You may recall that I wrote recently that baseball can break your heart, and my Dodgers just wound up (I hope!) a losing streak proving that maxim.
Baseball can also enlighten us. Take the example of Jake Riordan, the head coach of a Little League team from Kentucky that was just two wins away from the Little League World Series. In a must-win game, the team’s spirit was nearly crushed when their pitcher loaded the bases in the first inning on just 14 pitches. Riordan sensed things were about to unravel, so he went to the mound and gathered the infield around his pitcher.
This is what he said: “Do you know that a koala bear is not actually a bear? It’s a marsupial,” he told his boys. “Do you know why a koala bear is not a bear?”
Blank stares. “It doesn’t have the koala-fications.”
With that he turned around and headed to the dugout, but not before catching a glimpse of his clearly unimpressed pitcher. Perfect, he thought.
I’d like to tell you that things turned around and they won the game, but that didn’t happen. But the young pitcher reclaimed his skill and allowed just one run. They lost in the end, but they enjoyed how far they had come and enjoyed playing the game after all.
That awful Dad joke was a textbook example of non-anxious leadership. To oversimplify slightly, that kind of leader knows oneself, and defines their goals openly and consistently. And that allows everyone to trust their leader and themselves and get on with their own best work.
That approach works in parenting, in running a business or organization, in maintaining a relationship or friendship. Anxiously trying to get everyone to agree, or changing to accommodate every change in the air, leaves others off balance and often more anxious that you are.
One of the most liberating things my main mentor ever told me was this: “Where does it say in the Bible that you have to get everyone to agree with you?”
Coach Riordan may not have known this particular aspect of systems theory, but he knew how and when to use an awful Dad joke to the puncture the air that was full of fear and hopelessness.
Yon won’t be surprised to hear that his story went viral, and his non-anxious example led online commenters to post their own Dad jokes. I’ll write more about systems thinking another time, but for this summer of our discontent let’s lighten up and enjoy some of the best examples.
Some Dad jokes from the comments on The Athletic
A rabbi, a priest and a minister walk into a bar. Bartender looks up and says, “Is this some kind of a joke?”
A priest, a minister and a rabbit walk into a bar. The rabbit looks around and mutters, “I think I’m a typo . . .”
Do you know why scientists don’t trust atoms? Because they make up everything.
Do you know why your nose isn’t 12 inches long? Because then it would be a foot.
You just can’t trust staircases. They’re always up to something.
Did you know you can’t run in a campground? You can only ran, because it’s past tents.
How do mermaids talk to their friends? On their shell phones.
What’s a witch’s favorite subject in school? Spelling.
If you have a New York Times subscription, you can read the whole thing and all the jokes here:
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6541279/2025/08/08/little-league-coach-dad-joke-viral-bigger-lesson/