We all know the story. One brother has his act together and the other brother does not. Jealousy consumes the insecure brother so he hits young bro on the head with a rock. The story of jealousy never changes. However the rocks have changed dramatically. Today, the rocks are message board bashing, spineless emails sent from phantom addresses and blogs like this one. The Internet has allowed cowards to throw rocks and hide their hands. But even the Internet can not still contain all the jealousy that consumes the weak. They express themselves like their big brother Cain, never mind the kids they hurt.
One kid is one of the best players in the nation. It was during the Final 4 in Austin that the Cainites surrounding this kid revealed their ugly faces to all. During one of the games, I sat with my daughter in a section that was supposed to be cheering for this elite player.
My daughter is a fan of this kid. She has heard about her legendary work ethic. I have motivated my child during 5 am workouts with the tales of how this elite kid’s immense skill set was constructed in a similar fashion. My child understands the obsessive dedication to the game that it takes to become as skilled as the elite kid and she could do nothing but respect her. So we were both very surprised to sit in a section of parents of this kid’s high school teammates only to hear her get bashed on almost every play. A few parents put down this kid in a despicable way throughout the entire game. Be reminded that this is in Austin at the Final 4 and still these Cainites hit this kid in the head with their slanderous stones. I was shocked. This was just the beginning.
While driving around Austin for lunch on championship day, I received a call. The call was the father of the elite kid. He was frustrated. On the day that he was supposed to be rejoicing the accomplishments of his baby girl, he spent the morning scrambling to find her breakfast. This was not a spoiled kid with particular dietary tastes, or a superstitious routine. The parents in charge of providing breakfast for the ENTIRE team on championship game day, conveniently forgot his daughters breakfast. Only his daughter! Of course this could have been an honest mistake until you found out that this was one of the same parents who continuously bashed this kid for all to hear. To add insult to injury, a fellow club/high school coach in the San Antonio area texted me during the championship game that “ they are up here killing” this kid. He had to sit through the same insults and baby bashing that I sat through the previous day.
What I found appalling was that the high school coach allowed these things to happen to one of her players. This type of jealousy does not manifest itself in one weekend. These parents have been acting like this for some time. The high school coach should have shown the strength to cut the jealousy down as seedlings. Instead it was allowed to become a forest of negativity and a hard working kid suffered because of it.
San Antonio is not immune to the jealous cowards. Just like Cain, they hide and see who is looking. When they suspect that no one is watching, the execute their premeditated attack.
Meighan Simmons is arguably the greatest HIGH SCHOOL player in San Antonio’s history. The jealousy surrounding her last season was nauseating. To hear parents justify how good their child was by slamming Simmons became the norm. Kids who have played travel ball in front of college coaches and still were not offered any scholarships were as good as Simmons according to their parents. These delusional parents chose to try and derail the Simmons train. Their failure to equip their children with the tools to play college basketball at the level of Simmons burned them so much that their inner Cain erupted like green David Banner.
Check the message boards. See the anonymous emails. The baby bashing is at an all-time high. Until some coward is sued for Libel and Defamation of Character, the stones will fly. Until the IP address of the anonymous email senders are subpoenaed and the senders tracked down, Cain’s little brothers and sisters will keep up with their antics. Last week I saw a dad take matters in his own hands.
At the local fall league, I saw the father of one of the elite young players in the city approach a possible Cain in regards to his daughter. This dad is one of the Deliberate Dads I wrote about. He is very involved in his child’s basketball career. Instead of hiding his child in a weak travel ball program that runs from competition, he put her in the most competitive( for now ) club in the city. She was the youngest player in the program and still he did no fight her battles . Apparently, this father heard that another father was “bashing “ his child. The upset father walked calmly over to the ALLEGED baby basher and simply said “ Let’s go outside and talk”. The ALLEGED baby basher did not want to go outside and talk. He knew that this father was in no mood for discussion. The slighted father perceived that his flesh and blood was being hit by stones for no valid reason. I personally know both guys and I’m glad that they did not go outside. No good thing could have came from it. What did come from the encounter was a very strong message to the baby bashers. Some people are ABLE to defend themselves from the jealous attacks from CAIN!
