MAN UP

Tony Porter has a speech on TED named “ A Call to Men”.  In it he discusses how men are taught at a young age to not show emotion, be dominating and to abuse and degrade women.  He told personal stories to relate to the topic. Watching him speak, you could tell he was not making it up, and really had a very strong feeling about the subject.

This made me think. What is it that we as a society are teaching our young boys? Why is it ok for girls to cry and not boys? The answer is in no way simple. From a very young age boys are taught to “man up” and not show emotion. Emotion is looked at as a weakness, and boys aren’t supposed to be weak. As a child how do you know that? The while family is usually intricate in instilling this value.  We inadvertently stop a young boy from crying and make him talk to us like a “man”. When a young girl cries, we embrace her and encourage emotion. How does this affect a young boy witnessing?

Boys grow up thinking women are the weaker of the sexes, and only little girls show emotion. Boys are bullied, tormented and made fun of for showing any type of emotion. They are then compared to girls, and as Tony Porter said it destroys boys.  Being compared to a girl, goes deep down into a boy’s soul and hurts.

We as a society need to remember that what we teach and show boys at a young age, they will remember as men. Being in the “man box” will be more important than doing what is right. Tony Porter told a story that will always stick out in my mind.  A young lady who is mentally ill (which he didn’t know at the time) was lying in bed naked, being taken advantage of men and boys. When Tony was offered the opportunity to have sex with her, he didn’t do it,  but went in the room to act like he was.  He realized that there were boys lined up outside to have their way with her. Instead of being a MAN and standing up for himself, he fit right into the man box and did what he thought he was supposed to, he said “it was good” and left.

We MUST teach our children the difference between RIGHT and WRONG and stop focusing so much on losing manhood for doing what is right.  Listening to this speech was a great decision. He was very passionate and made you want to listen.

My question to men is simple…Will you MAN UP and teach children the RIGHT way, or keep teaching boys they have to fit into a “man box”???

NFLPA-What is going on?!?!? Lockout

 I want to make it clear that this lockout is NOT because players don’t want to play. This is happening because the players and owners could not come to an agreement. Honestly I believe it’s pretty childish and elementary

The NFLPA has been very instrumental in making sure the NFL players were getting benefits, receiving salary while injured, pensions and overall making sure they were being taken care of.  

For just a tad bit of history, on July 3, 1968, the NFLPA threatened to strike, and the owners’ decided on a lockout…sounds like the events of March 11, 2011!!

As we all know, the NFLPA decertified on March 11, 2011 at 5pm due to the inability to come to an agreement on the new CBA terms with the owners. Technically the NFLPA no longer exists. This decertification left the NFL open to lawsuits due to antitrust laws.  Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, and Tom Brady are expected to file antitrust suits, maybe coincidence that they are 3 of the best, if not the best quarterbacks in the NFL!! Since the quarterback is looked at as the leader of the team, who knows what will follow.

When the current, well, expired CBA was voted on in 2006, the vote came back 30-2 to accept the NFLPAs plan. The players and owners are disagreeing about insurance for retired players, and taking the season from 16 games to 18 games. This will be done by erasing 2 pre-season games and starting the season earlier.

 

Right now the NFL is in a lockout- no trading, no free agents. The draft scheduled for April 28-30 will still occur but the NFLPA is urging the draft prospects not to attend, and just gather at home. I have a HUGE problem with this.  Most of the athletes have dreamed of getting dressed up and taking their family to draft day since they were children. Those 3 days determine how their career will begin. I believe EACH AND EVERY draft prospect scheduled to be at Radio City Music Hall should attend.

I do not know what football fans, including myself are going to do without an NFL season!!!

The NFLPA is very important in my field, and I am sure this lockout will not last long. The association will be back and be better than ever…at least that’s what we can all hope.

Here is some food for thought provided by NFL Lockout

*If there is a lockout, an estimated $160 million would be lost in each NFL city.

*The owners have negotiated TV deals that guarantee them revenues even if games are not played in the 2011 season.

*NFL owners want to increase the amount of games, therefore increasing each player’s risk of injury, but decreasing salaries.

*NFL owners are adamant in their desire to reduce the share of league revenue set aside for player salaries by roughly 18 percent ($1 billion) beginning next year.

*The average NFL career is only 3.6 years.  It takes 3 accredited years to get just 5 years of post career healthcare.