Rise and Shine, Park Cities (5-23-11)

1. A reader who attended the YMCA track meet Saturday sent this photo of the back of the jersey worn by a 4th grade boys team (and their coaches) from an HPISD school. She wrote, “Guess humility and sportsmanship were not the lessons being taught. Disappointing that this is becoming acceptable in our culture.” What do you think?

2. Granola-ish nutrimoms are raging. A UP Elementary mom claims she was booted from the school library for nursing while covered with a blanket. HPISD’s Helen Williams responded:

Billie Kissinger said that over the years, when mothers are nursing on campus, she and Dr. Carter offer a private place for them to nurse. They do this both out of consideration for the nursing mothers and for the children, faculty members and volunteers who are in the libraries, classrooms and other public areas.

3. Today is packed with mixed emotions for area parents. To some, it’s the last Monday of peace before summer. To others, it is the countdown to fun. I’m somewhere in between but certain I should be savoring every last second.

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33 thoughts on “Rise and Shine, Park Cities (5-23-11)

  • May 23, 2011 at 8:50 am
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    I find the T-shirt amusing. I’m more concerned with the behavior of the kids and coaches wearing it. If the shirt were part of a taunt, that would be different.

    Sounds like schools should make known their private places for nursing, to avoid throwing moms out of other places.

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  • May 23, 2011 at 9:26 am
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    Uh oh, the kids are trying to have a little fun with their shirts; call the PC police. Manufactured drama is fun too.

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  • May 23, 2011 at 9:44 am
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    I was the one that came up with that t-shirt idea. It was done tongue-in-cheek because our team got waxed the year before. We toyed with the idea of putting “Congrats” on the front for the people that finished ahead of our boys.
    If anyone paid attention at the meet(and not just take a pic and send it in anonymously), our boys congratulated everyone they ran with and against.
    All I heard from other school’s parents was that the shirt was funny. The Y officials at the meet thought it was funny. No one but the sourpuss picture taker took this seriously.
    Please send me your contact info(or just give it to Merritt anonymously) so I can clear all future wardrobe and uniform decisions. On second thought, no, don’t. Political correctness has run amok and I’m tired of it.

    “Guess humility and sportsmanship were not the lessons being taught. Disappointing that this is becoming acceptable in our culture.”

    Humility, sportsmanship and self-deprecating humor were being taught.
    I was there. Our other 2 coaches were there. Did you think to ask one of us what the deal was? No, you simply took a pic(love the angle-symbolically from above on your ivory tower) and took a cheap shot at us.
    I teach my kids that when someone says or does something that’s not nice, he/she is usually unhappy with him/herself.
    Here’s to you finding happiness…
    Mike Corwin

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  • May 23, 2011 at 9:49 am
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    1) The shirt at the track meet did make me laugh, but I agree it’s in really poor taste. The coach should have made the runner remove it.
    2) This one is tough because it depends on the circumstances at the time. If the mom’s breastfeeding was attracting attention from kids who were supposed to be reading, then she should have taken it upon herself to go somewhere more private. If no one was taking notice, then all potentially offended parties need to get over themselves. If they can’t handle the sight of a blanket over a baby’s head, then I’m concerned for them.
    3) I’m feeling a bit of both. Hello, sleeping in…goodbye, ability to schedule anything for the next 3 months (unless they’re at camp).

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  • May 23, 2011 at 9:58 am
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    It’s the countdown to fun at my house!! Can’t wait to get my kids home and enjoy summer!

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  • May 23, 2011 at 10:00 am
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    As for the shirt, the build on that kid does not indicate that he would be that fast of a runner. If you’re going to wear that sort of thing, you had better be able to back it up.

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  • May 23, 2011 at 10:15 am
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    I saw the shirt on Saturday, and thought it was funny. Some context is needed, this is a fun day, with kids of all abilities running a track meet. Competitive, yes, but fun was the focus of the day. As many cheers for the girls/ boys finishing last in their heat as for those finishing first.

    More surprising were the number of kids with track spikes. A 9 year old girl with track spikes? How ridiculous is that?

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  • May 23, 2011 at 10:21 am
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    The YMCA track meet always is and ,was again this year, a very fun and enjoyable experience. ALL teams show great sportsmanship and team pride. The shirts were fun and brought a laugh by all. NOBODY on that team or any others showed any kind of bad sportsmanship. I am saddened for the parent who thought it important to send a photo of the shirt and try to put a dark light on what was a wonderful day by all. The YMCA does a fantastic job as do all the volunteer parents who gave their time to coach or volunteer at this event. Obviously, that parent was not one of those volunteers as they were up in the stands finding something to complain about. Please think twice before you complain about something that was NEVER an issue by any participants during the event. Being a volunteer, I was on the field the entire time and dealt with all of the athletes and coaches.

