Enabling Questionable and Poor Behavior

One of the books that I read and did not recommend was the
book by Michael Phelps written with (most probably by) Allan Abrahamsom called “No
Limits – The Will to Succeed.”  I
am not trying to pile on Phelps, but his current situation is simply a
culmination of enabling questionable behavior along the way. If you read
between the lines in the book you will see that. If I hear one more time that
he is only 23 and still learning I will barf. He was mature enough to sign that huge
endorsement deal with Speedo when he was a teenager. At 23 I had been working
at a real job for two years as most of us have done. But this is bigger than Phelps, it
is societal issue where the star high school athlete gets away with cheating in
the classroom or drinking or smoking dope as long as they produce on Friday night.
The star pro linebacker literally gets away with murder and then is lionized in
the press for his charitable foundation. Let’s get real, adult authority figures
enable this poor and questionable behavior by not dealing with at the youngest
ages. I was taught and still teach that with rights there is responsibility. Responsibility
to yourself, your family and your teammates. It is not comfortable sometimes to
have standards and to hold to them, but it is necessary. Coaches are teachers
and teaching good life skills is one of our first responsibilities.