I have been involved
with the game of basketball since early in the 2nd grade. I first enjoyed the
game as a biddy player, and then my commitment to the game continued as I got older
to a ball boy, a player, and finally a coach. One of my greatest pride
and joys is being able to recant stories of great games and times that the
games have blessed me with, either as a participant or spectator. I
flourish being with friends at this time of the year, especially with my great
friend and father figure Roger Huebner, who recently attended is 46th
consecutive OHSAA Boys Basketball State Tournament. Fortunately for me, I
have been able to attend parts of the last twenty-six tournaments with him.
The importance of this cannot be overstated. Roger and his family
have been very instrumental in my own family’s development. This quality
is demonstrated every time when I call their home and his wife candidly reports
to me as “his good son”. This is humorous and humbling at the same time,
you see they do not have a son; they were blessed with two great daughters.
Roger has helped me, as a father of two young daughters, gain insight and
knowledge on what it takes to be a great dad. I see the relationships
that he maintains with his now grown daughters, as one that I cherish, one that
I hope to emulate.
As a basketball junkie,
there is probably no better time of the year. March Madness. In my
opinion, the greatest sporting event of the year concludes in Atlanta by
crowning the NCAA Men’s Basketball National Champions. People of all ages fill
out their brackets attempting to predict who will survive and advance round by
round. Being a person that has been fully consumed in the past, evident
by attending multiple tournament games including 5 Final Fours, I
really never thought the day would come that I would turn off and away
from the NCAA tournament to find myself watching what the girls in my house
call “my shows”. Probably to nobody’s bigger amazement than my own, this
seemingly occurred in the last two weeks in our home. Do you mean, that
in my opinion the best sporting event of the year, March Madness, has to take a
back seat to Doc McStuffins? My buddies must be astonished. Who does
this Doc McStuffins play for anyway they must wonder? Don’t get me wrong,
I still got my fair share of game coverage, but this March we decided to have
more DADness than madness.
What is March DADness
you may ask? All Pro Dad,capitalizing on our country’s
obsession with the bracket challenge made famous by the men’s tournament,
developed a challenge of their own titled March DADness.
During this daily bracket challenge, fathers were asked to vote and pick
the greatest TV dad of all time. All
Pro Dad, serving as the selection
committee, compiled a list of over one hundred TV dads throughout history and
narrowed the list down to 15, the 16th pick (or at-large pick) was determined
by vote of dads to be Howard Cunningham from Happy Days, who I believed to be
tremendously under seeded. The top sixteen dads from the history of
TV were formed and seeded. I don’t know how active of a voter I will be,
but what great conversation we have had as a family sharing our brackets as to
who we think was the best, and why. If you visit allprodad.com, you can follow
along. Amazingly there has been about as much chatter about fathers such
as John Walton being left off the list as a team that was on the NCAA bubble
and left out of the Big Dance. However, what is very interesting is that
even though the fathers seeded in the challenge span generations, from Ward
Cleaver’s main function in the series Leave it to Beaver, ending each episode with moral instruction for one or
both of his errant sons, to Duck Dynasty’s Willie Robertson whose
bio states, “Willie loves being outdoors with his family and friends
and is happiest at home in West Monroe, La with his wife Korie and children,
John Luke, Sadie, Will and Bella”. A dad’s impact is forever
remembered.
The fathers fortunate to
make the sweet sixteen embodied many of the same characteristics that make all
fathers great found in this month’s challenge. They gave of themselves;
they loved their families, taught discipline and instilled trust. Bill Cosby, the author of "Fatherhood", once stated, "In spite of the six thousand manuals on child raising in the
bookstores, child raising is still a dark continent and no one really knows
anything. You just need a lot of love and luck, and, of course courage". As much as I am looking forward to the results
of the NCAA tournament, I may be more interested in the impact March DADness
has on me as a father. I think lessons can be learned in each arena, I
guess I am just very thankful we have had those before us. Whether
you have a person like Roger in your life, or a TV dad that has assisted you
along your individual paths as a father, positives influences for fathers are
all around us.
As the
conclusion of the NCAA championship game nears, I think of how the game
coverage wraps-up with the Luther Vandross song “One Shining Moment.” As fathers, we have embraced each of our “One
Shining Moments” as they come to us. No matter the amount of practice
time we put into fatherhood, the numerous crucial buzzer beater plays we must
create and follow through with concerning our children and families to the countless
over-time hours we put in to be great fathers there is no doubt, the “madness”
of fatherhood is so well worth every minute!
Monthly Challenge: Look over All Pro Dad classic Top 10 list to see how well you measure up as a father. Set
a measurable goal by assigning each key point listed one point. Take the
time to keep a daily or weekly score and discuss your evidence of what or how
you did. Have your family keep score with you and you will have impactful
conversations.
1. Love your Wife
2. Spend time with your
kids
3. Be a Role Model
4. Understand and Enjoy
your children
5. Show Affection
6. Secure Your Families
Financial Security
7. Eat Together as a
Family
8. Discipline with a
Gentle Spirit
9. Pray and Worship
Together
10. Realize You are a
Father Forever
Monthly Quote: Being a great father is like
shaving. No matter how good you shaved today, you have to do it again tomorrow.
- Reed Markham, American educator
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