inthedougout

The news is unimaginable: Kobe Bryant passed away on Sunday at the age of 41 .  Kobe Bryant was indeed one of the best players to ever play the game and he belongs in every conversation about who's the best.  He played 20 years.  He won 5 championships.  Winning 5 championships in any sport is almost impossible.  He was the youngest to reach 30,000 points .  He won 2 gold medals on the men's national basketball team.  The list of his accolades goes on for a while.  But sadly, it's time to reflect on not just his acumen as a basketball player, but the impact he made on fans, athletes, sports, and our culture.   His death has had a greater impact on me than I ever expected.  I admired Kobe Bryant, but beyond watching games, I was not an ardent follower of his.  I think, as a father, watching what happened has me shook the most.  He was showing that his life, after one of the best careers in NBA history, was about his children and making an impact with our youth.  There

We all mean well. We want what's best for our kids and we do what we think is best for our kids.  That's a universal truth of parenting. From the moment they were in diapers, we've monitored every cough, every big moment, every little moment, and every single little thing in between.  We research schools, we research their teachers, we research everything about our child's experience.  This is, after all, what parents do.  They parent. That approach gets a little confused, however, when parents start getting involved in youth sports. I certainly get it.  I didn't have kids to necessarily sit back and just "watch" -- I want to be involved.  If I think my kid should be doing something, I sure as heck want to yell at him.  Make no mistake, I am not raising my kids to be major leaguers.  They are very unlikely to have that kind of ability.  But I do want them to succeed in everything they do.   For the sake of their experience and youth sports , gen