meathead proverbs

I had a gym teacher in elementary school that said "practice doesn't make perfect... perfect practice makes perfect." Weird right? Derry Village Elementary was an odd place with even stranger faculty. The school was situated right down the road from Robert Frost's farm. We were forced to make pilgrimages up the hill for field day and I always thought, man that Frost farmhouse is creepy. We weren't allowed to go in the old place, we just had to practice relay racing in the dandelion dotted fields without getting stung by bees. But "Perfect practice?" Not only is this a sloppy oxymoron, it negates the fact that we all learn from mistakes and that the fear of making mistakes stops most people from creative endeavors in the first place.

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I'll even go out on a limb here and state that the most successful athletes are the most creative in their field. They're the individuals who play the game not just harder, but smarter than their opponents. What do I know about sports, though?

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Mister gym teach (who I can't remember your name and might have been promoted to Principal*), from now on, during layups and ultimate Frisbee, I say you encourage students to perform the shittiest practice they can -- tripping, flailing, taunting, and, if the situation calls for it, no matter how humiliating it might be for participants and onlookers, group crying. Let your kids make some life changing mistakes today so they can develop into the wise, critical thinkers we need tomorrow.

Dang it.

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When did this blog get all preachy. Ok. No more.

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*after a quick google search, I found out that he is Principal now.