The Role of Sports in a Child's Development

The other day my little brother, Miles, was placed on a baseball team in my town's Little League. Even though we sent in his registration forms way after the deadline, they let him in the league and needless to say I was ecstatic when I heard the news. Not only was I happy because I'll have an opportunity to watch my brother play a sport I once loved, but also because I am a huge believer in the positive impact that sports have in a child's development. For me personally, sports were a huge staple of everything I did when I grew up. I also learned a lot of transferable skills from sports such as teamwork, motivation and leadership skills. A paper title "Healthy Child Development Through Sport and Recreation: A Discussion Paper"details the benefits associated with playing sports as a child. One benefit that the paper discusses is "smart" risk taking, meaning children are less likely to smoke or do drugs if they play sports. The paper also details how sports can enhance family relationships and also allow children to develop positive supportive attachments with adults outside the family (coaches). Anyway, the bottom line is that I am extremely happy for Miles. I can't wait to practice with him and go to his games. I encourage everyone to support their brother/sister/son/cousin to participate in activities with positive benefits, whatever that may be (*cough* sports *cough*)

The Month of Madness

March Madness has finally arrived. The time for people to fill out their brackets, jump on a team's bandwagon, and suffer declines in productivity at work (due to constantly peaking at scores) is upon us; I couldn't be more excited. The tournament officially kicked off this past Tuesday, with the first real slate of games taking place Thursday. Myself and a friend managed to get a bargain on some tickets ($25/each for $70 face value tickets--thanks Stubhub!) for the afternoon games. It was cool to see Texas A&M v. BYU and Chattanooga vs. Connecticut--Hasheem Thabeet is even taller in person. Although my bracket took a major hit Friday night with the huge upset of Wake Forest, I've decided to share it anyway: Malc's Bracket. Below are some pictures from the game.

Going green, Pescatarianville here I come..

Yes, after heavy consideration and thorough contemplation, I have decided to go green; I'm becoming a pescatarian. A pescatarian is someone who abstains from eating all meat and animal flesh with the exception of fish. It's usually a stepping stone towards become a full fledged vegetarian—something I'm definitely not ready for yet. There are numerous benefits to becoming some type of vegetarian, a few of which are documented in this article titled "21 REASONS for being a Vegetarian." For me personally, I decided to make the change in order to be healthier and because of the numerous positive social externalities that result from being a vegetarian. I'm not writing this post to implore you to become a vegetarian, but rather to entreat you to stay interested in your health and nutrition; it makes a difference.

A trip to the museum

Saturday, I took a trip to the African American Art Museum of Philadelphia. Trips to the museum can always be an amorphous experience since you never know what to expect. Feelings can range from absolute boredom to a life changing experience; mine was more towards the latter. Connecting with my past always inspires me to learn more and give back to the African American community. I think we should all spend some more time participating in whatever experience(s) motivate you to give back. Anyway, here are some pictures I took at the museum.

Another blog?

Yes, I've decided to start another blog, (maybe even two, but we'll see) mainly because there is so much that I want to write about, but I didn't feel that everything "fit" this page appropriately. This new blog focuses around business and to reach it just visit www.malconbiz.blogspot.com

Value of Family

Today I had one of the most touching experiences of my life. I called home to talk to my family; anticipating either my Mom, Brother or Dad picking up the phone. But to my pleasant surprise, first my brother picked up the phone with an excited "Hey, Malcolm!", followed by the same greeting from my Dad and then my Mom just seconds later (so if you can imagine it was like "Hey, Malcolm" x 3). Needless to say it was a great moment. My family's exuberance made me feel special and loved. It reminded me of the importance of my family in my life and how much they truly care for me. However, the excitement transferred through the phone was clearly inverted. After everything my family has done for me I should have greeted them with a tremendous amount of excitement.

With that said, I want to implore everyone to show more love towards their families. Call them more often. Talk longer on the phone. Show them how much you appreciate them. I know that as people (especially as college students) we often get caught up in the day to day grind, but make time - it's important. In fact, call your family tomorrow and speak to them. Trust me, it'll make you and them feel special.

The incubation of violence in our youths

Today is a beautiful day here in Philadelphia and as such, many people are outside in shorts and t-shirts, enjoying the good weather. Today is also a Wednesday, and on Wednesdays I go to visit my little brother (not my real brother, although that would be amazing). With today being the beautiful day it is, my Little and I decided to go outside to play a game of Uno. Within minutes of being outside we were both startled by a loud noise. It turns out that the teachers let the rest of the kids who had lunch at this time go outside too, and who wouldn't on a day like today. But the point of this post isn't to talk about the mere fact that they were outside, but rather the way they they interacted with one another while outside. I know its been a while since I was in 6th grade, but I remember kids spending time outside playing basketball, tag, jumping rope and the occasional game of kill the carrier (if the teachers allowed it).

However, this was far from the case. In fact they were all fighting, nearly all 120 kids. Not wrestling, not an aggressive game of tag, but Roy Jones, Muhammad Ali I'm going to knock you out fighting. It was wild and disturbing, needless to say. The sight was a clear example of the prevalence of a violent culture within America. A culture that is incubated in our youth and birthed in our adults in the form of robbing, raping and domestic abuse. I admit that I don't spend enough time analyzing these situations and as such am not truly aware of the underlying causes, however what I do know is that this is a problem and it needs to be addressed. However, for now I'm going to keep visiting my little brother and observing his interaction amongst his peers, trying to curb his aggressiveness and make a difference one child at a time.