Little League SUCKS!!!

[Steel]

Say what you want but their are so many politics in little league that my son will never play again. Those are his words.. I voiced my opinion at practice and the coaches wife over heard. She told her husband and my son was benched for the first two innings. While at the game I had 3 people ask me why my son wasn't playing. I told them I did not know. The coach put his son in and Cody was told he would not pitch and they would put him in for the last two innings. His son got the team into a jam with bases loaded and 1 out. The score was 8 - 9 with us behind by one run. He then pulled his son and went to my son. He threw my son into the fire yet my son got us out of the inning and ended up finishing the game and winning it 10 - 9. Now I ask all you parents, how would you feel ? I feel my son was used as a peg and that is the last thing you want to do to children. He is 10 years old and never wants to play again. The best part is that my son did his job and it was thrown in their face by parents and fans after the game. He was also moved from the 4th spot to the bottom of the order and I when I asked I was given 4 different reasons on why it was handled this way. We have our last practice with these coaches today and our last game is on Tuesday. My son and I will surely be happy when this season is over. Parents who put themselves before kids should never be allowed to coach again. I am going to see to that at the next Little League board meeting. If my son plays he will be moving up to the Majors next season so I will not have to deal with these guys again. Kids come first and don't ever use a kid as a pon. These coaches can thank God that my wife was there, other wise I would have pulled them a side and gave them a piece of my mind. Whatever is about all I have to say... Appreciate any input.. Thanks

[ToP]

Steel,

Although my children are not old enough to play organized sports yet, I have dealt with similar situations that you are referring to. Sadly, this goes on in all levels of sports. I played football and baseball my whole life, baseball thru college until tearing my shoulder up, and from what I can tell politics are always going to be involved. I am often asked to coach teams in my community due to my background in sports but always decline because you cannot make everyone happy all the time. Piss one person off and who suffers? The child. Most little league coaches have no idea of how any sport should be played much less coached. I don't think there is any clear cut answer to your problem other than to move on, and hopefully your sons natural talent will carry him. To me, kids sports are nothing more than a place for parents to socialize and form their political groups. I enjoyed playing sports growing up, but dread the day my son wants to play, b/c I am sure I will have a run in with some dumb ass coach who knows it all. Hopefully, my son will only want to hunt and fish.

GL

[Steel]

Hunting and fishing, those are great ways to spend time with your kids. We are fortunate to have some of the best Duck hunting in California. I can't kill anything anymore but I have introduced both my sons to hunting. We are also into Fly Fishing. I love to take off down a stream and meet in the middle for something to eat. We really enjoy the territory as most people don't ever go where we venture off to. I also played a lot of sports growing up. Little league, Football 4 years, boxing 3 years, track one year, basketball 1 year. I never remember the politics being as bad as this. I never remember my father ever getting into any kind of spat with anyone. I just hope my son does not remember this. I am teaching him that life isn't fair and you just have to do the best you can. Would I like to punch the guy in the mouth, YES, but then I am acting like he is. I coached 6 years of High School ball. Kids ALWAYS came first. I have 24 year old kids that come home from school to see their parents and then they come by to see my family. I know this, my sons coach will never see my son at his door. Sad but true. Remember this about kids, Their is no such thing as a bad kid, maybe a bad environment but never a bad kid. Thanks for your input ToP.. GL

[The War Dogs]

Little league does suck. I watch the Little league World Series a little each year and it nearly makes me sick. Parents today act in a way I find unthinkable. Essentially, they are living vicariously through their children.

I see fat ass women, with no life, screaming for little Johnny to do the most difficult thing in all of sports, hit a pitch coming at him at a speed relatively equivalent to a ML pitch, sittin on the edge of their seat (usually because they have no choice), bopping up and down like a contestant on Let's Make a Deal, defending their son NO MATTER WHAT...and then we wonder why half of the kids on the field are in tears at some point during the game!!! The exact opposite radical view, that kids shouldn't be put in a win/lose situation so they don't get their feelings hurt, which is of course rediculous, is simply paralleled by these parents who by their actions are telling their kids that winning is EVERYTHING. We all intellectually know that winning isn't everything, but what do we teach kids by our ACTIONS?

