But it's Possible!
Sports can really be a training lesson for the kids. You see, here in Buffalo we have a major push going on right now. The Sabres are trying real hard to secure the 8th spot in the NHL Playoffs. They were way back a little while ago, but they are playing better.
The trade deadline was also staring us in the face this weekend, so I opened up the discussion with my boys. Should the Sabres continue to try and win this year or pack it in, make a few trades, and go hard at it in 2013?
I tried to impart a bit of wisdom by letting them know that in the long history of the league no team has ever won the cup from below the top ten positions in the league. It's never happened.
"They still have a chance," Sam said.
This was my chance to discuss planning ahead with him. I wanted to let them know that by studying history we can make sound choices about planning what to do. Wishing something to happen without making it happen doesn't work. You want it? Work for it. Plan it out. Then with any luck, you'll be in the right position to make your dreams come true.
"Knowing that the chances are minimal and having knowledge that teams are built through the draft wouldn't it be smarter to shed some of the guys they have this year so they can draft better next year and be more prepared when the odds aren't so stacked against them?"
"But someone has to be the first one to do something," Jake said. "They could be the first team to do it from 8th place in the conference."
Another teaching moment:
"Just because you really, really, really want something to happen it probably won't if it doesn't make any sense. There's enough proof that this team isn't the best team this year. Sometimes you have to readjust. Sometimes you have to pack it in, accept the reality, and rework it."
"What about the guys who went to the moon," Sam said. "They were the first ones to do it. Just because it never had been done they didn't stop until Lance Armstrong walked on the moon."
"It wasn't Lance Armstrong," I said, laughing. "He's a douche on a bike. But you're right. Things are possible, but there has to be a plan. They went to the moon in a rocket ship that they worked on for years and years. They thought about it and built it properly. They didn't try and go in a go-kart."
"I'm still rooting for them!" Jake said.
"And that's fine," I said. "But some times you have to lessen your expectations and use your smarts to try again. They shouldn't stop trying, but maybe they should think about it differently."
"You're an idiot," Sam said.
That's usually our go-to line in the argument when we don't want to talk about it anymore. My beautiful wife gets so frustrated by the long-winded disagreements, but there are moments when I smile thinking about how my Dad used to goad me into discussions on a number of different subjects. Years later I would be surprised to learn that he felt differently than the way he'd argued the point when I was a kid. Once I called him out on it.
"I liked to argue," he said. "But I also tried to teach you how to think about things. Don't ever take anything at face value."
It was a good thing my Dad did that for me because now I'm equipped to present it all, in a different light, to my kids until they exclaim that I'm an idiot.
I used to think Dad was an idiot too, from time-to-time, but perhaps his greatest lesson to me was that all was possible, but it was never easy. You have to build the rocket ship first. There are no easy fixes. The Sabres spent the most money this year. They just forgot to work hard on the blueprint.
And I've been called an idiot plenty of times...right J.C.?
The trade deadline was also staring us in the face this weekend, so I opened up the discussion with my boys. Should the Sabres continue to try and win this year or pack it in, make a few trades, and go hard at it in 2013?
I tried to impart a bit of wisdom by letting them know that in the long history of the league no team has ever won the cup from below the top ten positions in the league. It's never happened.
"They still have a chance," Sam said.
This was my chance to discuss planning ahead with him. I wanted to let them know that by studying history we can make sound choices about planning what to do. Wishing something to happen without making it happen doesn't work. You want it? Work for it. Plan it out. Then with any luck, you'll be in the right position to make your dreams come true.
"Knowing that the chances are minimal and having knowledge that teams are built through the draft wouldn't it be smarter to shed some of the guys they have this year so they can draft better next year and be more prepared when the odds aren't so stacked against them?"
"But someone has to be the first one to do something," Jake said. "They could be the first team to do it from 8th place in the conference."
Another teaching moment:
"Just because you really, really, really want something to happen it probably won't if it doesn't make any sense. There's enough proof that this team isn't the best team this year. Sometimes you have to readjust. Sometimes you have to pack it in, accept the reality, and rework it."
"What about the guys who went to the moon," Sam said. "They were the first ones to do it. Just because it never had been done they didn't stop until Lance Armstrong walked on the moon."
"It wasn't Lance Armstrong," I said, laughing. "He's a douche on a bike. But you're right. Things are possible, but there has to be a plan. They went to the moon in a rocket ship that they worked on for years and years. They thought about it and built it properly. They didn't try and go in a go-kart."
"I'm still rooting for them!" Jake said.
"And that's fine," I said. "But some times you have to lessen your expectations and use your smarts to try again. They shouldn't stop trying, but maybe they should think about it differently."
"You're an idiot," Sam said.
That's usually our go-to line in the argument when we don't want to talk about it anymore. My beautiful wife gets so frustrated by the long-winded disagreements, but there are moments when I smile thinking about how my Dad used to goad me into discussions on a number of different subjects. Years later I would be surprised to learn that he felt differently than the way he'd argued the point when I was a kid. Once I called him out on it.
"I liked to argue," he said. "But I also tried to teach you how to think about things. Don't ever take anything at face value."
It was a good thing my Dad did that for me because now I'm equipped to present it all, in a different light, to my kids until they exclaim that I'm an idiot.
I used to think Dad was an idiot too, from time-to-time, but perhaps his greatest lesson to me was that all was possible, but it was never easy. You have to build the rocket ship first. There are no easy fixes. The Sabres spent the most money this year. They just forgot to work hard on the blueprint.
And I've been called an idiot plenty of times...right J.C.?
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