the media so we know more about it.
This
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You really only have to look in one place to see the pussification of todays kids. That place is the "Upward" leagues popping up all over the place.
And yes it is the parents fault that kids are turning into pussies. I mean what the hell is with the "Upward" shit. Can someone really believe that it is good for a kid to play sports in a league that does'nt even keep score? Parents are so afraid to let their kids fail that they insulate them to a fault. If a kid can't even learn to lose with a modicum of sportsmanship we are in deep shit.
I remember playing little league baseball and every team always has a few kids that are only out there because of their parents. As kids then, we did everything we could to help them so that the team could win. When one of them wanted to cry we would tell them to suck it up and remember that it took the whole team to win.
While winning is not the most important thing in little league, it must be part of the equation. Without the lessons of winning and losing, it is no wonder why we are raising a bunch of pussies.
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I remember playing little league baseball and every team always has a few kids that are only out there because of their parents. As kids then, we did everything we could to help them so that the team could win. When one of them wanted to cry we would tell them to suck it up and remember that it took the whole team to win.
Funny...we always laughed at them and called them loser. They typically quit playing after the season was over. Thinning the herd.
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Funny...we always laughed at them and called them loser. They typically quit playing after the season was over. Thinning the herd.
What's this "everybody gets a trophy" shit?
You can tell the generation differences in my staff. The younger ones expect constant praise and are shocked and offended if you dare criticize anything they do.
I've got one bitch who has been absent 18 out of 86 days. She's been late or left early 12 others (and I mean 3+ hours late or early). She damn near had a stroke when I wrote her up. Said she'd never been treated like that. Said she was going to call her lawyer, because she is on SALARY!! Well, not so much any more. Firings will commence.
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What's this "everybody gets a trophy" shit?
You can tell the generation differences in my staff. The younger ones expect constant praise and are shocked and offended if you dare criticize anything they do.
I've got one bitch who has been absent 18 out of 86 days. She's been late or left early 12 others (and I mean 3+ hours late or early). She damn near had a stroke when I wrote her up. Said she'd never been treated like that. Said she was going to call her lawyer, because she is on SALARY!! Well, not so much any more. Firings will commence.
You know it really worked on my feelings when I first had to be a dick to people and fire them but it no longer does.
I don't OWE you shit. You are paid a wage to come to work on time and be productive.
Someone does anything less than that and I just let the chips fall where they may.
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What's this "everybody gets a trophy" shit?
You can tell the generation differences in my staff. The younger ones expect constant praise and are shocked and offended if you dare criticize anything they do.
I've got one bitch who has been absent 18 out of 86 days. She's been late or left early 12 others (and I mean 3+ hours late or early). She damn near had a stroke when I wrote her up. Said she'd never been treated like that. Said she was going to call her lawyer, because she is on SALARY!! Well, not so much any more. Firings will commence.
You should try working here for a while...if you think those folks are bad.
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When children don't learn the valuable lessons of winning and losing at a young age, it will haunt them forever. I hate to break it to all the sissy parents out there, but your kid is probably not the best at anything. Until you are willing to admit that and teach them to work to get better or find the thing that they are the best at, they will end up being a worthless pussy.
The days of personal accountability are over.
I'll give you and example: I'm at Walmart the other day and we ran into one of my wifes old friends from high school. She was there to get her son's (probably 13-14) ear pierced. I kind of razzed him a little and told him that my dad once told me that I too could get an earring if I wanted to start wearing dresses to school. I tthen told him not to let the earring turn into tatoos all over his body because it would hurt him in his adult years. He looked at me like an alien and asked how an earring and tatoos could hurt him, to which I explained how hard it will be to ever get a real job if he is painted all over. He told me right in front of his mother that he did not care about ever getting a real job, he could be a professional skateboarder or work in a restaraunt. His mother just laughed his answer off.
This kid will be on welfare before we know it
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When children don't learn the valuable lessons of winning and losing at a young age, it will haunt them forever. I hate to break it to all the sissy parents out there, but your kid is probably not the best at anything. Until you are willing to admit that and teach them to work to get better or find the thing that they are the best at, they will end up being a worthless pussy.
