James Harrison sends back sons' participation trophies.

[THE Bigzoman]

There are no "participation trophies" in life. Tip my hat to this man.


http://www.breitbart.com/sports/2015..._medium=social

I mean, he's still a dick for breaking punters jaws who are making no attempt in making a play, but still a good parenting move on this guy.

“

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,” he wrote.

[Garnier Fructis]

Sounds about right. There's a reason my "you tried, Johnny!" awards are in a box in a closet somewhere. If anything, they're a source of disappointment.

[Spectral]

I have mixed feelings about participation trophies in general. As a runner/cyclist, I engage in a couple sports that are huge on adult participation trophies - pretty much every marathon gives out medals to everyone that finishes. I'm basically good with that. It makes people feel good, hurts no one, and yeah, people that finished did something. There's nothing wrong with recognizing minor accomplishments and congratulating people, whether they're adults or children.

That said, what irks me is when there's no recognition of the difference in success. Sure, give all the finishers a medal, given all the kids a plaque for something they did, but also acknowledge the kids that did the best, or improved the most, or worked the hardest. Let everyone see that. It's good for everyone involved.

I might be overthinking this though...

[Seranthor]

There are no "participation trophies" in life. Tip my hat to this man.


http://www.breitbart.com/sports/2015..._medium=social

I mean, he's still a dick for breaking punters jaws who are making no attempt in making a play, but still a good parenting move on this guy.

“

Bravo Zulu to this father... we need more fathers like this (not the leveling punters, part of course).

[Arkenaw]

As a failure in all endeavors, I like my "you tried" trophies >:[

[ls-]

Kids should learn how to lose, if they want to become better. These participants' medals/trophies/prizes are BS, there always should be a gap/difference between winners and losers.

[Mihalik]

I never liked participation trophies for anything.

You can't always win. But even when you don't, you personally know you gave your best (or not) and you don't need a consolation prize. Next time you'll do better.

I've got a couple of those stupid consolation prizes, I never kept any of them.

[frogger237]

I can see maybe giving out participation ribbons as it serves as a little incentive to actually try and participate but a trophy is too much.

[Evil Midnight Bomber]

When I was in little league they never gave out trophies for participation...but they did give out participation ribbons sort of like this:



I always hated them. Every time I got one I resolved that next time I would play harder. So, i guess in that way they can motivate kids to do better.

[Deleted]

Those are some damn nice trophies, we used to just get medals that was labeled with the event and year.

Also does he turn down paychecks if they lose matches? Wouldn't want to encourage the notion of being paid for not winning

[Natureseer]

believing that you have to earn your way in life is respectable. sending back your children's random trophies to make a statement means you want attention. sorry.

[mvaliz]

The point of those trophies is not to give the person a feeling of "winning" - but to simply encourage continual trying in future.

That's what "participation trophies" are all about, rewarding the want of trying over those who have not. Many get dissolusioned if they don't "win" and then give up trying altogether. These are simply to prevent that.

Seriously - don't read so much BS into them.

[THE Bigzoman]

Yeah, Harrison is still a fucking dick for this two years ago.

Still a dick.

Edit: The one who made the hit wasn't actually James Harrison. My bad.

[angelsdeath]

So, you would go to work for free and be happy to be paid only if you were the top performer? Do you give the money back to your company if you aren't the top performer? I don't see anything wrong with giving something for participation.

[Stop Pretending]

Will he teach his kids how to blind side defenseless people as well? This guy was a headhunter in the NFL, and he deserves no respect.

[ls-]

The point of those trophies is not to give the person a feeling of "winning" - but to simply encourage continual trying in future.

That's what "participation trophies" are all about, rewarding the want of trying over those who have not. Many get dissolusioned if they don't "win" and then give up trying altogether. These are simply to prevent that.

Seriously - don't read so much BS into them.

Why will one try better in the future, if he/she gets nice trophies to show off for performing shitty anyway?

[THE Bigzoman]

Those are some damn nice trophies, we used to just get medals that was labeled with the event and year.

Also does he turn down paychecks if they lose matches? Wouldn't want to encourage the notion of being paid for not winning

He's paid for his individual performance as a linebacker, not for the performance of his team.

L2 Americian football.

- - - Updated - - -

Will he teach his kids how to blind side defenseless people as well? This guy was a headhunter in the NFL, and he deserves no respect.

Real surprising coming from a MAsshole, but I agree.

[Deleted]

He's paid for his individual performance as a linebacker, not for the performance of his team.

L2 Americian football.

But does he still get paid, if he doesn't perform better than the other teams linebacker? Or rather is there a amount he has to pass in performance to be paid?

[THE Bigzoman]

But does he still get paid, if he doesn't perform better than the other teams linebacker?

Linebacker duties vary. Some are better in zone defense, others are better blitzers.

There isn't a concrete way to distinguish one linebacker's stats from another unless one linebacker performed better in all respects, which has never been the case for James Harrison, because he came back after a year of retirement and almost immediately was a starter for the Pittsburgh Steelers--a football team in a division known to have dominant defenses (AFC North) and the team that had Dick Lebeou as their defense coordinator (Lebeou is one of the greatest defensive minds)

[King Shark]

Relevant.