On 22 Jan 2007 15:16:38 -0800, wrote:


Swingman wrote:

Buy the cars in bulk, factory made and shipped to the scout hut under armed
guard so no parent could figure out how to get an edge; let each cub pick
out his racer, blindfolded ...then go straight to the starting line.

Thrill in victory, and participation, no agony in defeat ... and a good time
was had by all.

Amen. I remember in the early 60s when The Derby was big... really
big. And SUPPOSED to be a an event between scouts. Sure, a little
help from Dad, but just guidance. We all built our cars and had a
great time looking at each other's work... you remember... the left
over decals from models stuck on the sides, chunks knocked out of the
wood bodies from using your boy scout knife too aggressively, paint
where it shouldn't be...

Then the Dads took over. The cars looked great, no more airplane
decals on your car - just car decals, there were paint schemes, not
just painted cars, and the nails that were the axles were replaced with
piano wire. A glued on washer or fishing weight was replaced by a
precise hole filled with molten lead. Eventually it It got so bad that
even the Dads thought it was ridiculous, so instead of backing off....

THEY FORMED THEIR OWN COMPETITION!

And those sorry asses (mine included) ran their competitions on the
same night at the same meeting as ours. They had their own categories
inside the event (best design, best paint, most original) and they even
had a huge trophy for the race winner. Eventually there was so much to
the Dad's portion of the derby that all but a couple of us quit making
cars and let them have it.

I know there were a lot of guys that have similar experiences as I have
been in many, many houses over the years that proudly display "their
son's" *wink*wink* car right next to their Dad's. When I have seen
only one car in the display case, I know of no 10 - 12 year old that
could have done the things I have seen.

I know many feel your kids would be scarred forever for losing, so you
feel like you have to participate to make the cars as good as you can.
But I don't really think it has been about the kids for a few decades.
This is not a jab at Locutus, but reading his post, what did his son do
to participate? What was his part? He isn't even mentioned in the
whole process (except to select paint) again until the end where
ownership of the car makes him the winner.

So I like Swingman's idea a lot. Give them a box of stickers to
personalize the cars and let 'em have at it. I think the kiddos are a
lot more resilient than they get credit for. If they had 30 minutes to
customize a car before running the race and that represented the prep
part of the competition, I think all would be fine, win or lose. And
then they could enjoy the racing with their friends, admiring each
other's cars, and eating hot dogs and pizza.

It's a funny thing, but there was a time in the US when kids were
allowed to lose, all on their own. Those losers won two world wars,
put a man on the Moon, invented the atomic bomb, and did numerous
other things including creating an economy so powerful that the rest
of the world looked on in awe and terror as its products dominated
their cultures.

Since then, what have the "winners" done? Near as I can tell they
mostly quit the first time things didn't go their way.