Cry baby

I've often wondered how the de-emphasis of competition in athletics would affect the world of sports. A recent tirade by Spanish cyclist Alberto Contador may give us a hint.

Contador won the Tour de France in 2007, and races for the Astana cycling team. Since Lance Armstrong announced his plans to compete in next year’s tour, many speculate he may join Astana because of his ties with team leader Johan Bruyneel.

Contador threw a little fit, apparently believing his past performance earned him the team’s top spot for life.

“I think I’ve earned the right to be a leader of the team without having to fight for my place,” he said. (Insert whiney voice for better effect.) “And with Armstrong, some difficult situations could arise in which the team would put him first, and that would hurt me.”

Wahh, wahh, wahh!

I don’t even know where to start with this.

What kind of world does Contador live. He gets to be the team leader for life…with no fight?? I’m picturing NFL veterans all over the league wishing for that kind of deal.

In every sport, athletes compete for positions. They compete for playing time. The work and push and sacrifice to earn their spot, and then they fight some more to keep it. That’s how it works.

But after two decades of youth sporting leagues that don’t keep score and concern themselves with elevating participants’ self-esteem instead of actually fostering healthy competition, we are starting to see athletes with a sense of entitlement.

Praising kids just for the sake of offering praise does not develop real self-esteem. Heck, kids know the score…they’re not that dumb. What we are creating is a bunch of spoiled brats who think they are entitled to whatever they want, simply because they graced the field with their presence.