Well, the 2010 Pinewood Derby is over. TheBoy took fifth out of eight, but I am so proud of him I could burst. He handled coming in the bottom half of the field better than I ever would have dreamed, knowing that he did his best. He did the majority of the work on his car, something that the first place winner couldn't say (at least I don't think a nine year old is capable of precision counter-sinking weights and automotive-grade paint job...) I'm impressed by how mature TheBoy is today, with nary a whimper nor grumble at his showing.
This was my first Pinewood Derby as the Cubmaster, and I was a little apprehensive about my first time as the voice of the pack. I can barely speak right now - I eschew the former Cubmaster's microphone in favor of projecting my own voice - but I'd like to think I did a passable job of getting things going and keeping the boys interested. I made certain to stress sportsmanship as well as achievement, knowing that how the winners and losers conduct themselves is just as important as winning or losing...
Full AAR to follow, after I've had a chance to recover and upload some of the pictures.
That is all.
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8 comments:
Good on them! And YOU!
Hookey as it sounds.
Thanks for spending time with you son. And offering your time to other boys.
My son was a Cub Scout and did the Pinewood Derby.
Sounds like you did a fine job. How did the dad's race go?
Sounds like everyone learned that there are winners and losers, a lesson that is not stressed enough nowadays. We should be humble winners and gracious losers. Thanks Jay for being a part of these boys lives.
Gotta say, that's one thing that always troubled me about the pinewood derby....you could always tell the ones whose dad actually did the car.
Sounds like everything was done right. Good job, Cubmaster Dad.
The Cub Scout Pack I was with (for my sons) actually did away with the competition part of Pinewood Derby. Used to be elimination and "placing", but now it's just running 4 races against different cars each time (there's a piece of software someone has that comes up with the layout and it provides a good random setup).
Why was this done? Because in the past (before I had joined with the Pack) some PARENTS had forgotten what it was all about. Nit-picking of the rules, winning at all costs, yelling at the leaders, threatening lawsuits (I shit you not). It got to a point of sheer ridiculousness and the leadership decided to do away with the competitive nature of it all because they were sick of the headache and b.s.. I can't say I blame them, having been a part of the Pack leadership and dealing with much of the drama during my time there.
The thing is, while on the surface that seems like a cop-out, in the end it didn't matter. The boys themselves still knew who had the fastest car, who had the slowest car, who's car looked really cool, who's car wasn't so hot, which cars the boys did themselves and which cars the Dad's did... the boys knew what place their car came in. You'd still have good winners, bad winners, good losers, and sore losers... you'd still have to talk about sportsmanship and all those things. So really, nothing was lost except the b.s.. The kids have fun, they learn something, boys and their adult partner (Dad, Mom, Grandpa, whomever) had time together... win all around.
Man... now I'm thinking about when *I* was a Cub Scout and the Pinewood Derby's I did with my Dad. Ah, sweet memories.
I guess things never change. Always have some dads with ego's.
You did a fine job....be proud.
See Ya
Congratulations to the both of you, and double congratulations to your son for not taking the easy road out and getting his father to do all of the work. I still remember how frustrating that was when I was a Cub, and how some parents were as bleedingly idiotic as those that Hsoi references.
Me, I just wanted to see if I could drill out a hole for a rocket motor...
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