The days of personal accountability are over.
I'll give you and example: I'm at Walmart the other day and we ran into one of my wifes old friends from high school. She was there to get her son's (probably 13-14) ear pierced. I kind of razzed him a little and told him that my dad once told me that I too could get an earring if I wanted to start wearing dresses to school. I tthen told him not to let the earring turn into tatoos all over his body because it would hurt him in his adult years. He looked at me like an alien and asked how an earring and tatoos could hurt him, to which I explained how hard it will be to ever get a real job if he is painted all over. He told me right in front of his mother that he did not care about ever getting a real job, he could be a professional skateboarder or work in a restaraunt. His mother just laughed his answer off.
This kid will be on welfare before we know it
18, cracka, makin' more than your Dad.
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I'll give you and example: I'm at Walmart the other day and we ran into one of my wifes old friends from high school. She was there to get her son's (probably 13-14) ear pierced. I kind of razzed him a little and told him that my dad once told me that I too could get an earring if I wanted to start wearing dresses to school. I tthen told him not to let the earring turn into tatoos all over his body because it would hurt him in his adult years. He looked at me like an alien and asked how an earring and tatoos could hurt him, to which I explained how hard it will be to ever get a real job if he is painted all over. He told me right in front of his mother that he did not care about ever getting a real job, he could be a professional skateboarder or work in a restaraunt. His mother just laughed his answer off.
This kid will be on welfare before we know it
Lighten up, Francis. What did you want to do for a living when you were 13? Did you have any concept of money or what jobs paid? I know I didn't. I think this was during my phase of wanting to be a stand up comedian.
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Lighten up, Francis. What did you want to do for a living when you were 13? Did you have any concept of money or what jobs paid? I know I didn't. I think this was during my phase of wanting to be a stand up comedian.
I'm not Francis, but come on. I started working with my dad the summer I turned 13. Picking up shingles from roofing jobs and loading firewood for the winter. I wasn't paid, but was told I'd have a car paid for when I turned 16. For three summers I worked 4 days a week, every week. I also spent every saturday morning at the local Flee-market roasting peanuts. When I turned 16, 1997, I was given a 1982 black dodge pick-up and told to get a job if I wanted gas money to drive it.
13 is damn near too late to start building a work ethic, IMO.
Also, earrings? I'm 28 and I'm certain my dad would kick my ass if I got my ear pierced. .
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I'm not Francis, but come on. I started working with my dad the summer I turned 13. Picking up shingles from roofing jobs and loading firewood for the winter. I wasn't paid, but was told I'd have a car paid for when I turned 16. For three summers I worked 4 days a week, every week. I also spent every saturday morning at the local Flee-market roasting peanuts. When I turned 16, 1997, I was given a 1982 black dodge pick-up and told to get a job if I wanted gas money to drive it.
13 is damn near too late to start building a work ethic, IMO.
Also, earrings? I'm 28 and I'm certain my dad would kick my ass if I got my ear pierced. .
What does your Dad think about your Ru Paul obsession and unicorn collection?
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What does your Dad think about your Ru Paul obsession and unicorn collection?
He doesn't know. Frankly, I'm wondering how you know.
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He doesn't know. Frankly, I'm wondering how you know.
Prowler heard about it on the other site. :drevil:
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Prowler heard about it on the other site. :drevil:
His sources are impeccable.
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He doesn't know. Frankly, I'm wondering how you know.
To put it mildly, I watch you from afar.
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To put it mildly, I watch you from afar.
Stalker.
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Don't blame the kids. We've litigated and organized them to the point we've sucked every ounce of joy out of the games.
I read Ranger's diatribe. How many times did he call kids "dumbasses?" Did you see the part where he "crawled the ass" of a kid who swing at a 3-0 pitch?
Not taking shots at Ranger because he's far from the only one to do it, but it's the organized ball mentality that ruins the game for kids. 90% of the time the games are for the parents and coaches. They're trying to win -- to live vicariously through the kids -- as opposed to teaching them. In doing so, they rob the games of their joy.
