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Where Pride Still Matters | |
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Where Pride Still Matters - cont'd
And when you think about it, your realized there actually aren’t that
many professions in American life in which people feel that their job is to build
character. Lord knows, neither Hollywood nor the music industry offers much
instruction on how to build character. Many religious leaders seem so desperate
to appear "with it" to young people that they don’t dare impose high standards
on children. Even schools don’t talk much about character. They tend to treat
kids as little brains who have to master certain skills and do well on certain
tests. I get the impression that a lot of today’s teachers would like to instill
good values, but they don’t want anybody to accuse them of being judgmental, or
of imposing their personal values on some else’s kid.
But coaches are different. You rarely see a teacher tell a kid to tuck
in his shirt and have some pride in his appearance, but coaches do it all the
time. The best coaches still live by a code, and they make no apology for
demanding that kids live up to it.
Why do coaches talk so confidently about character when so many others
are morally tongue-tied? First, thy still command authority. The same kids
who’ve decided it’s cool to dismiss teachers or parents will still listen to a
coach. Go into a high school and watch the dynamics of a classroom. Very often
it’s the rebel flouting authority who’s the coolest. But then go into a locker
room. Nobody wants to be around the guy scoffing in the back. Everybody admires
the team players.
Second, sports involve suffering. Grade inflation being what it is, and
the self-esteem ethic being what it is, lots of kids can go through school and
other parts of their lives without ever having to deal with humiliating failure.
Everybody is above average. But in sports there is no escaping failure. In
baseball you strike out, you walk in a run, you drop a ball. And you don’t
confront failure in the privacy of a small conference room or on a confidential
report card. It happens to you on the field, in front of everybody.
Brandon Sullivan, another young coach who gives baseball clinics in the
Washington area, calls these events teachable moments. "There are more
teachable moments in a game of baseball than in a month of school. There is so
much loss and failure and having to deal with them."
If you listen to coaches talk, or if you read through some of their
advice books, you’ll notice a consistent echo of chivalry. They tend to be
fanatical about assuming personal responsibility and not blaming others for
bad breaks.
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