Do Millennials Believe in Sportsmanship? September 4, 2009
Posted by Blake Sunshine in millennials, sports.Tags: boise state, legarrette blount, millennial, millennial trophy, millennials, oregon, oregon football, oregon punch, sportsmanship, trophy kids
1 comment so far
I’ve written about sportsmanship before, but with the start of college football this weekend I wanted to bring it up again.
Last night Oregon’s starting tailback LeGarrette Blount sucker punched a player from Boise State in the face, before getting into a confrontation with fans and eventually having to be escorted off of the field.
The game even started out with a sportsmanship initiative, where 15 players from each team walked up to each other and shook hands. Now I don’t know if he will be kicked off of the team or just suspended for a few games, but whatever happens I have to wonder do Millennials believe in sportsmanship? Or is it just another word that means nothing to our generation? We’ve received trophies for good sportsmanship, but are we actually good sports?
Why trophies don’t matter to millennials April 22, 2009
Posted by Blake Sunshine in millennials, Uncategorized.Tags: millennial trophy kids, millennials, millennials at work, trophy kids
15 comments
It is interesting to me that people often refer to millennials as “trophy kids.” I get where the name comes from, and I’m sure it has to do with the fact that millennials have been given trophies all of their lives for EVERYTHING. In fact I still have numerous trophies sitting in my childhood room, and the only one I actually received for winning something was from when my 5-year-old tee ball team won the NYO Atlanta tournament (I was the only girl on the team, so I’m not sure I actually contributed to our victory, but that’s another story).
But besides that trophy, I have swimming trophies all over my room. I never won a swimming competition (or even a race), yet I have trophies to show for my efforts. And for some reason members of Gen-X think that me being awarded these trophies somehow correlates to a feeling of entitlement and a need for praise even if I didn’t excel at something.
Well everyone, I am here to say that you have taken this whole trophy thing WAY too far. Where is the research that correlates being given trophies as a child to a feeling for entitlement?
I think that trophies matter much more to the people analyzing and managing millennials than they ever meant to us. We never felt special or praised just because we got a trophy. We felt special because we won the race or because we got an A. It never had anything to do with the trophy!
Trophies have never mattered to millennials.
