A Teachable Moment

This afternoon, I took my six-year old son to the UT/Vanderbilt men's basketball game. The Vols have played much better basketball than the first half's 20-point output. It was such an uninspiring first half (the crowd booed on several occasions) that the halftime program featuring a jump rope team from Ohio was a highlight at the break.

Down at one point in the first half by 17 points, by all accounts it looked like a likely loss for the Vols. Midway through the first half, my son looked up at me and said, "I don't think we're going to win this game". I agreed that it didn't look too good. When the Vols totaled 20 points at the half, the final outcome seemed inevitable. When the Vols tightened the gap but seemed unable to completely close it throughout the second half, we repeated our first half conversation but with one additional phrase, "but we'll see".

When the Vols pulled out a 67-64 victory with a furious late surge, I knew I had an opportunity for a teachable moment with my son. There was a life lesson to be learned.

Here's The Point: As the game finished, after we'd high-fived and cheered as Rocky Top played, I turned to Parker, who still looked amazed that the Vols had won and I asked, "What's the lesson to be learned from this game"? Without hesitation he replied, "Try hard and never give up".

That's a pretty good lesson for life as well- try hard and never give up.