Why don't kids get together in back yards to play stick baseball? Because they have to go to practice and get screamed at by men, many of whom were fringe players in high school themselves -- if they ever even played. The game isn't fun. They can't just go out in the yard and swing at rocks without some well-intentioned "coach" coming along and instructing them on the proper technique to roll the wrists.
I think you tried to play Sigmund Freud way too much in my post and way over analyzed something that was very simple.
First of all, when you look a kid straight in the face and tell him what he needs to do not once or twice, but three times and still does exactly the opposite, that is being a dumbass in my book. Kind of like tonight when we had to tell our third basemen four times in a row to charge in on a bunt and he sit dead still every time. Even his own mom, who is one of the sweetest ladies you will ever meet, had to yell at him and asked him if he was awake and listening to us. It embarrassed him, but when the next batter tried to lay down a bunt, his ass was charging in then.
Secondly, please don't erroeounsly lump me in with a group of parents that I don't care too much for either. You don't know me and even though you said you were not taking a shot at me, you did try to judge the way I coach and the way I treat my son based upon the fact I was actually complaining about how kids don't seem to listen and pay attention these days. So, please excuse me if I take that "non-shot" a little personal.
I played college ball and I don't feel like I left anything unaccomplished, so I don't live through my kid. Actually, I got very close to not letting my son play baseball at all this year because of his attitude. If it was not for his mom intervening by asking me to not take away the one and only sport he really enjoys, he would not have played this year . Despite the fact that I get asked to coach his team every year, up until this year I have stayed of the field when my son is playing and stuck to umpiring youth league and high school baseball and also coached American Legion baseball. The only reason I am coaching this year was because three coaches are needed and for some reason no other parent wanted to do it.
I do know the type of parents you are talking about. I have an assistant that is "that guy" and me and the other coach, who also played college ball, really wish the idiot would just shut up about his kids "awesomeness". Hell, the guy is already talking about summer and fall ball and worried about finding a team for his kid to play on. Shoot, when our league tournament is over this Thursday, or tomorrow for us if we lost the semifinal game, my son and I plan on getting in all the fishing and camping we can. These kids that are playing baseball all summer and into the fall of school, yeah, they will become better players for it, but many of them are also going to be burnt out by the time they get in high school.
Also, please show me where I "crawled up a kid's ass" for swinging at a 3-0 pitch. I believe I only talked about the fact that we had just told them to take the pitch and they did not. You said that some parents are way too protective, so what exactly am I supposed to do when a kid is totally ignoring what we tell them to do and keeps screwing up? Do like their mommies want us to do and tell them it is okay to keep making the same mistake over and over? Like during the first part of the year when our guys kept looking at third strikes over and over, game after game (one game we 13 strikeouts and 9 of them were looking) or do we stay on their asses to correct the damn problem? You can't claim that parent's are too soft on their kids, then try to give me shit about trying to coach a kid to play the game right. Like my dad always told me, it was up to me if I wanted to play, but if I was going to play, there was no half-assing it.
Look, some kids, like mine (who did not inherit much of my athleticism and I am ok with that), are not really good athletes, but they get out there and bust their tails. Usually those kids are eager to learn. It is the kids that are good athletes or have the potential, but yet want to do nothing but give attitude and not listen to anything we say is what pisses me off. Hell, tonight one of my better players, who also has a big ass attitude, struck out his first time at bat after fighting off several 3-2 pitches. On his way back to the dugout, I tried to give him a pat on the helmet and told him he would get it next time. What does the kid do? He intentionally dodges my pat on his helmet. The dugout coach tries to do the same thing and the kids again dodges the attempt at encouragement and then the kids gets in the dugout and shows his ass. Me and the other coach looked at each other in disgust. This kid has been benched for talking back to us during the game when we try to correct him and still has not learned a damn thing.