Kids are smart of enough to know "the deal" without parental intervention. They need the leeway to pace themselves through the situation without the added pressure of mom and dads point of view. The most important thing going on is/should be a lesson in Life 101, not whether the coach made a strategic mistake or Johnny's swing is late. Parents are out of control as indicated recently by fights and court cases and even DEATH on the playing field, in all sports.

I can only imagine how frustrating it must be Steel and I didn't mean to direct this at you, in fact you seem to be relatively under control. My point is simply that it isn't necessary for parents to be ADVOCATES for their children in little league sports. They already want to succeed and win, and they need the space to deal with the natural pressures already in place among their peers without also worrying about the car-ride home.

[Steel]

I agree 100 %. Thanks for your input.

[Thor24]

Steel.....Give you some background..My dad coached for 15 plus years in High School (He retired my Freshman yr)..so I grew up around football, basketball and baseball..He caoched all 3..so my family is pretty well known in our county..this year in LL basketball one of my sons is 12 and played in a league in the other end of the county because our league was weak..Him and 3 other classmates played there and went 17-0 in year..Allstars were picked and the other 7 team coaches kept my son off the team by votes..out of 21 kids to vote on from he was not even in top 13..The coach of the Allstar team would not coach the Allstar team so he entered the 4 county Allstar tournament with his 6 boys from the 17-0 team(2 kids from another town in county) plus 2 more...Many parents from other end were pissed off..felt their kids were done wrong even though they had an Allstar team without this coach..They wrote to the county paper letters blasting us and that coach for recruitting...ect...End story my sons team finished 2nd (Lost to AAU team) but in Tournament my son beat the other team from county and scored 19 points and was 4-4 from 3s...He lead the county in scoring for the tourn..My son never..Never..said one Bad word against the other team or coaches..Character..Character..Thats what we teach our Kids and usually the Parents that never played a Sport well push their kids to be what they NEVER was..!!Sad....Steel I have always hoped that my Kids don't get screwed by parents that never did well playing against me or my dads coached teams and take it out on my kids..But I think that it is happening..SAD..Sorry for the long talk But I know how you feel..I am just happy my son handled it so well...

[Steel]

Thanks Thor, means a lot to share a story such as yours. My son made it thru his last game tonight. We are very happy its over and I thanked the coaches for the time they spent with the kids. I had to make my son go as he feels the coaches hate him and they talk terrible to him when I am not there. Its sad but true. I am just glad its all over and both my son and I learned a valuable lessons. We also showed class and finished out the season. As hard as it was for him I made my son thank the coaches for their time. I have coached a lot of kids and you can't make them all happy. Its just a lesson in life and football is right around the corner. :yeah: enjoyed all the reading. Thanks...

[Thor24]

Steel
I think your son will have stronger character after all of this because he sees how the "world" can be because of how some parents act..Class act the way ya handled it with you and your son..So glad my son was a Class act and not an Ass act like some kids act like today..And yes ..Thank God football is close..!!..Hope you and your Family have a Great Summer...Thor

[UteFan]

Steel-Thor nailed it, you handled yourself very well and with mucho dignity! As I always remind myself with my son: Kids will not always do what you say, but they WILL always do as you ACT! Your son is fortunate to have a father who understands that life is full of bullshit sometimes but you have to take the good with the bad and learn from both with class. That was probably very hard for your son to do (like you said), thanking his a-hole coach, but the lesson you gave him in doing some shows exemplary behavior by you as a father. I wish more Dad's handled organized sports disputes in the manner you did, then maybe the kids would act appropriately given difficult circumstances as well. I praise you and your son Steel!!!:thumbs:

[Steel]

Thanks Guy's, those are some nice words and even though these coaches did a poor job at least they gave us their time. That is worth a lot to me and like you all said, my son will be all the better for it. Taking your ball and going home is not an option in my household. Thanks for the nice words guy's, its greatly appreciated. Thanks again..

