[charlie22]

I don't think I have ever heard a kid complain about getting blown out by Highlands or Trinity or any of the other top rated teams each year. I only hear their parents or the supporters complaining. Its about the kids. Most kids would love to get beat by Trinity this year, and in twenty years tell everyone, I got beat by the #1 team in the nation when I was a senior. Several of the players on Trinity will probably be playing on Saturdays I imagine and then maybe on Sundays? It was a thrill to see Tamme play when Rock got beat in the playoffs. Now he is playing for the Colts. ITS ABOUT THE KIDS. The parents just can't let the kids have fun. Losing is not a bad thing, it is a learning thing.

Well stated Honest John. Well stated. I seriously doubt that any kid on the losing end of a blowout is going to have his self esteem so devasted by the blowout that it's going to scar him for life. Losing, even losting big, can teach valuable lessons; lessons that can't be taught by winning.

The irony is that some of the same people that worry about kids being emotionally hurt by a big loss are the same people saying we went to 6 classes so that every kid can have a trophy because the KHSAA is overly worried and concerned about kids' self esteem.


I was on the wrong end of a thorough butt whipping by Lou X when I was a sophomore. It didn't hurt me mentally or emotionally. It motivated me to work harder than I'm sure I otherwise would have that following off season. I and my teammates wanted to make sure that never happened again. It didn't. If anything I draw on and remember that experience more than I remember or draw on the experiences of the wins.

We justify spending tax dollars on high school athletics not to give adults some entertainment but rather because we believe that high school athletics can teach young adults lessons that will be useful later in life. Learning how to react when you've been knocked on your butt (whether that be from losing a job, your spouse walking out on you for another or whatever major setback one may encounter) is one of those lessons. Character isn't developed or demonstrated in good times; it's developed and displayed in difficult times. I'd hope that any coach worth the cost of his whistle would be able to teach and explain that lesson to his players after a blowout loss.