Tarik Cohen - Letters to my Younger Self

[kungfoodude]

1 hour ago, thefuzz said:

We have produced a generation of "me first" people.  Don't care much about others, or their pain, so long as they are "happy".

My Mom finally told me of a very bad time in her's and my Father's marriage, it was because of me...Dad told her she could leave at any time, so long as she didn't even think of taking the kids (they had just had my brother).  I don't think many fathers feel the same way...a lot easier just to walk away and act "free" again.

I have worked with enough generations to confidently say it isn't the younger generations that are exclusively "me first." It's much more pronounced in the 60+ crowd.

It's an American sickness. If you have ever traveled internationally, you will notice how American it is.

[MasterAwesome]

Quote

Dudes on Twitter will be calling you “soft,” or talking about how maybe you’re just lazy.

They’ll have no clue. About anything. Obviously.

But it will still hurt.

Even though this article is about a specific player on another team, this is the message that I think every fanbase should take to heart and engage in a little introspection.  Every fanbase has people who incessantly direct hate online towards these players deemed underperforming - "this lazy POS just collecting paychecks" etc. and justify it by saying they make millions and therefore are subject to hate and criticism.  It's okay to be levelheaded and say a player is performing poorly and that we need to upgrade a position, but fans can take it way too far.

This is just common decency stuff that applies outside of the sports arena as well.  If you have a server at a restaurant who is inattentive or slow with their service, puts in the wrong order, etc. But before blowing up on them, consider maybe their loved one just passed away, or they're a sleep-deprived single parent raising 3 kids at home trying to pay the bills, or they have some kind of up-and-down debilitating neuromuscular disorder and it's a particularly rough day for it.  Yeah maybe in some cases it's just a lazy incompetent employee but you're not always in a position to make that judgment call so why not give the benefit of the doubt?

[thefuzz]

14 minutes ago, kungfoodude said:

I have worked with enough generations to confidently say it isn't the younger generations that are exclusively "me first." It's much more pronounced in the 60+ crowd.

It's an American sickness. If you have ever traveled internationally, you will notice how American it is.

Oh, I didn't mean to call it this generation...and I should have used better verbiage...it's a generational thing in the US.  Starting with the Boomer generation trickling all the way down to the teens today.

IMO, it is starting to change....although slowly.  It's starting to be "cool" again to get married, have kids, stick together, etc...at least that's what I'm seeing.  I hope it sticks.

[Basbear]

6 hours ago, thefuzz said:

We have produced a generation of "me first" people.  Don't care much about others, or their pain, so long as they are "happy".

My Mom finally told me of a very bad time in her's and my Father's marriage, it was because of me...Dad told her she could leave at any time, so long as she didn't even think of taking the kids (they had just had my brother).  I don't think many fathers feel the same way...a lot easier just to walk away and act "free" again.

One of my best friends in M-HS had the ultra rare, mom 100% left the family and wanted nothing to do with none of father or son or daughter. Grandma moved in soon after. Daughter went on to become a MS principal. The older my friend got, the more he resentment he had towards women. One of our favorite things was driving around blasting too $hort tunes, but he wanted badly to follow those lyrics. Our friendship ran its course and for me it was one of many first experiences seeing the development of a single parent. Being born in a wealthy family is one way to get ahead, but my god being born in a nuclear family is like winning the life lottery at the start.  

[thefuzz]

17 hours ago, Basbear said:

One of my best friends in M-HS had the ultra rare, mom 100% left the family and wanted nothing to do with none of father or son or daughter. Grandma moved in soon after. Daughter went on to become a MS principal. The older my friend got, the more he resentment he had towards women. One of our favorite things was driving around blasting too $hort tunes, but he wanted badly to follow those lyrics. Our friendship ran its course and for me it was one of many first experiences seeing the development of a single parent. Being born in a wealthy family is one way to get ahead, but my god being born in a nuclear family is like winning the life lottery at the start.  

Two of my closest friends won full custody of two little girls after both Moms decided they were kinda done with all of the responsibility and started sending both sets of girls hurdling toward a stripper pole.  Drugs, letting them skip so much school they were having to do Summer school.  The girls in both situations were 7 and 10...or right there at it.

NC awarded both sets FULLY to the Fathers.  Now one set has graduated college (both of them) and have good jobs.  The other set are taking their EOG's right now and both have a 4.0 in a D4 school here in ILM.

It's been wonderful to see these girls turn their lives around....point being, it ain't just the boys who don't become men, the girls also fail, and at a much higher rate than most would assume.

[1of10Charnatives]

When he's done with football, he should seriously consider a career in journalism or as a writer. His story is powerful and heartbreaking, but he also told it with exceptional skill.  Football is far from this young man's only talent.

One of the most moving things I've read in a long time.

[Ricky Spanish]

Tarik Cohen just tore his Achilles on IG live... I hesitate to post the link because bad taste, but jesus.

This poor kid can't catch a break. 

My god. 

[PanthersGTI]

1 minute ago, Ricky Spanish said:

Tarik Cohen just tore his Achilles on IG live... I hesitate to post the link because bad taste, but jesus.

This poor kid can't catch a break. 

My god. 

fug. Poor kid, I hope he finds opportunities to fulfill his life moving forward outside of football. Your soul hurts for him. 

[TheSpecialJuan]

29 minutes ago, Ricky Spanish said:

Tarik Cohen just tore his Achilles on IG live... I hesitate to post the link because bad taste, but jesus.

This poor kid can't catch a break. 

My god. 

 

[year of the snitch]

Jesus

[DJ feed me moore]

damn that might be a career...

[kungfoodude]

25 minutes ago, TheSpecialJuan said:

 

It's hard to fathom how bad this kid's luck is right now. Jesus Christ.

[Mr. Scot]

1 hour ago, Ricky Spanish said:

Tarik Cohen just tore his Achilles on IG live... I hesitate to post the link because bad taste, but jesus.

This poor kid can't catch a break. 

My god. 

Damn, that sucks.

I know a lot of people were rooting for the kid.

[philit99]

Man the kid can’t catch a break. Get well soon Cohen, love from Aggie land.