The part of your reply that I bolded...I have to respectfully call bs on. Unless you have some coaches wound up really too tightly where you live, I don't recall seeing many coaches trolling the backyard wiffle ball games. Sorry, but I see and hear the same complaints from way too many parents and coaches on why they can't get their kid outside....the almighty gaming system. I see it with my son, his friends, and his cousins. Technology has take the place of wiffle ball, hide and seek, playing army, etc. Now you can all of that on your TV without having to leave the comforts of air conditioning.
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Stalker.
He likes to think of it as challenging the 500' limit the man has saddled him with.
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He likes to think of it as challenging the 500' limit the man has saddled him with.
Thank God its raining men at his house!
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I think you tried to play Sigmund Freud way too much in my post and way over analyzed something that was very simple.
First of all, when you look a kid straight in the face and tell him what he needs to do not once or twice, but three times and still does exactly the opposite, that is being a dumbass in my book. Kind of like tonight when we had to tell our third basemen four times in a row to charge in on a bunt and he sit dead still every time. Even his own mom, who is one of the sweetest ladies you will ever meet, had to yell at him and asked him if he was awake and listening to us. It embarrassed him, but when the next batter tried to lay down a bunt, his ass was charging in then.
Secondly, please don't erroeounsly lump me in with a group of parents that I don't care too much for either. You don't know me and even though you said you were not taking a shot at me, you did try to judge the way I coach and the way I treat my son based upon the fact I was actually complaining about how kids don't seem to listen and pay attention these days. So, please excuse me if I take that "non-shot" a little personal.
I played college ball and I don't feel like I left anything unaccomplished, so I don't live through my kid. Actually, I got very close to not letting my son play baseball at all this year because of his attitude. If it was not for his mom intervening by asking me to not take away the one and only sport he really enjoys, he would not have played this year . Despite the fact that I get asked to coach his team every year, up until this year I have stayed of the field when my son is playing and stuck to umpiring youth league and high school baseball and also coached American Legion baseball. The only reason I am coaching this year was because three coaches are needed and for some reason no other parent wanted to do it.
I do know the type of parents you are talking about. I have an assistant that is "that guy" and me and the other coach, who also played college ball, really wish the idiot would just shut up about his kids "awesomeness". Hell, the guy is already talking about summer and fall ball and worried about finding a team for his kid to play on. Shoot, when our league tournament is over this Thursday, or tomorrow for us if we lost the semifinal game, my son and I plan on getting in all the fishing and camping we can. These kids that are playing baseball all summer and into the fall of school, yeah, they will become better players for it, but many of them are also going to be burnt out by the time they get in high school.
Also, please show me where I "crawled up a kid's ass" for swinging at a 3-0 pitch. I believe I only talked about the fact that we had just told them to take the pitch and they did not. You said that some parents are way too protective, so what exactly am I supposed to do when a kid is totally ignoring what we tell them to do and keeps screwing up? Do like their mommies want us to do and tell them it is okay to keep making the same mistake over and over? Like during the first part of the year when our guys kept looking at third strikes over and over, game after game (one game we 13 strikeouts and 9 of them were looking) or do we stay on their asses to correct the damn problem? You can't claim that parent's are too soft on their kids, then try to give me shit about trying to coach a kid to play the game right. Like my dad always told me, it was up to me if I wanted to play, but if I was going to play, there was no half-assing it.
Look, some kids, like mine (who did not inherit much of my athleticism and I am ok with that), are not really good athletes, but they get out there and bust their tails. Usually those kids are eager to learn. It is the kids that are good athletes or have the potential, but yet want to do nothing but give attitude and not listen to anything we say is what pisses me off. Hell, tonight one of my better players, who also has a big ass attitude, struck out his first time at bat after fighting off several 3-2 pitches. On his way back to the dugout, I tried to give him a pat on the helmet and told him he would get it next time. What does the kid do? He intentionally dodges my pat on his helmet. The dugout coach tries to do the same thing and the kids again dodges the attempt at encouragement and then the kids gets in the dugout and shows his ass. Me and the other coach looked at each other in disgust. This kid has been benched for talking back to us during the game when we try to correct him and still has not learned a damn thing.
The part of your reply that I bolded...I have to respectfully call bs on. Unless you have some coaches wound up really too tightly where you live, I don't recall seeing many coaches trolling the backyard wiffle ball games. Sorry, but I see and hear the same complaints from way too many parents and coaches on why they can't get their kid outside....the almighty gaming system. I see it with my son, his friends, and his cousins. Technology has take the place of wiffle ball, hide and seek, playing army, etc. Now you can all of that on your TV without having to leave the comforts of air conditioning.
Hypocritically, I can't read all that. Can you give me the Cliff Notes version?
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I also spent every saturday morning at the local Flee-market roasting peanuts.
I didn't think the Univehsatah would let 13 year old kids work on the Quad.
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I'm not Francis, but come on. I started working with my dad the summer I turned 13. Picking up shingles from roofing jobs and loading firewood for the winter. I wasn't paid, but was told I'd have a car paid for when I turned 16. For three summers I worked 4 days a week, every week. I also spent every saturday morning at the local Flee-market roasting peanuts. When I turned 16, 1997, I was given a 1982 black dodge pick-up and told to get a job if I wanted gas money to drive it.
13 is damn near too late to start building a work ethic, IMO.
Also, earrings? I'm 28 and I'm certain my dad would kick my ass if I got my ear pierced. .
I also was working by that age. My dad owned a small steel fabrication company, and by the time I was 13 I could weld my handlebars back together when they got busted up in a bicycle crash. My point is I didn't have any concept of what different types of jobs paid or what kind of job I wanted, other that I damn sure didn't want to work for my dad anymore. I also had no concept of what life might be like at 20 or 30, and certainly didn't let that effect any of my decisions.
I agree that kids today spend too much time in front of the TV or the computer. Hell I'm 38 and I have to include myself in that group. I went from pouring concrete for a living to sitting at a computer all day and I've gained about 150 pounds since. But bitching about kids attitudes or trying to pretend we were more mannered, better listeners, harder workers, or more easily coached I think is just being a grumpy old man.
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I also was working by that age. My dad owned a small steel fabrication company, and by the time I was 13 I could weld my handlebars back together when they got busted up in a bicycle crash. My point is I didn't have any concept of what different types of jobs paid or what kind of job I wanted, other that I damn sure didn't want to work for my dad anymore. I also had no concept of what life might be like at 20 or 30, and certainly didn't let that effect any of my decisions.
I agree that kids today spend too much time in front of the TV or the computer. Hell I'm 38 and I have to include myself in that group. I went from pouring concrete for a living to sitting at a computer all day and I've gained about 150 pounds since. But bitching about kids attitudes or trying to pretend we were more mannered, better listeners, harder workers, or more easily coached I think is just being a grumpy old man.
Put your black socks and sandals on.
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I also was working by that age. My dad owned a small steel fabrication company, and by the time I was 13 I could weld my handlebars back together when they got busted up in a bicycle crash. My point is I didn't have any concept of what different types of jobs paid or what kind of job I wanted, other that I damn sure didn't want to work for my dad anymore. I also had no concept of what life might be like at 20 or 30, and certainly didn't let that effect any of my decisions.
I agree that kids today spend too much time in front of the TV or the computer. Hell I'm 38 and I have to include myself in that group. I went from pouring concrete for a living to sitting at a computer all day and I've gained about 150 pounds since. But bitching about kids attitudes or trying to pretend we were more mannered, better listeners, harder workers, or more easily coached I think is just being a grumpy old man.
I think that for me, it's probably more about not understanding how kids can opt for the computers, Playstations, Guitar Hero etc. as opposed to a game of whiffle ball or basketball. I surf teh webs, I've played Guitar Hero amd I've challenged my boy in Wii tennis, bowling and boxing. I admit, they're fun and even a bit addicting but I'd much rather play a real game of tennis or golf and even yesterday, went on a bike ride after work. If I didn't literally force my boy to get up and do some things, he would never move from in front of some electronic wonder.
And the fact that you put on the 150 large points to some of my concerns. Is this generation of kids going to wind up being completely sedentary by the time they hit college?