    Your bad attitude gets press and starts putting a negative light on events that are run by gracious volunteers. Sadly, it will ultimately effect your child because people will stop participating and stop volunteering their time if you continue to find minor flaws in every single thing we do. Please adjust your attitude and start thinking about the best in people instead of the worst.

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  • May 23, 2011 at 10:45 am
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    I’m more appalled by “Nice Mom” who felt the need to put down the elementary school aged child’s build and that he doesn’t look like he would be fast. I say we set up a track meet for the two.

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  • May 23, 2011 at 10:58 am
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    I loved the shirt & my son had the best time at the track meet! He won some & lost some and the shirt had nothing to do with it. I agree that I saw our boys congratulating boys from other schools & thought that was very good sportsmanship! Thanks to all who volunteered their time & especially the Hyer coaches! Can’t wait until next year……..SEE YA!

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  • May 23, 2011 at 11:03 am
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    The parents around me, including myself, thought those T-shirts were hilarious. I know most of those kids, and it was all in good fun. To the one who sent the photo….Get over it!

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  • May 23, 2011 at 11:31 am
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    Was there for 7 hours on Saturday – the shirts were fine. Healthy competition. Our kids were cheering on boys on other teams they had grown up with and were now running for other schools. There seemed to be alot of “spirit” this year – which to me – channeled toward a track event is a good thing.

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  • May 23, 2011 at 11:42 am
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    The T-shirt..yes, get over it. On the nursing mother? Common, people. This is life! If the woman is comfortable with nursing in public, why “force” her to go somewhere private. Maybe she doesn’t want to!! This is a very acceptable way to nourish our children–books and mother’s milk! Unbelievable, the attitudes of today’s world. I say nursing mothers should rise up against such actions and demand the right to nurse in a public environment. If you don’t like, stop staring!!!

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  • May 23, 2011 at 12:20 pm
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    On the subject of the nursing mother, I think that it is fine to nurse in public, BUT not in a quiet place like a library IF the child is one who makes a lot of noise. Some babies do make lots of satisfied sounds and that can bother others. My mother had a hard time enjoying the symphony one evening due to a nursing baby sitting next to her and she didn’t care what they were doing, but the mmm’s and slurps didn’t go with the music!

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  • May 23, 2011 at 12:48 pm
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    another comment on shirts for this event in general…Can the Y please sell/issue us a team shirt? Currently the team parents are responsble for getting a team shirt. So my older child’s team had a $30 shirt! For one day! its not alot of $$ really but to hand me a shirt the day before the event and tell me they are $30 was a little bit of a shocker. My other kids shirt was $5 so i was expecting something in that range.

    I truly love this event and thank the Y for going to the great legnths it takes to put this on. I will say i was appalled by the amount of trash left behind by the parents. they left the place a total mess and the Y people were the only ones left to clean it up.

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  • May 23, 2011 at 1:51 pm
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    Having coached against and with (but mostly against) Mike Corwin for over 6 years in nearly every sport imaginable, I know Mike to be one of best role models for our children in terms of sportsmanship. No other coach I know stresses having the proper attitude (including being a good sport) as much as Mike does. He is also the most giving of his personal time – Just ask the YMCA.

    Hey, Mike, do you remember that spring flag football game where you tried to talk me into coaching the 4th grade track team because you didn’t have enough time. You said there was absolutely no way you’d have enough time and you weren’t going to let the YMCA talk you into it.

    I guess no other parents stepped up and so of course you made the sacrifice.

    Thank you, Mike.

    Steve Cooke

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  • May 23, 2011 at 2:00 pm
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    The shirts were great. I enjoyed the meet and saw no one being a poor sport. In fact, since the shirts were worn by fourth graders, I thought the saying just meant that they were moving on to middle school. Forgive me for not interpreting it correctly.

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  • May 23, 2011 at 2:03 pm
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    If we’re commenting on the Y

    When are they going to go back to Quick Scores? AllPlayers is awful.

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  • May 23, 2011 at 4:02 pm
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    I (and the parents sitting around me) thought the T-shirts demonstrated poor sportsmanship and reflected poorly on Hyer (some parents actually said “I’ll bet that’s Hyer” before they even knew what school the kids came from). That said, they were funny! I think if you are going to wear an in-your-face t-shirt, you should be prepared to have some people think it is tacky. If it’s OK to wear it, it’s also OK for someone else to not like it. Kudos to your sense of humor, but it might have been more appropriate for high schoolers.

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  • May 23, 2011 at 4:26 pm
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    Ditto what Marti said! The kids all had fun and I only witnessed the good stuff!

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  • May 23, 2011 at 4:54 pm
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    Im from another school and didn’t find them offensive at all. Can’t anyone have a little fun anymore. Personally, I would have liked to have seen a little yellow in there. I saw Hyer friends cheering for my Bradfield son. Very cool day. Also, let me guess, you haven’t volunteered for anything in your life but love to point fingers and judge. Lighten up Ms. Anonymous!

    ps. more importantly, do we have any results??

    pss. shame on you matt for making fun of a child! innocent at that.

