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Severe Outflow by R. Edwards

American Education: Emulate the Asian Model of Rigor and Effort

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Sacrificing scholastic excellence and high achievement in the name of “equity” is destructive to the health of our society as a whole.  Though this story presents more of an India-rooted angle, we’ve known for decades that Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and other east Asian nations’ pupils blow ours away mathematically at the same age levels. This has been such a sustained phenomenon that to ignore it is profoundly foolhardy.

It’s not racial, it’s cultural.  Culture is changeable.  The malignant American culture of familial brokenness, parental uninvolvement/apathy, valuing materialism and entertainment over knowledge and diligence, artifice and appearances over results and work, “equity” that undermines excellence, and other contributors to academic underperformance, needs to change for the better here.  We must also strip sociopolitical agendas out of education and return to curricular fundamentals:  reading, writing, mathematics, and factual history.  Apply to it the rigor of late-1800s to early-1900s grade-level texts, but the updated factual knowledge of today, under stern and unyielding expectations of excellence, encouraging the hardcore work ethic of the Asian study model.

I’ve seen first-hand, even back to my childhood as a “gifted student” with such classmates, the readily apparent, tremendous value and time investment that these cultures place on education. Such families (most certainly including first-generation immigrants) are doing something right, and it should be replicated, not ignored nor discouraged.

And yes, poor kids can and do achieve high academically despite the economic handicaps.  I have some first-hand experience there as non-immigrant yet economically poor “white trash”, as did many of those first- to second-generation immigrant Hmong, Han Chinese (escaping Maoist communism), non-Hmong Vietnamese, and Korean and Japanese students I knew who mostly had been treated like trash in their native lands, except for the Koreans and Japanese.  Yet they succeeded in school despite their socioeconomic and linguistic limitations, and because of ferociously diligent work ethics imparted in a close familial setting.  For them there was family honor in high scholastic achievement, not just personal reputation, with family valued over self.

This offers non-scholastic lessons from which we can learn.

Jason Witten: Doing It All the Right Way

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Rumored as likely for a couple weeks, the story verified yesterday: Jason Witten, Dallas Cowboys tight end, Mr. Dependable, Number 82, retired after a team-record 15 seasons. Observing well-known Blue Star tight ends like Billy Joe DuPree and Doug Cosbie as a kid, and Jay Novacek on the dynastic Super Bowl teams of the 1990s, I didn’t imagine we would see one arrive to outperform them all, by a large margin. I’ve been watching Cowboys games since I was a little kid in the mid-’70s, and can assure you he’s among the top few greatest players among the many greats ever to wear the star.

Rightly, fans, other players and coaches alike stand in starstruck admiration of Witten’s on-field accomplishments, including team records for games played (239), games started (229), receptions (1152), receiving yards (12,488), and a team and NFL record for receptions in a game by a tight end (18, against a team he tormented often, the Giants). He ranks first in NFL history for tight-end receptions in a season (110), second all-time in the NFL in single-game receptions by a tight end (18), and fourth for any position. It seemed like Witten would play forever; the big man in the #82 jersey, trotting on the field every game, was so dependable and easy to take for granted.

While these stats amaze us in and of themselves, they hint at a greater truth: such accomplishments happen only through a combination of avoidance of severe injury, with both great training and good luck involved, and unwavering dedication to the craft. Remembering Witten for his iron-man achievements in a violent sport, I can’t even fathom playing just two weeks after a busted jaw — the intervening game being the only one he ever missed — nor playing the season opener on a still-healing spleen just a few weeks after it got lacerated in a tremendous preseason hit. Of course, there was the hallmark play of his career: where two Eagles players slammed into him at once, bouncing off of Witten in different directions while his helmet flew in another, and he just kept running, for a 53-yard gain. Add in all the selfless, behind-the-scenes blocking prowess that made him the NFL’s most complete tight end, and his longevity rises from remarkable to astounding.

That all this deserved respect and accolades are showered on Witten — a man who is humble and still somewhat uncomfortable in the spotlight despite being one of the best all-time players on tradition-soaked America’s Team — is no coincidence. Witten is a man of strong Christian faith, and the Christian worldview clearly informs and guides his life and his work. In justifying his drive to excel and his unsurpassed work ethic, he cites one of my favorite verses, Colossians 3:23; “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,…”. This is a principle I’ve long strived to apply to severe-storms meteorology, and recognized it early in Witten’s football work, long before knowing he also specifically followed the same verse. As such, and knowing any player who earned the famously cranky Bill Parcells’ respect so early in his career must be doing something right, I became a Witten fan fast.

