[Flying Dutchman]

It depends on what you consider "spanking".

Taking your child into another room, bending them over your knee and swatting their ass a few times is a spanking. Grabbing their arm as they are running into the street and smacking their ass and telling them "No" is not a spanking.

When my father was growing up, there were 7 kids. His dad sat at the head of the table and the kids, by age, sat on either side. Boys on one side, girls on the other. His dad would take his spoon and hit the oldest kid next to him and have them pass it down to whichever child it was meant for. It sounds funny, and could even be funny in a way, but it left a deep emotional scar on my father.

Many of us remember "spankings" and remember how mad our parents were when they gave them to us. That is the stigma of a spanking, it was and is used too many times as a venting of anger and not a discipline or teaching tool. Used right, and it works.

As for no child being able to lose....you got that right. Both of my children excelled in sports. This is because of their healthy attitude, not their skills. They were taught from the beginning that a team is just that, a team. There are always, and will always be, those that just naturally are more talented. A good coach and parent know how to use that and teach that person the true meaning of teamwork. Unfortunately, that is rare. Those kids are treated, and taught, that they "deserve" the accalades and glory. The feeling that they are superior is bestowed upon them. Throw in those crapphead parents that we all know, the ones who make life miserable at games and for coaches, who view winning the game as the only goal, then you have the system we have now. Knee jerk reactions which are intended to even out the field, but usually just punish those who worked hard to get to the top.