Only one parent?

Today I was listening to a sports show talk about their feelings on new players to the NFL that come from "broken" homes.  Broken homes being defined as no Dad in the home.  The three jocks talked about how some teams should not draft players into the NFL that don't have a strong family background (of a Mother and a Father).  They talked about Tim Tebow and compared him to a couple other quarterbacks in the NFL.  It seemed pretty harsh to eliminate a player because his Mom and Dad split especially when he had no control on his parent's relationship.  It, at least, was an interesting discussion. 

This topic is near and dear to my heart.  3 of my children only live with me 1st, 3rd and 5th weekend from Thursday evening until Monday when I drop them off at school.  My wife has 2 children that she brought into the family (one of which I am in the process of adopting).  So essentially my kids are all these "broken kids from broken homes".  It is already sad that both parents of my kids don't see eye to eye or are willing to provide information like times of concerts, etc.  Do we have to then brand them and treat them like they have done something wrong?

I can understand teams not wanting to invest millions of dollars into a player that might not make it on the field or have issues off the field that distract them from their profession.  I get it.  I don't necessarily agree though.  If we are looking for perfect professional sports players, we might as well shut down sports all together.  And no, professional players of all types are not role models. 

I wonder about about my Scouts.  Some have Moms and Dads, some just Moms and some just Dads.  Should I treat them as a liability to my Varsity Team just because they don't have the perfect family backgrounds?  NO!  Should I be helping their family life by helping to instill the values taught in the home?  YES!  Can I help make a difference?  I WOULDN'T BE IN SCOUTING IF I DIDN'T THINK I WAS! 

Look at the picture below.  It is my favorite by Norman. 

That Scoutmaster is AWESOME!  His boys are in bed and he is making sure they are OK.  He is tending the fire.  He is ready to defend them with the stick in his hand.  To me he looks like the kind of Scoutmaster that a boy would come to if they had a problem like a girlfriend broke up with him and he didn't want to talk to his parents.  He looks like the kind of man that is helping these boys become men, helping them fashion the kind of character that will help them make decisions in the future and like the kind of man who would do anything to help his Scouts.  (He is also a perfect example of uniforming.)  It doesn't matter a boys background.  It matters who is in his life and who is helping him.

A couple years ago a boy beat my son up a couple times in a year.  He picked on him non-stopped for 2 years.  My son is an oak tree.  He is huge for his age but a gentle giant (one of the reasons I love him so very much!).  He is almost as tall as me and is only 13.  He let this kid pick on him and beat him up partly because he didn't want to get in trouble at school (he loves school) and partly because he was scared of the kid.  I had had enough.  His mom (my ex) called the cops after the last fight.  I called the Principal and asked her to tell this kid's Mom that if she was interested in her son being in Boy Scouts, I would pay to register him and pay for his uniform.  My hope was to change this kid though Scouting because he had no father.  Was this kid a throw away?  No.  He deserves to be loved just like my son no matter if he has a Mom and a Dad, just a Mom or just a Dad.