Thursday, January 17, 2008

Mathew Kowald: Worst. Dad. Ever.

Mathew Kowald: Worst. Dad. Ever.

You are going to be hearing a lot today about Mathew Kowald, a 36-year-old Portage, Wisconsin nut-job who strapped his 7-year-old son down and forced the kid to wear a Packers jersey during the Packers' playoff game last weekend.

We've all been there: We buy our infants or toddlers or kids the team gear, hoping they will be little reflections of ourselves -- what better way to bond than over a mutual love of a sports team? (Hell, most of you are probably fans of your favorite team because a parent was a fan and "passed it on" to you.)

But this is a cautionary tale: Taking it so far over the line as to constitute child abuse, rather than "super-fan" fun. Something to keep in mind as you pose your young child in the gear of your favorite team -- YOUR favorite team -- like some kind of Fandom Mini-Me.

Interested in your comments on this, either on this post or the simul-post at VarsityDad.com.

-- D.S.

This post was re-published from an earlier post at Varsity Dad, my blog about the intersection of sports and parenting.

No comments: