We Need Vince Lombardi in our School System

This is a modification of a rant I published a few years ago

A bit far fetched, but here is a thought. One of the reasons education in America is falling behind is that children are no longer driven to succeed, but rather just to pass. They are taught to pass tests, not necessarily to learn. They are shown over and over that just passing is enough. They now graduate from each level of school from kindergarten to college in the somewhat misdirected theory that, because so many will not graduate from college or high school, they are graduated from middle school to show they have accomplished something. Kids are given trophies for participating, not excelling. Score isn't kept in little kids' games because we don't want them to dote on winning.

Mediocrity is seen as the goal.  The goal we are teaching isn't to be the best you can be, but only be good enough to get the prize - that's my definition of mediocrity."

If Coach Vince Lombardi was running NASCAR, the standings after last Sunday's race in Arizona would be:

1. Brad Keselowski with 6 wins

2. Joey Logano  5 wins

3. Kevin Harvick 4 wins

    Jeff Gordon 4 wins

    Dale Earnhardt 4 wins

    Jimmie Johnson 4 wins

4. Carl Edwards 2 wins

5. Six drivers, each with 1 win

6.  Ryan Newman, and 5 other drivers without a win all season

Instead, NASCAR in all its wisdom, gives points for so many different things that Lombardi's philosophy of "Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing" goes completely out the window.

Here's the current NASCAR standings:

1.  Denny Hamlin who only scored one win all season

2.  Joey Logano with 5 wins

3.  Ryan Newman with absolutely no wins all season

4.  Kevin Harvick with 4 wins

Note:  While all the other drivers will be on the starting grid for the final race, only the top four are competing for the season championship.  No wonder our kids aren't driven to succeed.  Keselowski, the driver with the most wins isn't eligible for the championship while Newman, without a win on his record all year is in third place and could conceivably win it all.    "See kiddies, if you play safe and finish well you, too, can become rich and famous. Don't worry about winning, that's too risky."