Daddy, Did You Win Your Car Race?

Raising two young kids in the 2010s is an interesting thing. I get to witness first hand the changes in child rearing I've heard about in the 20 years or so it's been since I was someone else's responsibility.

The concept of "winning" has come up especially with Carter. We have to tell him we're not racing each other in the backyard to see who wins but to have fun. That doesn't stop him from saying he won every time though.

This week I attended the annual spring rally for the Midwest Automotive Media Association — MAMA…for real — at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. Even though I drive cars for a living, this is really the only time all year we get to take a bunch of cars on a private track and push them to the limits.

The kids always ask my wife where I am when I'm traveling on business so her answer this week was "Daddy is racing cars."

So at the dinner table the night I got home the kids innocently asked, "Daddy, did you win your race?"

And despite me thinking the no-winner scenario is pointless with my son in the backyard, it is the ethos that is disseminated to the journalists about to drive on one of the country's fastest and deadliest racetracks. We're there to have a good time and test these cars, not pretend we're Travis Pastrana and "win."

Maybe there is something to this new era of parenting.

Oh, and that is me in the Dodge Charger SRT8 pictured above, shot by Evan Sears for Cars.com.

Some other cars I drove: Chevy Camaro ZL1, Ford Mustang Boss 302, Cadillac CTS-V, Aston Martin DBS, Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Roadster, Jaguar XKR-S Coupe and Convertible, Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG, Porsche 911 Carrera S, Subaru BRZ, Scion FT-86 and a few other more sedate offerings.

No Kids Can Fit In This Porsche

Sometimes in my line of work you get stuck with a very parent-unfriendly vehicle. The Porsche Cayman R is one of the least friendly I can imagine with no backseat. The Audi R8 Spyder from a few winters ago is another good example.

I'm forced to drive it alone with the windows down, no radio, letting the gentle purr of the exhaust replace kids' chirping… it's like a spa, for dad.

Is Your Kid Going to Play Football?

I love football. It is by far my favorite sport to watch. I'm a huge NFL nut and lifelong Miami Dolphin fan. But since having a son I've never really thought he was going to play the sport.

I'm not posting this because of what just happened to Junior Seau, that just reminded me of my thinking for the past few years, despite the joy it gives me to play "hike" with Carter and Evie in the backyard.

I did play football in high school… for one spring. Yes, a spring. During one practice the coaches mixed JV and Varsity and had each player do a one on one drill where you try to tackle the ball carrier. I was put against the star fullback, who for all intents and purposes was similar in size to Mike Alstott. I hadn’t really bulked up by this point in my adolescence either.

Whistle blows…well that was all I could remember after my JV teammates picked me up off the grass.

I was a smart kid with good grades and was just starting to work on the school paper, which required some afterschool hours. I certainly wasn't a gifted athlete but could’ve started if I worked hard. After that hit in practice it didn't take me long to figure out it was probably smarter to pursue something that might serve me in the future.

And that is why I don’t see how I would have my son play football. Everyone reading this is probably aware of the science coming out about concussions but I just keep thinking one thing: The part of the body that leads to most people's lifelong success is between their ears. Why put it in the line of fire at a time when it’s still developing?

Even if you’re a pro athlete, the best ones have a mix of skill and brains. For everyone else in the world the brain is everything. Unless you’re a celebrity. You're not going to get hired in the workforce because you played high school or even college football. You're going to need skills that are taught in a classroom or learned through experience. You're not going to get promoted if you can't process information well and execute on it.

Sure, you can get life lessons from organized sports – there are others than football out there too – but they can be learned elsewhere. Want your kid to exercise? I played pick-up basketball, beach volleyball and even worked out at a gym when I was a teenager. My son can too. Well minus the beach sports here in Chicago I guess.

So why would I want him playing football when the greatest to play the game can’t remember what room they’re in like Terry Bradshaw, or end up even more tragically like Seau?

It's sad because I love the sport. I love watching it. I love teaching Carter, and Evie, about the rules. I love yelling "Touchdoooooown!" when they run past me with the ball. But thinking about Carter playing the “real” sport freaks me out a bit.

I heard a few major names on ESPN radio say they wouldn't let their kids play the sport and that the NFL may actually suffer down the line as other parents think the same thing, shrinking the pool of potential talent.

I wonder what other dads are thinking about it right now. Is it overprotective to think this way?

Beer Me

Corona Light...after blowing up the kiddie pool.

Dad Wagon

Here's mine. A 2005 Passat V6. It ranks due to license plate and rule that whenever we drive it we only listen to PJ.