C8 EZ RE THE WASHINGTON POST.THURSDAY, AUGUST 29 , 2019
ACROSS
1 Respond to
“Let’s give
it up for ...”
5 Moves like
Tinker Bell
10 “... thou
damned
whale!” speaker
14 Gad about
15 Like some
whiskey
barrels
16 Lawless
character
17 Turkmenistan
neighbor
18 Huge herbivore
20 Cookie with
a whimsical
name
22 Biden’s
20 08 debate
opponent
23 “Fresh Air” airer
24 Although
27 Led Zeppelin’s
“Whole __
Love”
31 Critical layer
33 Torch-wielding
group in
“Frankenstein”
36 The grapevine
39 From the
beginning
41 LED component
42 Brute
43 Custom
46 “__ Como Va”:
Santana hit
47 Penny pincher
48 Composition
50 Dalí
contemporary
51 Summer
in la ville
54 One to the
manor born
58 It comes full
circle as you
work your way
through 20 -,
36-, 43 - and
58-Across
63 It’s stressful
to live in it
65 Counterclock-
wise arrow
function
66 Countless years
67 Monastery wear
68 Monopoly card
69 Name on a box
of bricks70 Useful thing
71 Gaelic languageDOWN
1 Like pretzel
rods
2 Doone of
Exmoor
3 Be of service to
4 Eyeliner
applicator
5 Driver’s warning
6 “The Wizard of
Oz” actor
7 “Just messin’
around”
8 Mortise insert
9 Nose (around)
10 Salchow kin
11 “Take it”
12 Smart game-
show vowel
purchase for
“D _ _ M AND
GL _ _ M”
13 English lit
degrees
19 Data disk
21 Recognize
25 Sweepstakes
submission
26 Titter
28 Stir29 The Chipmunks,
e.g.
30 Go gaga over
32 Herpetologist’s
employer
33 Famiglia
nickname
34 Being broadcast
35 Support for a
king?
37 Chances
38 Tuition add-ons40 Rather small
44 Fountain near
the Spanish
Steps
45 Chimed
49 Slangy greeting
52 Puccini opera
53 “__ World”:
“Sesame
Street”
segment
55 Dumb move56 High-yield
deposits
57 Wear away
59 Petro-Canada
competitor
60 Swearing in a
monastery?
61 Not working
62 House in a bush
63 Bit of animation
64 Anonym in a
landmark caseLA TIMES CROSSWORD By Ed SessaWEDNESDAY’S LA TIMES SOLUTION
© 201 9 Tribune Content Agency, LLC. 8/29/19kidspost
The National Football
League (NFL) season has
not started, b ut already
there has been a big
upset. Andrew Luck, the
29-year-old star quarterback f or the
Indianapolis Colts, stunned the sports
world over the weekend by announcing his
retirement.
Luck is a four-time Pro Bowl player who
may have had h is best season in 2018 when
he threw for 4,593 yards and 39
touchdowns.
But Luck has been p lagued with injuries
throughout his career. Over the years, h e
has hurt his s houlder, ribs, a bdomen and
kidneys and suffered a concussion. T his
preseason, Luck has had n agging calf a nd
ankle injuries that have kept him on the
sidelines.
Luck said this cycle of injury, p ain a nd
trying to heal from the injuries h ad “taken
my j oy of this game away.” S o, he quit.
Luck’s s ituation is different from that of
kids who p lay sports. Kids are n ot paid
millions o f dollars a nd would not h ave
endured t he long l ist of serious injuries
Luck has.
But kids who play sports do have
something i n common w ith Luck. They
often w alk away f rom t heir g ames sooner
than expected and for similar reasons.
A c ouple o f years ago, a poll b y the
National Alliance o f Youth Sports found
that 70 percent of kids quit playing sports
by age 13. The major reason for kids
quitting is because “it’s j ust not f un
anymore.”
To o often kids sports and youth leagues
resemble the “grind” of professional sports.
The seasons go o n too long. There are too
many high-pressure g ames and
tournaments. And there are too m any
adults who take the kids’ games way too
seriously.
In a ddition, as kids get older, there is
more emphasis on winning a nd finding the
“best” players. Those are the athletes who
will move on to higher l evels of competition
such as high s chool o r travel teams.
Youth teams a nd leagues don’t s eem to
make room for teenagers who just like to
play but may not be among the best. No
wonder s o many of those kids get the
message they are “not good enough” to play.
“Joy” and “fun” are small, three-letter
words but they are a big deal in s ports. A
study by George Washington University a
few years ago a sked young athletes what
made s ports fun for them. T he kids said
things such as trying their b est, getting
playing time and getting along w ith their
teammates. Winning a nd playing in
tournaments w ere not that important.
One thing, however, is clear. Whether it’s
a star NFL quarterback or a 12-year-old
midfielder, w hen the games stop being fun
or a place t o find joy, the players will w alk
away.
