Rest assured, it’s still the kids with the “old school” values who win (big) in the end.
“We live in a ‘ME’ era that glamorizes clout.
It’s trickled down to our very young populations.
Rest assured, it’s still the respectful, selfless kids, who show up on time, consistently work hard, & are great teammates who win in the end.
Don’t be fooled by the sh*t show.”
-Ray Zingler on X
I was scrolling social media a while back and I saw a trainer post about a training session he was having at a local park.
It was a very run of the mill ad for some speed & agility or sport specific work (imagine that, lol!), I can’t remember, but what stood out to me on this ad was, the “ALERT” that said, “Cameraman will be present!”
And while I have no problem with video (If you’ve been following me for any length of time on social, you know I share a lot of video content <for vastly different reasons.>) I found it funny he was needing to broadcast that a “professional” cameraman would be present at this session.
We’ve gotten to the point where it’s not even about training anymore, it’s about people seeing you training.
And the sad, but ironic part about the people glamorizing this clout chasing lifestyle is that the training they think is “tough” is complete bullshit.
These guys don’t know what they don’t know about what they don’t know, but it doesn’t matter because they know their consumers don’t know, either.
So, they play the shiny red ball angle because 12-year-old Jimmy knows he will look cool when he gets a “feature” on Coach Joe’s Instagram feed full of paid, robot followers.
I mean what a mess.
It started up the chain, and then very quickly tricked down the chain.
Look at the recruiting visits these days.
The University of Texas just had an aisle full of Lambos greeting recruits as they walked into the football facility.
For what?
To show players who probably won’t stay committed there 4 years and probably won’t make a living in the NFL that chasing imagery (that is a horrid investment) is the way to “lead by example”?
Kids don’t love sports like they used to anymore.
They love the idea of them and what they think comes along with them.
Rest assured, despite that nasty, anti-real world sporting climate that we are living in today, the kids with “old school” values are still the kids who win not only today, but ESPECIALLY tomorrow because the real world doesn’t care about the show.
It only cares about your ability to add tangible value to it.
