Little League Baseball
The recent activities of professional athletes are enough to make any sports fan shake their head in disgust and wonder. All the money they make and they can’t stay out of trouble? With accusations of steroids in baseball, football players not being able to stay out of jail, a referee in basketball embroiled in a game fixing scandal, and of course the Vick “thing” makes me want to give up on sports and its high priced pretty boy athletes. Then something strange and exciting happens that brings me back and lets me know there is hope. That phenomenon is called Little League Baseball.
As we try to make sense of all that is going wrong in sports, the little league World Series allows to see all that is good in sports and the youth of the world. The emotion displayed by these kids is something you’ll never see in professional sports. The jubilation when they hit a home run or the tears shed when the last out is caught and they don’t win are something that grown men are not supposed to do. But these are not grown men; they are 11-13 yr old kids.
They are kids who haven’t been corrupted by big contracts and endorsement deals, which have convoluted the thinking of many a great athlete with a promising future in their sport of choice, what ever that may be. The only things on their minds are “What’s for dinner?” and “Can I go ride my bike?” not “What shoe company can I make the most from?” or “ How much are my services worth?”. That stuff will come later in life.
Its my personal feeling that if we want to straighten out what’s bad in sports, we should make all pro athletes coach a youth sports team. This will remind them why they are playing the game they love so much and they shouldn’t take for granted the opportunity they have been given. This will remind them of the fun that can be had playing the game they love so much. This will remind them of who they influence before they shoot their steroids, or pull a gun on someone, or act like an idiot in a strip bar, or getting involved in dog fighting. , or getting behind the wheel of a car after they have been drinking. Then and only then will what is wrong with sports begin to change into what is good in sports.
All one has to do is watch one game if little league to learn a lifetime of values. Sportsmanship, fair play, and having fun are on display every time these kids take the field. There is no bench clearing brawls or manager ejections. Instead, when a pitcher hits a batter, he shakes his hand and says ‘I’m sorry it slipped’ or ‘Are you ok?’
Don’t get me wrong, I will still support my favorite team and hope they win every game. But this weekend the best sports can be seen in Williamsport, PA on a field of dreams called Lamade Stadium. The teams involved are not athletes who go on DL’s with turf toe or hang nails. No. They are kids from Curacao, Japan, Texas and Georgia who all want to be “champions”. Little do they know each of them are already champions for what they have done to restore my faith in the future of sports.
