The Pussification Of America Continues, Coach Suspended And Fined $500 After 8-Year-Old Son Scores Touchdown
Reports from Lawrenceville, Ga., state that head coach Brooke Burdett and the U-8 Black Knights were up 32-0 in what was surely an extremely torturous game to watch. Elijah Burdett, a player on the Knights and son of head coach Brooke, then performed one of the toughest feats in football: he intercepted a pass and returned it for a touchdown. In front of his friends and parents (particularly his coaching father), Elijah scored his first ever touchdown in his first year of organized football, which I’m sure will be unforgettable for his family and him.
It wouldn’t be much of a story if the kid had the chance to celebrate with his teammates and create a well-deserved, lasting memory. No, this story takes a strange twist when you add in the fact that Elijah’s pick-six resulted in a $500 dollar fine and a week-long suspension for his father.
It was because of the fucking mercy rule. If you’re not familiar with the mercy rule, good. You shouldn’t be. I shouldn’t be. This concept is up there as one of the most un-American ideas that we still continue to perpetuate with no shame. The mercy rule is pretty simple: one team is allowed to beat another, but not by too much. If you exceed this differential, the game ends. You aren’t allowed to win by too many points. If you were coached to compete, then obviously, the rule makes no fucking sense.
The Lawrenceville league in which the Black Knights “compete” has a 33-point mercy rule. How it came to the conclusion that 33 was just too damn much and not 32 or even 35, I have no clue. I don’t even want to know, because I’m sure the explanation will just piss me off more, rather than provide any sort of valuable explanation.
Parents of the Black Knights have offered to help pay the league fine; however, Coach Burdett will most certainly still be suspended for the week due to league rules.
Obviously, the issue has nothing to do with the fucking money, seeing as $500 can be evenly distributed between the parents. Coach Burdett is most likely still allowed to watch the upcoming game from the parents’ section, so his suspension also isn’t too significant moving forward.
The reason why this story is significant is because of the detriment that the mercy rule has caused these kids. Look, I understand rules like this are theoretically set in place to create the competitive spirit. Even with this intention, it’s not working. It’s working against the fundamental values that America has been built upon. If we are taught, at the impressionable age of eight, that we must work hard, study, prepare, and execute in everything we do, and if we don’t do these things, we will suffer the consequences, what are we actually going to learn with roadblocks such as the mercy rule in our way? It’s simply a gracious regulation that keep us from truly understanding the lessons of life.
The “Pussification of America” is real, folks. It’s a disgusting epidemic far worse than anything we are facing today. We are creating a society that promotes mediocrity, a society of idealists who feel entitled to anything they want because it’s always been given to them, a society with an overall sense that the playing field is level when it really isn’t..
[via CBS Sports]
Image via Youtube
Thanks Obama
11 years ago at 11:16 amThis is a real well written article sports guy. For just a second I though it was a jtrain article. Keep up the good work.
11 years ago at 11:19 amThe original article (linked by the CBS article) says the $100 fine for mercy violations (still a BS fine) is waived for defensive plays. The $500 fine was imposed because the kids had the audacity to celebrate the touchdown, calling it unsporstmanlike conduct. Because heaven forbid a bunch of 8 year olds get excited.
TL;DR excessive showmanship in low level athletics. TFM
11 years ago at 11:20 amEveryone gets a trophy. How are any of these children going to learn how to lose, take the lesson, work harder and come back hungrier? Losses are meant to hurt and sting. Losses force you to grow and work even harder because you don’t want to feel that way again.
11 years ago at 11:51 amWe didn’t have mercy rules when we took this land from the redskins and we shouldn’t have them now
11 years ago at 12:04 pm
11 years ago at 12:08 pmMercy rule is too cut and dry, leaves no room for the unpredictable nature of sports. a pick 6 isnt premeditated/malicous- its just part of the game. Mercy rule should be based on being an asshole i.e. if the coach is ran an onside kick when 30pts up – that’s an asshole move and should be fined.
11 years ago at 12:27 pmAnd to all of you macho-libres out there – why do you choose the word pussy to describe weakness ? While I’m sure all of your huge frocks take the ladies to pound town – don’t be so sure your bunny rabbit strokes are beating the pussy up. Ladies fun boxes can take more punishment than Bo Jackson’s hip joint, while a flick to a sperm sack sends a man to the ground faster than an uninjured LeBron. – just some logic
You tried so hard, but accomplished so little
11 years ago at 12:40 pmDoes anyone else smell something fishy after reading this comment?
(pun intended)
11 years ago at 12:58 pmSHUT THE FUCK UP GEED
11 years ago at 1:32 pmSHOW US YOUR TITS
11 years ago at 2:04 pmor your funbox
11 years ago at 2:05 pmWhat’s next for liberals? Are they going to lobby to mercy rule Isis?
11 years ago at 1:17 pmThey were already whining about how we didn’t give Osama Bin Laden a fair chance to defend himself, but don’t get me started.
11 years ago at 9:08 pmThe coach could do nothing short of getting on the field and taking out his own player. If the kids don’t want to lose so bad they should get better at sports! Id NEVER tell my kid to “go easy” on an opponent because its competition and you should always perform to your potential. Next we will have doctors who got Ds in undergrad because there’s a quota of them to be accepted into med school each year. This country needs to change
11 years ago at 1:31 pmThis rule has been around Gwinnett county for at least 15 years. This rule is not hard to abide by… unless a pick 6 presents itself. You can blame all the liberals you want. But this is actually a conservative county. This is not the pussification of America. Just a rule in 8 year old football. The fine and suspension is bullshit though.
11 years ago at 3:01 pm