Many words exist to describe what he brought to the Cowboys and the sport at top performance level, and here are some:

      Intelligence

      Skill

      Toughness

      Integrity

      Trustworthiness

      Professionalism

      Authenticity

      Leadership

      Dependability

      Savvy

      Work ethic

      Excellence

      Giving

      Honor

Yes, honor…he gave it, he received it, and he earned it, on and off the field. No question, he will have a bust in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in the next 5-6 years. In 2012, Witten won the NFL’s highest humanitarian award, the Walter Payton Man of the Year, for his combination of playing excellence and community service. His charitable foundations and causes included kids’ fitness and the struggle to stop domestic violence — the latter a poignant point after spending part of his childhood around his wife-beating, alcoholic father. Witten’s charitable involvement isn’t for show — it is authentic, deeply personal and meaningful. He is even more devoted as a father and husband than he was to football.

Witten has earned every last bit of the respect he has gotten and will get. Thinking of his career makes me glad and thankful to be a fan of his and the Cowboys, the only regret being that he couldn’t get a Super Bowl ring to cap it off. For good reason, many coaches on his team have told new players: If you want to succeed, find someone who does it the right way, all the time, and follow his example…and that guy is #82.

Witten never, ever let his fans down, on or off the field. I can’t express how rare and refreshing that is, and how grateful I am to have followed his career with the Cowboys. His retirement press-conference speech showed once more the class and honor we have come to expect, respect and admire from Jason Witten.

Elke and I watched his classy and heartfelt retirement speech while eating lunch at Qdoba yesterday…

As a sportsman and a man outside sports, Jason Witten has been top-caliber, and he will succeed in TV and beyond at whatever he does, because he both played the game and conducts his life the right way. “I relied on grit…the secret is in the dirt. I have to be willing to go out and earn it.” Earn it, he did. Success wasn’t handed to him on a silver spoon. He rose from disadvantage and busted his ass hard to succeed, while also honoring those who helped him along that journey. Here’s a story about Witten’s most effective receiving play and how he made it so, exemplifying his playing style and work ethic.

“I hope I made you proud to be a Dallas Cowboys fan.” You did, Jason, and you do. May God’s blessings keep shining upon you in your TV gig and beyond.

Romo Passes the Baton: The Greatest Sports Speech of My Generation

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Tony Romo’s quarterback-concession speech: wow. Has there ever been something like that in major sports to pass the baton? If so, it is exceedingly rare, especially from such an intense competitor. Indeed, it has been hard to find a more powerful and evocative sports speech since the rightful standard-bearer, Lou Gehrig’s farewell.

Romo’s address to the press yesterday was no canned, forced, formulaic, cliche-filled, artificial, rah-rah bullcrap. Instead, Romo exuded pure, raw, heartfelt honesty, professional integrity, first-class sportsmanship, honor, team-first sacrifice, and true servant leadership (as opposed to the lip service so common in business and government).

Tonight I am proud to be a fan of Tony Romo, and of Dak Prescott, and of the Cowboys. Regardless of what has happened or will happen with wins or losses on the field, Tony has cemented his legacy as a winner of a leader and a human being. Highest respect…

Here is the transcript of his speech (I fixed obvious spelling, punctuation and grammar errors by the wire-service transcriber):

    “You earn everything, every single day, over and over again. You have to prove it. That’s the way the NFL, that’s the way that football works. A great example of this is Dak Prescott and what he’s done. He’s earned the right to be our quarterback. As hard as that is for me to say, he’s earned that right. He’s guided the team to an 8-1 record and that’s hard to do.

    “If you think for a second that I don’t want to be out there, then you’ve probably never felt the pure ecstasy of competing and winning. That hasn’t left me. In fact, it may burn now more than ever. It’s not always easy to watch. I think anyone who’s been in this position understands that. What is clear is that I was that kid once, stepping in, having to prove yourself. I remember the feeling like it was yesterday. It really is an incredible time in your life. If I remember one thing from back then, it’s the people who helped me along when I was young, and if I can be that to Dak, I’ve tried to be, and I will be going forward.

    “I think you all know that something magical is happening to our team. I’m not going to allow this situation to negatively affect Dak or our football team by becoming a constant distraction. I think Dak knows that I have his back, and I think I know that he has mine. Ultimately, it’s about the team; that’s what we preached our entire lives.

    “I remember when I was a kid just starting out, wanting to be a part of something bigger than myself. For every high school kid out there and college player, there’s greatness in being the kind of teammate who truly wants to be part of the team. Everyone wants to be the reason they’re winning or losing.

    “Every single one of us wants to be that person, but there are special moments that come from a shared commitment to play a role while doing it together. That’s what you remember, not your stats or your prestige, but your relationships and achievement that you created through a group. It’s hard to do, but there’s great joy in that. All the while, your desire burns to be the best you’ve ever been. You can be both; I’ve figured that out in this process. That’s what separates sports from everything else. That’s why we love it. That’s why we trust it, that’s why I still want to play and compete.

    “Lastly, I just want to leave you with something I’ve learned in this process as well. I feel like we have two battles or two enemies going on: one with the man across from you, the second with the man inside of you. I think once you control the man inside of you, the one across from you doesn’t really matter. I think that’s what we’re all trying to do.

    “Thanks guys. I appreciate it.”