Tigerland's tough love steels fans Sally Morrell
Herald Sun
May 17, 2010 EACH time Richmond plays I'm left with just one consolation as I sadly turn off the TV and hug our crushed youngest
Suffering makes us more noble, right?
But my colleague, Sally Bennett, wants her son to suffer no more. On this very page last Friday she urged Tiger fans, including her 11-year-old son, to cancel their memberships and stop turning up to games.
"Cut that pack of losers loose, take a stand and make them earn your respect," she said.
Of course, I can understand her disappointment. I've seen my boys cry, too.
But there is a positive side to our bad start to the year. All right, disastrous start.
For one, my 10-year-old son is getting some amazing life lessons from his love affair with the Tigers. Never in his lifetime have they been even close to being winners, which means he's learning to lose and lose and lose again - and take it on the chin.
How many other kids his age have had this lesson drummed into them so often and so hard?
Remember, he's supposed to be one of the "everyone's a winner" generation. "Everyone gets a prize" is the mantra.
In my day the only winner for pass-the-parcel games was the kid left holding the parcel when the music stopped for the last time.
Now we wrap a present in every layer of paper on the parcel and make sure to stop the music so often and carefully that every child wins.
Nor do you win or lose much at primary school. The Student of the Week award seems to be handed out almost alphabetically.
And as for those report cards - talk about everyone being a winner.
But the Tigers are into tough love. It's lose, lose, lose all the way. This is the resilience-building stuff that psychologists charge a fortune to teach.
Each Monday morning for years my boys have known they'll get teased by their mates who follow the high-flying teams.
And each Monday morning they front up for their punishment.
This year in particular, I've seen my sensitive youngest harden up. Much more of this and hard words from some spiteful bully won't carry much weight any more.
Secondly, I'm really proud that my sons and my daughter have never thought once of switching to a more successful team.
And not only that, my youngest in particular has never once toned down his adoration of the team. Every wall of his room is still decorated with the boys from the yellow and black, and there's not even been a request to take off the Tiger stickers from the back of the car.
Talk about flaunting it.
Yes, all three are born optimists: "We're setting ourselves up for the next couple of years," says James.
But it's still really heartening as a parent to see your kids are not the type to drop their mates when the going gets tough.
These are children who will one day say those words "for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health" and know the full meaning of each syllable, and know also that they've met that test before.
Don't let your son switch teams, Sally. Yes, the Tigers might be "a pack of losers" but they're teaching our kids to be life's winners.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/opinion/tigerlands-tough-love-steels-fans/story-e6frfifo-1225867455192