[email protected]Bowen writes the sports opinion column for
KidsPost. He is the author of 24 sports books for
kids. He will be speaking Saturday at the National
Book Fe stival at the Walter E. Washington
Convention Center at 1:35 p.m.Like Andrew Luck, kids quit sports when the joy goes away
TODAY’S NEWS
Te enage climate activist Greta
Thunberg arrived in New York on
Wednesday in a zero-carbon
emissions vessel, completing her
two-week journey from England.
The teenager announced in July
that she would attend the United
Nations Climate Action Summit in
New York next month.
“Land!! The lights of Long Island
and New York City ahead,” Greta
tweeted around 4 a.m. Wednesday,
posting a picture of tiny dots of
light on a dark horizon.
Rather than travel in an airplane
that burns fuel and contributes to
atmospheric carbon pollution,
Thunberg opted to make her trans-
Atlantic journey carbon emission-
free by sailing on the Malizia II, a
60-foot yacht equipped with solar
panels and underwater turbines
that produce electricity onboard.
The boat has no shower or toilets,
and those aboard including Greta’s
father and crew members planned
to eat freeze-dried food throughout
the trip.
— ReutersJOHANNES EISELE/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES
Greta Thunberg, 16, arrives in the
United States on Wednesday after
crossing the Atlantic from England.The Score
FRED BOWEN
Swedish climate
activist arrives in
New York by boat
TODAYAfter some dreary days, we’ll finally
get to see the sun in addition to
warm temperatures in the mid-80s.
KIDSPOST.COMDr. Seuss fans can immerse
themselves in his books as
part of a new traveling
ILLUSTRATION BY WALID BASSIOUNY, 7, ARLINGTON interactive exhibit.
MICHAEL CONROY/ASSOCIATED PRESSBOBBY ELLIS/GETTY IMAGES
TOP: Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck leaves the field Saturday after
the team’s preseason game against the Chicago Bears. He announced his
retirement over the weekend. ABOVE: A Colts fan holds up a sign at the game.CHIP SAYSOn this day in 1997, Netflix — originally named
Kibble — launched as a DVD-rental service that
delivered to homes. Today it is one of many
major streaming services around the globe.
Carolyn Hax is
away. The
following first
appeared April 3,
2005.Dear Carolyn: I
am organizing a
birthday party for
my 8-year-old son.
One of the neighborhood
mothers called the other day,
asking for gift ideas. I told her a
gift wasn’t necessary (and I
meant it!), but she insisted.
Since I didn’t want to run the
risk of her getting something he
already has or didn’t like, I
suggested she get him a gift card.
Now I hear a rumor
circulating that my suggestion
was tacky and classless, and that
I might as well ask for cash. Am I
wrong here?
— HoustonHouston: Maybe. Some see gift
cards as an easy way to be polite,
and some as an easy way to be
rude. Since you don’t always
know who’s going to fall in which
camp, and since cash
solicitations on one’s own behalf
are always rude, and since, when
it comes to money, family is an
extension of self, I’d cancel the
party, snuff the lights, close the
blinds and sneak your son a
cupcake. To ugh neighborhood.
You know.Next time, maybe save gift-
card suggestions for family and
close friends (really — redundant
gifts aren’t exactly a crisis in a
bag).
I can’t suggest much else in
earnest, though, because your
behavior here wasn’t the
problem. The moment that
mother ratted you out to anyone
within earshot, she became the
rudest mother in the
subdivision. Manners are about
putting others at ease, not
putting them out for shame.
And irony is about calling
someone tacky and classless by
way of a tacky and classless
gossip campaign. A little gift
from Life.
Granted, it doesn’t help you
with your neighborhood
pariahhood. All you can do is
smile it off, be warm to all party
guests (see “manners,” above)
and next time you’re asked about
gifts, suggest cheap, varied,
returnable: books. Let the
gossips think your kid actually
reads.Dear Carolyn: When my
daughter was a toddler, she fell
while in the care of my mother
and acquired an ugly scar on her
forehead. Now she’s 11 and trying
to become an actress.
We’ve taken some measures to
remove the scar, but thus far
nothing has worked. A plasticsurgeon suggested a procedure
that would cost about $2,000.
My wife insists I ask my
mother to pay for it, since it was
in her care that the injury
occurred. I don’t feel it’s right to
hold her financially responsible;
after all, the injury could have
happened with anyone.
— Confused Father, Son and
HusbandConfused Father, Son and
Husband: I don’t feel it’s right to
hold her financially responsible;
after all, the injury could have
happened with anyone.
Does my saying it carry more
weight? Hope not, but there it is.
Throw this in, too: If your wife
still won’t give your mom a
break, just out of love — surely
the woman is haunted by this
accident — then why shouldn’t
your mom debit any loving
breaks she gave you? So, you
charge her $2,000 for having bad
luck, and she pays that — minus
the 11 years’ worth of babysitting
her grandchild, at... let’s make
it a bargain at 5 bucks an hour.
Surely no scar is this ugly.
You’re not “confused,” y ou’re
yellow. Stand up to the wife and
say no.Wr ite to Carolyn Hax at
[email protected]. Get her
column delivered to your inbox each
morning at wapo.st/haxpost.Who’s the rude party on this birthday?
Carolyn
Hax
NICK GALIFIANAKIS FOR THE WASHINGTON POST