Classic Rant #979 (June 7, 2013): Awards Week

This was a pretty big week for my family.

Not only did my wife and I celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary, but our son received two sports-related awards over the past two days.

On Wednesday, he received an award for participating in the Police Boys Club Saturday Afternoon Bowling League.

This is not just any bowling league. This league is specifically geared to those who have learning disabilities, and physical and emotional problems.

It provides an opportunity for those kids who normally shunned athletics to get into sports as much as anybody else, to be themselves, and to act like typical teenagers ... which they are, through and through.

My son enjoyed this league. He is very quiet, doesn't show his emotions that well, but he knew that every Saturday, at least for an hour or two, he had a chance to show his athletic side.

His team was sort of a middle of the road team, not the league champion, but he and his team did well.

He averaged slightly over 100, which is fine.

The next night, on Thursday, he won an award for participating in the Challenger Basketball League.

I have written about this before in this blog.

Again, it is a basketball league for those kids in participating school districts who usually fall by the wayside athletically.

If you can get on the court, in any way possible, you can play in this league.

My son really enjoyed this competition. He would talk about it continually while it was on, and honestly, I wish more schools participated in this program.

I was able to go to one game, and the enthusiasm shown by the kids and the crowd was electrifying.

Nobody is looking for the next Lebron James here, but the kids really get into it.

My wife and I are quite proud of our son. In spite of his learning disability, he really is your average teenager. What kid doesn't like to show off his athletic prowess every now and again?

So, all told, this was a pretty great week for myself and my family.

I don't know if next week can duplicate this one, but we're going to try.

Speak to you again on Monday.