Despite the fact that I’m still in my thirties, I’m frequently guilty of shaking my fist in the air and griping about those youngsters who need to stay off of my lawn.

They aren’t actually on my lawn, of course, but I can be pretty quick to point out how we did things differently “back in my day” and how modern teens need to get their act together.

On the flip side of that same coin, I also like to be the first to celebrate when the next generation does things well; which is something I experienced firsthand over the weekend.

As anyone who takes part in a competitive activity (Bridge, softball, “friendly” debates, etc.) knows, going head to head against one or more individuals can sometimes bring out the worst in people.

Over the weekend, Fallen Phoenix Games held a special series of tournaments for a new card game release. As part of that event, there was a 12-hour set of tournaments spread across Friday and Saturday, as well as a four-hour doubles tournament Saturday evening.

You are correct in thinking that 16 hours of one game in a single weekend is kind of crazy, but about 20 local youngsters took part in the whole shebang.

While I wasn’t able to participate in the 12-hour session, the owners shared nothing but fantastic stories with me about how the local youth behaved themselves. There were no tempers, egos or confrontations, despite the fact that you’d expect those long hours to start wearing nerves a bit thin. After the event, several of the local youth even stayed behind to help clean up the shop.

While I missed out on those festivities, I did manage to squeeze in the four-hour doubles tournament on Saturday and experience the exact same results.

Keep in mind that these teens were playing a highly competitive game, hunched over tables for hours as they tried to form strategies to overthrow their opponents. On top of that, we were all now working with teammates, which can frequently throw an extra bit of drama into the mix. And all of this on top of a marathon tournament the day before, mind you.

Even though I’ve grown to know these guys and gals over the past several months, I fully expected tempers to be flaring after such an ordeal.

Instead, I was greeted by an evening of laughter, fun competition and fantastic sportsmanship. Players were chuckling and making jokes even in defeat, and everyone shook hands across the table after every match, telling each other “good game.”

After that insane amount of competition was wrapped, several folks still stuck around to help clean up and thanked the local shop owners for hosting the events.

I guess it’s like that old song by The Who says, “The kids are alright.”