Lake The Posts expands on a point that I make regularly: Fans under 17 (or under 25, etc) have a vastly different frame of reference than those of us in our 30s (or older).
Consider that someone under the age of 30 has zero first-hand recollection of something you find as life-defining as, say, the '85 bears or "Game 6" of the 1986 World Series. "Magic and Bird?" You might as well be talking to someone my age about Wilt and Russell.
Someone under the age of 25 has zero recollection of that epic Kentucky-Duke game in 1992 -- and no first-hand recollection of the Fab Five. Kids in college now will have no memory -- zero -- of the '96 Olympics in Atlanta.
LTP tries to project how a 17-year-old would feel about Northwestern if they were being recruited by NU -- little-to-no awareness before, say, 2002.
I do think that there is a disconnect between what sports columnists (and sports bloggers) in their 50s, 40s and even 30s use as sports-cultural reference points versus what a teenager does.
Maybe that is obvious. Maybe it has always been that way. But it's not really reflected in the coverage, I don't think. We may live in a wonderful era of new media, but it is dominated by nostalgia by me and my contemporaries, currently holding the megaphone, for our own teen years of the late-80s/early-90s.
This isn't a one-time theme; this does -- and will -- pop up over and over again on this blog.
-- D.S.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
13-Year-Old Commits to Tennessee
Eh, it's not like a 1-year-old committing to Florida.
-- Dan
(By the way, I fully expect Clay Travis to be announcing Fox Travis's commitment to Tennessee any moment now.)
-- Dan
(By the way, I fully expect Clay Travis to be announcing Fox Travis's commitment to Tennessee any moment now.)
Rebooting Varsity Dad
Varsity Dad is a great idea suffering from benign neglect. Between my work at DanShanoff.com, my daily Sporting News column, my day job and -- obviously -- my kids, time is limited.
But that's no excuse.
Too many great stories to talk about. Too many other fans like me have had kids (or continue to parent their kids) since this site launched -- wow -- 3 years ago.
In fact, when we celebrated my first kid's 3rd birthday in May, I recognized that as an ideal moment for a Varsity Dad reboot. Came and went...
Then there was Father's Day two weeks ago. Great time for a Varsity Dad reboot! Came and went...
Not to mention the birth of my second kid, last October. Perhaps not the best time for a Varsity Dad reboot, given that two kids is a lot more than twice the work. But still...came and went.
The irony is that Gabe is WAY more aware of sports -- playing, watching -- than he ever was before I hit the snooze button on this blog.
He took soccer classes this spring -- yes, at age 3. He loved them, even though they are not exactly in line with this site's mission to raise an all-star sports fan. (Now: WATCHING soccer on TV? Totally in line. In fact, he was home from daycare sick last Wednesday, and I had him on the couch with me watching the US upset Spain in the Confederation Cup.)
Gabe's fandom remains a work-in-progress. We were both thrilled when Florida's Percy Harvin -- Gabe's favorite player (sorry, Tim Tebow) -- was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings; purple is Gabe's favorite color, so the notion of buying him his first NFL jersey (Harvin's purple Vikings No. 12) is absolutely on the table this fall.
He and I went to an outdoor basketball court last week -- again, not so much with the actual sport-playing, versus the sport-following/-watching. It didn't help that he is still way too young to actually be able to grasp (or play) basketball -- or that I am so pathetically out of shape.
This weekend, we did take shots on a 3-foot-tall mini-hoop; much more his speed, and he even showcased a pretty good "mid-range" jumpshot -- I have no idea who taught him this, but he instinctively knew to bring the mini-ball over his head to shoot it. (Could he have learned it from... TV?!?! One can only hope.)
Anyway, it's unnecessary to deliver some unifying theory of this reboot. The mission remains the same: To cover the journey of raising an all-star sports fan, however that might happen.
As before, I want you to share your own stories, pass along your own links to interesting VarsityDad-worthy material and otherwise join in the process.
Otherwise, the proof of the reboot is in the posts, which I will hope to make frequent. I want this to become THE intersection of parenting and sports fandom.
But, as always, NOT about getting your kid to become a sports star, but raising them to be a sports FAN.
-- Dan
But that's no excuse.
Too many great stories to talk about. Too many other fans like me have had kids (or continue to parent their kids) since this site launched -- wow -- 3 years ago.
In fact, when we celebrated my first kid's 3rd birthday in May, I recognized that as an ideal moment for a Varsity Dad reboot. Came and went...
Then there was Father's Day two weeks ago. Great time for a Varsity Dad reboot! Came and went...
Not to mention the birth of my second kid, last October. Perhaps not the best time for a Varsity Dad reboot, given that two kids is a lot more than twice the work. But still...came and went.
The irony is that Gabe is WAY more aware of sports -- playing, watching -- than he ever was before I hit the snooze button on this blog.
He took soccer classes this spring -- yes, at age 3. He loved them, even though they are not exactly in line with this site's mission to raise an all-star sports fan. (Now: WATCHING soccer on TV? Totally in line. In fact, he was home from daycare sick last Wednesday, and I had him on the couch with me watching the US upset Spain in the Confederation Cup.)
Gabe's fandom remains a work-in-progress. We were both thrilled when Florida's Percy Harvin -- Gabe's favorite player (sorry, Tim Tebow) -- was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings; purple is Gabe's favorite color, so the notion of buying him his first NFL jersey (Harvin's purple Vikings No. 12) is absolutely on the table this fall.
He and I went to an outdoor basketball court last week -- again, not so much with the actual sport-playing, versus the sport-following/-watching. It didn't help that he is still way too young to actually be able to grasp (or play) basketball -- or that I am so pathetically out of shape.
This weekend, we did take shots on a 3-foot-tall mini-hoop; much more his speed, and he even showcased a pretty good "mid-range" jumpshot -- I have no idea who taught him this, but he instinctively knew to bring the mini-ball over his head to shoot it. (Could he have learned it from... TV?!?! One can only hope.)
Anyway, it's unnecessary to deliver some unifying theory of this reboot. The mission remains the same: To cover the journey of raising an all-star sports fan, however that might happen.
As before, I want you to share your own stories, pass along your own links to interesting VarsityDad-worthy material and otherwise join in the process.
Otherwise, the proof of the reboot is in the posts, which I will hope to make frequent. I want this to become THE intersection of parenting and sports fandom.
But, as always, NOT about getting your kid to become a sports star, but raising them to be a sports FAN.
-- Dan
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