8 Year Old Makes Huge Play - Coach Suspended And Fined

It's the last quarter of the big game. Eight year old Elijah Burrell is playing defense. It's his first year playing Pee Wee football and he's not sure what all the rules are - he's just playing to the best of his ability.

The ball is snapped. Elijah watches the play unfold. The opposing quarterback steps back and throws the ball to his receiver who is close to Elijah. In a move that surprises even him Elijah runs and intercepts the ball. He tucks it under his arm and heads for his own end zone. He makes it virtually untouched and makes his first-ever touchdown! The crowd goes wild....!!

But the wild crowd isn't so much cheering Elijah's superb play. The parents of the opposing team are loudly complaining. That's because the score of the game had already been 32-0 and Elijah's interception and consequent touchdown took his team over the 33 point "mercy rule" that is designed to keep other teams from being humiliated too badly if they don't play well.

Elijah didn't know - or if he did know he wasn't thinking of that rule when he intercepted the pass. He did what any other 8 year old would do. He ran for the end zone.

For their 38-0 victory, thanks to Elijah's interception, Elijah's team was fined $500 by the Pee Wee football league and his coach was suspended from participation for a week. Ridiculous, you say? Not so ridiculous in a day and time where kids who participate in sports are taught that there are no winners, no losers, and everybody gets the same trophy for "participation."

Imagine a world where the achievements of winning are degraded and vilified and the important lesson of losing is nullified because "Everyone is a winner!" Now imagine the world when these kids become adults who have never had to learn what it means or feels like to lose. Real life doesn't have all winners. Nor does it give out participation trophies to everyone. In real life you either succeed or you don't. And these kids who have been taught that failure doesn't happen or that it's unfair that one team almost always wins and one team almost always loses don't stand a chance of surviving if they don't get everything they want and expect.

Collectivism, emphasis on collective rather than individual action or identity, is a version of Marxism. In fact, Karl Marx was one of its greatest proponents. Denying teams the opportunity to win, denying children the opportunity to be recognized as better at some particular thing than others, teaches kids the false premise that everyone is equal in everything - which is simply untrue.

When I was a kid we were taught that it didn't matter if you won or lost, it was how you played the game. There was always a winner - the championship team that everyone wanted to be on. And there were always the other teams, some of whom came close and others who simply didn't have what it took for a winning season. We were taught to congratulate the other team, whether we they beat us or not. And we knew that unless we were at the top at the end of the season we weren't getting a trophy that year. But we were also told we'd try again next year.

Liberalism in the United States is "collectively" raising a generation of pansies - kids who won't be able to deal with the pain and ultimate failures they will face as adults. Everyone has to deal with loss or failure at some point in their lives. They can learn how to do that as children and grow up healthy or they can learn how to do it from their therapists when they become adults.

One thing is certain. If I was 20 years old and know what I I know now I would have a different career. I would become a psychologist, knowing full well that there are going to be millions of maladjusted adults out there who will fill my bank account because they weren't taught as children how to deal with real life. you know what they say about hindsight...