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  • May 23, 2011 at 5:54 pm
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    Mike Corwin…. I love the shirts! Very funny! I want one!
    I also loved your reply.

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  • May 23, 2011 at 6:05 pm
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    oops…i didnt mean matt

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  • May 23, 2011 at 6:24 pm
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    Just paves the way for our favorite seniors to write (SKA) on the back of their rides in a few years. Good clean fun right until you think about it and realize the slogan (Seniors Kick A**) really is a pretty pathetic representation of so many great students here.

    By the way the “good clean fun argument” is the same used in all those little girl pagent shows where one mom was just in the news for using Botox on a 5 year old.

    Good clean fun.

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  • May 23, 2011 at 6:38 pm
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    Ditto XT–AllPlayers is an awful website!

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  • May 23, 2011 at 9:39 pm
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    I agree with Steve on Mike’s character – he is a fine man ! But….it’s just not appropriate to have that saying on the shirt. I would have vetoed it if I was the Y. Don’t think the former Y director would have let it happen. We ran in basic singlets back in the day. And very few were allowed on the track – we were in the stands – not on an ivory tower at all – because they were avoiding helicopter track parents hovering… There is NOTHING wrong with being a spectator.

    And Whatever has a good point – if you dish it out… be ready.

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  • May 24, 2011 at 8:52 am
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    This T-Shirt drama is beyond silly.

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  • May 24, 2011 at 12:49 pm
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    I was at the track meet, you might have seen me with the big foam #1 finger that said “Bradfield, Armstrong, UP, Hyer, Providence, Covenant and ESD are all #1”.

    The meet was a great event for the kids but there was, however, a dark side to the meet. I personally witnessed one mother CHEERING FOR HER OWN CHILD. By cheering for your own child you are, logically, cheering against the other children. Appalling and offensive. This is the type of behavior that destroys the self-esteem of all children and should not be tolerated. After researching this for several days, I calculate that there is a 25% chance that this cheering person was in fact a Hyer mom. This highly probable result is consistent with the theme of the “See Ya” t-shirts that were vigilantly brought to public attention by the anonymous reader. There is a pattern here that we, as a community, cannot ignore and cannot continue to tolerate.

    On a separate note, I am thrilled to report that we have finally gotten HPISD to remove dodge ball and other self-esteem killing competitive games from the gym curriculum. Special thanks to Mk, Nice Mom, Whatever! and L. We could not have done it without your efforts.

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  • May 25, 2011 at 10:21 am
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    I wish everyone would get over the shirt thing. It was not done maliciously, just trying to provide a little humor. Maybe we should just cancel all competitions and just give any kid who wants one a “participation blue ribbon”. Life is not fair, there are winners and losers. Kids learn life lessons from winning AND losing. If you don’t like it, pack up the family and move to a commune in Oregon or home school your kiddos.

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  • May 25, 2011 at 12:44 pm
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    Everybodygetsatrophy and MGBHstar, you’re on to something! In fact, HPISD has already adopted that policy so no child in elementary school can do better than “as expected” (a 3 grade) no matter how hard they work.

    Nothing is wrong with the tshirts. They didn’t provide an unfair advantage. Moreover, they are funny given the context of a race where one would assume the objective is to run faster than the other runners, who, before the self esteem movement, were known as opponents, and sometimes even (gasp) adversaries.

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  • May 25, 2011 at 4:55 pm
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    Sorry, I couldn’t help but laugh at the comments about the t-shirt. I’m not a Park Cities native, so I might understand the politics at play between the local intermediate schools, but I personally find nothing wrong with the shirt. I graduated from a high school in Texas, that like HP, had a very proud athletic tradition, including several state team titles in track & field. My senior year, the track team was especially loaded and both the 400 and 1600 relay teams set state records, as well as an individual who set the state record in the 100m. Before the season started, our track coach had t-shirts made that read “We Bust Ours To Beat Yours”. I wonder what the local parents would think of a shirt like that? It’s funny, at the regional track meet in the 100m finals, one of our guys was well ahead of the pack and one his teammates was battling for second. At the finish line, he turned to encourage his teammate, but officials interpreted it as “taunting” and so he DQ’ed. His teammate went on to win the state championship in the 100m that year.

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  • May 25, 2011 at 10:36 pm
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    Next year they’ll have only square balls. Round ones roll! They can roll into the street! Kids might chase them! They might get run over! And killed! Round balls KILL! NO ROUND BALLS! Only square, non-rollable safe balls shall be used in all sports from now on. Helecopter parents unite!

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  • May 27, 2011 at 6:59 pm
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    I’m so glad you all think the shirts are funny. Do you realize these are not High school kids. They are 9 or 10. At a meet with kids younger as well.

    It’s just not neccessary, even if it’s not offensive to you.

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