Put the Scrubs In

I went to a "C" game last night. You know what that is: There's varsity, junior varsity and the "C's." The coaches say they do it that way so that the other kids, the kids who can't usually dribble without losing the ball and the ones who shoot and miss the basket by feet, can play.
The "C" kids practice with the rest of the team. They suit up and support the varsity and junior varsity at their games. And they wait eagerly for the few games that they have scheduled. ( Not every school has enough kids out to make up a "C" team, so many times all that practice leads to four hours sitting the bench.)
The thing is, when those kids play, they play hard. To them it's not the "scrub" game. It is THEIR game.
So when the coaches decide to play the junior varsity in the "C" game, cutting down play time for the real "C" team kids to a paltry 4 or 5 minutes, it seems unfair. But the coaches want to win. They want that badly. And they put in those kids who aren't really on the "C" team to achieve that goal.
I got to thinking last night. What does it say to a kid who isn't good enough to make the varsity, nor the junior varsity, and then can't even play in the last league? Does it tell them they are valued, or does it convince them the world isn't interested in "losers?"
Life can be like that, I suppose. So maybe the lesson is warranted. Maybe they need to learn, and learn early, that not everyone is created equal. That hard work and determination are not always rewarded, and that sometimes we work desperately and achieve the prize only to have it snatched away and put into the hands of someone who "deserves it more."
Don't get me wrong. Few things infuriate me more than the concept of entitlement-- the idea that society "owes" us because of who we are or what we have been through. Career welfare recipients ( those who won't work because they get more from the system) are thieves.
But when someone works hard and finally surmounts obstacles to gain the prize, however small that prize may seem, they deserve to keep it...even if the "team" doesn't win.
Just sayin'.