NEU » ls not where hes trying to locate it, and t

I think we can all agree: Its been a long week. A long month. A long year.Obfuscation. Name-calling. Divisiveness. Anger.Wait: Im talking about the sidelines of your kids sports events. What are you thinking of?My favorite campaign ad of the year reflects a sentiment that I think we can all get behind:Dare to chill.Kudos to the Colorado chapter of the Positive Coaching Alliance for producing a pithy, hilarious and -- yes -- personally resonant spot that cuts to the heart of youth sports today.All parents have been there in some form or another: You openly gripe about the reffing. (Or worse: Other kids!) You shout out instructions to your kid on the court from the bleachers. (Or worse: Other kids!) You undermine the coach with chatter on the ride home that focuses on playing time or stats or strategies. (Or worse: Other kids!)What makes Dare to Chill (or, if youre on social media, #DareToChill) so poignant is that it indeed feels like a dare to suppress your well-intentioned (if inappropriate) inclinations to externalize your anxieties about your kids, your hopes and dreams or maybe even your view of the state of the world, in the form of unconstructive weekend chirping from the bleachers or sidelines.The easy thing to do is to give in to your impulse to shout out anything beyond Great effort! or Wow, do I love to watch you play! Your hard-earned high school varsity letter or extensive hours logged watching pros play on TV in whatever-sport-your-young-kid-now-plays totally qualifies you as an expert -- I encourage you to volunteer to coach a rec-league team made up of kids from your local grade-school or neighborhood!But if youre not the coach, the best thing you can do for your kid is just ... to chill.Here is your challenge for the next two weeks, and it dovetails nicely with the zeitgeisty Mannequin Challenge that everyones obsessing over right now:Pick one of your kids games this weekend and do your best mannequin impression: Sit quietly. No yelling. No physical histrionics. Oh, sure, you can clap and cheer. You can shout Good hustle! or Way to work hard! But otherwise? Ignore every impulse you have to say anything else, from the moment your kid starts to collect gear from the closet to the car ride over to the field/gym to the warm-ups to the game itself to after the game (be sure they thank the coach and refs!) to the ride home. Say nothing except So fun to watch you play!If the kid wants to obsess over the outcome without your prompting, fine. You dont need to pile on. If -- more likely -- they want to leave it behind and dive back into Xbox or college football or whatever: Fine. Let it go. Dare to chill. See what happens next.Dan Shanoff writes about parenting for espnW. You can connect with him on Twitter at @danshanoff or follow his own struggles with chilling out on Instagram at @danshanoff. Blues Jerseys 2021 . LOUIS -- Alexander Steen scored a power-play goal with 59. Cheap Blues Jerseys . The head of USA Boxing came out swinging Tuesday with an open letter to Tyson -- a former Olympic hopeful himself -- that accuses the former heavyweight champion of trying to poach fighters who might be candidates for the U. https://www.cheapblues.com/ . Scott won the Australian PGA last week in his first event in Australia since winning the U.S. Masters in April. American Matt Kuchar, ahead by two strokes with four to play and even with Scott with one to go, double-bogeyed the 18th after taking two shots to get out of a bunker. St.Louis Blues Pro Shop . Tevez, who has had conflicts with coaches in the past, has not been called up since Sabella was named coach in 2011. Argentina boasts Lionel Messi, Gonzalo Higuain, Sergio Aguero, Ezequiel Lavezzi and Angel Di Maria. St.Louis Blues Shirts . The Nashville Predators were glad their captain was still on their side. Weber had a goal and two assists, and Roman Josi scored the shootout winner to lift the Predators to a 4-3 win over the Flyers on Thursday night.TORONTO -- Josh Johnson doesnt have the answers. After another horrid start, the Toronto Blue Jays starter didnt know what he was doing wrong this season or in Saturdays 8-6 loss to the Houston Astros at Rogers Centre. "Ive just got to make better pitches," he said. "I made some OK pitches, but then I made some terrible ones as well." Johnson fell to 1-7 and saw his earned-run average rise to 6.08 as he gave up seven runs on seven hits, including three home runs. It was his third straight bad start and fifth consecutive loss in as many appearances. "Hes scuffling, thats an understatement," manager John Gibbons said. "Hes feeling it. I mean, hes human. You feel for the guy. And hes never struggled a whole lot in his career. Hes trying to settle in, hes trying to contribute, and it hasnt gone well for him. Its tough. Theres really nowhere to hide out there." Johnson tried to take a "different mind-set" onto the mound Saturday afternoon after lasting just two innings Monday. His pre-game bullpen session admittedly wasnt sharp, but the right-hander insisted he didnt think, "Here we go again" after surrendering back-to-back singles to start the game. "Sometimes that happens," Johnson said. "Seems like its happened a lot more with me, but its part of the game." When Astros designated hitter Chris Carter hit a three-run home run before Johnson recorded an out, it marked the sixth straight start in which he allowed multiple runs in the first inning a base runner got on. Pitching coach Pete Walker said he and his staff were "certainly aware" of that trend. But throwing from the stretch isnt Johnsons only problem, as Gibbons pointed out that he allowed solo home runs to Justin Maxwell and Matt Dominguez from the windup. Where Johnsons issues stem from could be mechanical or mental. More likely, its a combination of both, as the 29-year-old said his confidence is "not real high" right now. "They all go through those stretches where confidence becomes an issue," Gibbons said. "Youve got to deal with it. Thats part of this business. I know hes scrambling, hes got to be scrambling trying to figure it out because youll see him: Hell pitch some hitters good and then lose it and get hit pretty hard." Johnson tried to work on keeping his throwing motion more direct, driving down his right hip instead of falling off the mound toward first basee.dddddddddddd He consciously thought about it for all 5 2/3 innings Saturday. "Id do it for a couple pitches and then I wouldnt do it for a couple," Johnson said. "That inconsistency was still there a little bit." Consistency has been hard to find for the Blue Jays this season, and that goes beyond Johnsons struggles. They managed to put six runs on the board Saturday, finally getting to Astros starter Dallas Keuchel, but it wasnt enough. Keuchel, who lasted until Jose Bautistas three-run homer in the eighth, said the Blue Jays had as good a lineup as he has seen in the major leagues. Toronto showed it by out-hitting Houston, but the hole Johnson dug was too deep to get out of. "I think he just wants to compete, and he just wants to get some consistency in his game right now," Walker said. "The frustration is that he doesnt feel like hes giving this team a chance to win a game." As Johnson failed to do that for the fourth time in five starts, its time for more re-evaluation. Walker said its "back to the drawing board a little bit with him." From his vantage point, Johnson saw some positives. He finished with eight strikeouts and was able to last into the sixth inning to keep a tired bullpen fresh. But the negatives certainly outweighed the positives. "I just think they put some good swings on him," Gibbons said. "The balls not where hes trying to locate it, and then hes maybe up in the zone a little bit and they hit him." Johnson said he "threw some pretty good pitches." Because he didnt throw enough, he was left to lament another loss, but the coming days will mean more work to right his game. "Its a battle right now," Walker said. "And I know hes frustrated with the consistency, but were certainly not giving up on him by any stretch. I still think hes got plenty of stuff to get major-league hitters out. I think you saw it with the strikeouts today: At times hes very good. Hes going to continue to work at it, and I still believe in my heart that hes going to have some good games here." NOTES -- Astros second baseman Jose Altuve left the game with tightness in his left quadriceps muscle. He said he felt some tightness going from first to third, and manager Bo Porter indicated his removal was for precautionary reasons. ... Blue Jays second baseman Mark DeRosa hit his 100th career home run with a solo shot in the second inning. ' ' '