Remember when kids played games for fun? Now we have this, where a hockey dad is suing his provincial hockey association for $300,000 (even in CDN$ that's a lot of money) because his son didn't win the league MVP award. Apparently the aspiring young Gretzky was so disappointed when he didn't win that he has decided not to play hockey again. The dad is not asking for anything UNREASONABLE -

Michael Croteau is seeking $300,000 in psychological and punitive damages from the association. He is also demanding that the MVP trophy be taken from the boy who won it and given to his son, Steven, as well as the league's playmaker award, which was awarded to a different boy. Croteau also wants Steven to be guaranteed a spot on the New Brunswick Canada Winter Games roster

All I can say is: what a spoiled little brat. Hey kid - guess what? Life is full of disappointments, best get used to it. You are a crybaby and your dad is an overcompensating loser (see Gerhard Schroeder post, below). Whaaaa whaaa whaaaaa. I didn't win the award, so I'm just gonna quit. And my dad, great role model that he is, is teaching me that if life doesn't give you what you want, it must be SOMEONE'S fault, so start suing. I would not have been surprised if this story came out of the good old USA, where the concept of "sometimes, bad shit happens" has been replaced by "when bad shit happens, someone ELSE must be to blame". I was really surprised to see this story coming out of Canada, but I guess lawyers need business no matter where they practice.

Prime whiney quotes from the dad:

Croteau said his son was "so hurt and damaged" after losing the awards in front of 250 people that night he came home and shoved his hockey equipment into a corner, saying he had no interest in playing again.

"He was so sure of himself he took $50 of his own money to buy a nice shirt and tie to look good that night," he said. "And he was just humiliated."

Humiliated in his own mind? Did everyone stand up and jeer at him and call him names? Or was he just so sure that he was the winner that he just couldn't fathom that a jury of his peers thought someone else deserved the award more than he? Guess you never shared that old "don't count your chickens before they're hatched" adage with your son eh, hockey dad. Or how about "it's not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game"? Guess junior never heard that growing up in the Croteau household. And you think he was humiliated during the awards ceremony, how about after every stand-up comic, blogger, and newspaper across North America carries your pathetic story as a fucking joke?

"He just had to breathe. It's not the trophy, it's that he should have been honoured. I taught him since he learned to skate at three years old that hard work brings rewards. But that didn't happen.

"I'm doing this because all the years I played and coached hockey I saw what good it could bring to your life. I'm doing this for my son. He feels very bad. He did his best. . . . I didn't want to go this far but hopefully it will be an example to others."

Gee, what about all of those other players that didn't win MVP? Do you suppose they are also out planning lawsuits? I'm sure they all did their best as well. And as far as "setting an example to others", you certainly are doing that. An example of how to be a whiney, self-righteous, poor loser who thinks his son is entitled to something merely because you're his dad and he "tried his best". And won't that trophy mean a lot if you sue the hockey association into giving it to your son - and taking it away from the player that legitimately won it. What about him? Does he get to feel humiliated and sue as well? What, you saw it work for the Canadian Ice Dancing duo in the Olympics, and figured that it must be a god-given Canadian right to sue if you don't win the gold?

How does the saying go? The best way to judge a man's character is by how he deals with failure? I think we have a pretty good read on the character of this father/son combo. The son's a quitter, probably because of his father's influence. The father's just a loser.