It seems to me that the œtechnological world has us moving so fast that we are losing touch with a very important component of our lives called tradition. Not tradition in the sense of having to do things the way we already have but tradition as a foundation on which to create the future.

Lets take college athletics as an example. Schools are changing conferences so rapidly in pursuit of the television dollar that some of the great rivalries in sports will disappear. In some cases, over one hundred years of tradition may be cast in the trash pile.

So what, you might be thinking. Heres what! Those traditional rivalries are the source of the foundation for the success of intercollegiate athletics. The Ivy League (Yale, Harvard, Princeton, etal) will undoubtedly persist. Every other conference seems to be up for grabs. Also, the traditional intersectional rivalries are up for grabs (USC-Notre Dame, Oklahoma-Texas, etc.) as conferences grow larger.

So, what about this source thing. If you cant honor the source of something you cant full honor the thing itself. Just as with people, if you cant honor your father and mother as the source of your life, you cant fully honor your life.

In my humble opinion the BCS alliance has already messed with the traditional bowl games in football. The œgranddaddy of all the bowls, the Rose Bowl played with no Pacific Coast rep? You have got to be kidding. Maybe we should move the Rose Parade to Amarillo.

I am sure my thoughts are falling on deaf ears. Those ears, of course, belonging to all the television networks. We have coverage on top of coverage. More is not always better.

The young people competing today in all manner of sports are educated on ESPN. The think that what they see and hear is the gospel and should be emulated. I am not just talking about college athletes. I am talking about six year olds and up.

We have a generation or two of young people who think they are entitled to something just because they are here on the planet. Out in the world there is a surprise waiting”nobody owes them anything and life doesnt care how you think it should go.

If we can honor traditions and the people who were instrumental in forming them I think we have a chance to live life with a little humility and meet the challenges with courage. The competitive world of athletics is a great laboratory to learn those lessons if we dont lose sight of where we came from.

Coaches and leaders get your copy of Coach Todds latest book œThe Art of Losing, œCoaching Athletics and Thriving in a Made for TV World It is available on-line at lulu.com or vervante.com along with the other books authored by Coach Todd.