Steel,

We have discussed this before and your situation really does suck.....to put a kid in the middle of any negative situation like that is abominable......I have been blessed in that although we must endure some of the partisan politics(in my league its the old school we need to worry about)on the whole it has been a truly rewarding year for me as a coach and my son as a player.....I have 12 absolutely stand up kids on my team and a group of parents that I wouldnt trade for the world.....we play a 20 game schedule and are 11-4 on a team that at best I would have guessed would win 7-8 games all year.....this is my son's last year in majors and last opportunity to get to williamsport.....anyone who follows LL knows that our little state of delaware put our first team ever in williamsport last year and they did a great job.....two of the kids were 11 on that LL world series team and are on my sons 12-U AAU travel ball team they have brought a world of experience to that team and the parents of even these elite kids that play on an all-star AAU team are great.....It makes me sick to hear stories of horror like yours.....I had to call Williamsport just last week to speak to the Rules Commissioner and he made a point to discuss politics and parental intervention in practices and games.....they see this as one of the main reasons for the sharp deline in LL participation in the last few years.....people want to blame TV, Computers, Soccer and Lacrosse as digging into LL enrollment but he said the truth is parents are sick of the way some leagues/teams are run so they have been looking to other avenues of recreation for their kids......I hope you will see an improvement when Steel Jr. gets up to the majors next year.....it is a different animal.....I hate to see another kid lose interest in LL because of a bunch of ego maniac parents and coaches that dont know their head from a fucking hole in the ground!!!

[Blood,Sweat & Beers]

With all the horror stories I hear about Little League Baseball it is no wonder that the majority of MLB players are such greedy a-holes.

[Get Paid]

Stop Complaining

[Steel]

FUCK OFF GET PAID

[UteFan]

GET PAID-you need to GET REAL-the general discussion forum is open primarily for venting and real world issues; quit picking your bones with Steel b/c you think of smooth as some kind of capping god and assume by attacking Steel you are somehow vindicating smooth. Grow up brother. Steel is fully within forum protocal to post such topics here.

[Get Paid]

Well thank you for pointing out Forum Protocol. I dont think of smooth as Capping God or whatever you said, i just think its a load of BS that everytime the guy posts there is a group of people calling him out.

People post plays, read them or dont read them, thats where it should end. Not, "Smooth you are a loser, with no integrity!!"

Who the hell cares if he steals picks or picks them himself? A win is a win and a loss is a loss


Oh yeah... did you say Grow Up? "You wont say that to my face"

[Steel]

Either way it does not matter Get lost, He posted with two different names and it just so happens that his other name was his biggest fan in the football last season. LMFAO That is hillarious... He with 2 different names was his own biggest fan. Now their was no EGO involved there. LMFAO

[UteFan]

"Oh yeah... did you say Grow Up? "You wont say that to my face""

Why GP..if I did would you beat me up? You're only further proving my point with your response. Feel free to retort but I won't, so you get the last word if you feel you need it. GL in life with the bully complex BTW.

[Get Paid]

UteFan, I was quoting Steel who told that to smooth... But since you replied thinking it was me you actually told Steel exactly what i thought...

LOL!!!

[UteFan]

GP-Fair enough,I know I said I wouldn't respond but I owe you an apology. I did think you said that-whoever said it can use it as well as it is applicable to anyone, Steel inculuded, if that is what was said in response to smooth. I retract my statement to you and apoligize for misquoting you.

[Get Paid]

Originally posted by UteFan
GP-Fair enough,I know I said I wouldn't respond but I owe you an apology. I did think you said that-whoever said it can use it as well as it is applicable to anyone, Steel inculuded, if that is what was said in response to smooth. I retract my statement to you and apoligize for misquoting you.

Very admirable :thumbs: