Athletic Support: Naysayers bringing me down eli.cranor@gmail.com December 5, 2021 Eli Cranor is a former professional quarterback and coach turned award-winning author. Please use the “Contact” page at elicranor.com to send in questions for “Athletic Support.”

Dear Athletic Support: I feel like a lot of your columns lately have been putting youth sports down. Every parent who writes in seems to have some major complaint. Some problem they have with their child’s coach or practice schedule or whatever their latest issue is. In our house, we love sports. We live and breathe it! I found your column because I thought I could get some good, insider information about how to help my children become the best athletes possible. That hasn’t been the case, especially lately. What are your goals with this column? Surely you get to pick and choose your questions. And if that’s the case, then why do you consistently pick the complainers? My son’s coach calls kids (and parents) who are always complaining “naysayers.” Nobody wants a naysayer on their team. And, quite frankly, I don’t want to read about a bunch of naysayers, either.

— Find The Light

Dear Lights: The truth is, I don’t have the luxury of choosing which questions to run each week. Most weeks, I’m lucky to even have enough questions to produce a column.

So, if you think I’m picking out the “naysayers” because I think it will make for a more controversial read or somehow get my column better coverage — you’re dead wrong.

I’m just fighting to have enough material to keep this thing going.

In regard to the naysayers: I know this group well. I remember them from my days in the locker room, both as a player and a coach. They were not fun to be around. A naysayer can kill team morale faster than a bad loss.

Seems to me like they were always upset about something. Lack of playing time, mainly. And would try and voice their opinions in order to feel better about themselves.

You’re right — there’s no room for this on a team. But an anonymous, sports-themed advice column? Well, that seems like just the place for a naysayer.

In the end, the squeaky wheel gets the grease. And as the author of this column, I can say I’m thankful for all the squeaky wheels out there!

Dear Athletic Support: My son’s coach cancelled all the basketball practices over Thanksgiving Break. He said he didn’t have practice because school was cancelled and he wanted to give the boys time to enjoy the holiday. But then we lost our first game when we returned. It was the first loss of the season, and I can’t help but think it had something (a lot, actually) to do with us not practicing for a whole week. What’s your opinion about practicing over breaks?

— Hard Work Pays Off

Dear Hard Work: Time spent with family will always take precedence over sports. The memories you and your son created over that break will last a lifetime. I hope you enjoyed your time with him because it is fleeting. Your son will grow up and move on.

With that in mind, I hope you come to realize getting to spend this Thanksgiving together was a gift. And you have his coach to thank for that.


Previous columns:

• Player forced to run after missing practice for sickness
• Volunteering at tournament no fun
• Not enough help with Booster Club
• Hoping my son quits basketball
• I wish my son practiced less
• When should my son start football?
• No ‘bad faces’ in basketball
• Son wants to join football team midway through season
• Housekeeper can’t make daughter’s game
• Auditions getting in the way of volleyball
• Foul language on the sideline
• Laundry Stinks
• Fit more important than price when it comes to cleats
• Facebook ads and too many practices
• Coach pushing vaccine on players
• Youth sports like a cult
• Coach’s pregame speech too crazy for kids
• Championship rings and multiple sweatbands — too much?
• Working out over the Dead Weeks?
• Summer School Blues
• Practices running late causing problems
• Softball games going past midnight
• Are athletes getting better with age?
• Are team sports a vital part of childhood?
• Summer schedule way too serious
• What if I can’t afford private speed camps?
• Quarterback lacks speed
• Should pro athletes talk politics?
• How to take a hit
• Wrestling in college, what’s the point?
• Removal of mask requirement could cost us games
• Overachieving daughter stinks at sports
• Why are we playing all the small schools?
• Freshmen don’t make varsity, usually
• Kids have changed, haven’t they?
• Esports and disc golf bigger than football?
• Little pitchers have big ears
• Pregame music offensive
• Fouls in girls basketball
• Red Shirting
• Coach makes political post
• 7th grade girls basketball woes
• Multi-million-dollar buyouts don’t make sense
• Private schools have the upper hand
• Best of 2020

Athletic Support Columns 2020


Outside of athletics, kids’ brains are also at risk. Who knows what sort of impact virtual learning will have on their cognition and critical thinking skills. In this regard, I offer one simple tool — a good book! And luckily, I know just the book for kids struggling with the shift to virtual learning:

BOOKS MAKE BRAINZ TASTE BAD! Okay, you caught me… I’m the author of this book. It was published last week and awarded a #1 New Release ranking on Amazon. BMBTB deals directly with the same topic covered in this column, except in a much more lighthearted, kid-friendly way (zombie teachers and brain-munching screens!) If you end up purchasing this book for your children or grandchildren, I only have one final suggestion — ask them to read it while standing up! Eli Cranor's new book Books Make Brainz Taste Bad has just been released. ZOMBIES HATE BOOKS! Especially the zombie teachers at Haven Middle School. That's why they're using VR headsets to fry kids' brainz. Luckily, Dash Storey knows how to save his classmates from the zombie teachers—BOOKS! They make brainz taste bad! "Eli Cranor has an almost unbeatable advantage. He can remember how it felt to think like a twelve-year-old and he can see the very same events like the adult he is. Don't try to resist this book!" - Jack Butler, Pulitzer-Prize nominated author