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Freaking Video Games!
On a cool Thursday night in Ohio Cody and Ian just finished football practice. The boys have been competing against each other for a starting position. I can hear the two friends' trash-talking each other as they walk off the field. Cody had gotten the upper hand that day of practice! His effort at practice earned him the chance to start over Ian on game day! That’s when I heard it! Straight out of Ian’s mouth! “Doesn’t matter because I’ll still smoke you at Madden”…. My ears perked up, I asked myself, “did I hear that correctly?”…. Then came the next surprise! Ian’s comment won the trash-talking! Cody was more discouraged about losing to Ian at Madden (an American football NFL video game) than feeling proud of himself for earning a starting position on the actual football field!
I was shocked! I couldn’t help it, I jumped in! With a cocky laugh, I asked, “wouldn’t you rather win on the field rather than in a video game”? Expecting agreement, I was stunned again! The boys were exceedingly passionate about their ability on a video game! This was extremely difficult for me to embrace!
As a coach, I take pride in having empathy and an understanding of the athletes' perspectives. This enables me in developing practice and game plans the team will believe in. I had to take time and ruminate over Ian and Cody’s exchange of smack-talking each other. I had a conversation with my son…
