Rick Reilly raises ethical dillema in youth sports

I'm pretty sure the French slipped it to him...

Sorry Boom, but it just had to be done ;D

 

I never said he had a good chance. I'm just glad he got the chance.

Royal, I don't think we're that far apart on this. If nothing else, we agree that the kid has got more guts than most of us will ever know. I really hope we read good things about him in the future. As someone who's lost a father to cancer, I'd love to see this little guy beat the "Big C." Talk about Game 7 of the World Series! We could all stand up and cheer for that one.

 

Gee, it must have been nice growing up where all of you did, in an environment where 9 and 10 year-olds form a kiddie Utopia and never single out the weak kids, or try to take advantage of them whenever possible - whether it was kickball or long division. How wonderfull to have such mutual cooperation, advanced moral reasoning and concern for the other fellow.

Myself, I apparently attended Charles Darwin Elementary.

 

Bullshit. For every little shit who will pick on or take advantage of the weak kids, there are 50 who won't.

And besides, this is not a matter of whether or not the kids would do it, although I said and I still believe that the kids, without the coach's involvement, wouldn't have walked the star. This is a matter of whether or not a 9- and 10-year-old baseball game should be so meaningful to an adult that he'd teach the kids to take the easiest way out to get what you really want.

God forbid an adult should, you know, act like one.

 

And besides, this is not a matter of whether or not the kids would do it, although I said and I still believe that the kids, without the coach's involvement, wouldn't have walked the star. This is a matter of whether or not a 9- and 10-year-old baseball game should be so meaningful to an adult that he'd teach the kids to take the easiest way out to get what you really want.

God forbid an adult should, you know, act like one.
bingo again, dog. the fact that thie opposite is even argued here is appalling. but all too predictable.

 

dog ... did they outlaw playgrounds and/or kickball in your school district?

 

Have you run that line past recent Columbine grads?

Anyway, nice try.

Compensating adults called for the intentional walk in an everyone-comes-to-bat baseball game. Not kids.

Kids picking on kids, to a certain extent, sucks, but them's da breaks. Agreed.

These scumsucker coaches weren't 10-year-olds.

 

You can rightfully put the onus on the parents in this case. But many of you put the onus on the parents across the board.

Let me tell you this -- the kids WANT to be competitive.

I was the 10-year-old in right field, afraid the ball would be hit at him. It was good for me.

And I was the 12-year-old at first base, trying to earn some traveling time with victories in tournaments. That was even better for me.

 

Discerning readers might note that I never took part in the main pissing match, which was played out around page 5.

I did try, however, to point out that kids this young are perfectly capable of being less than angelic without the guiding hand of some nefarious adult.

But thanks for playing.

 

"Hey meat forget this guy - walk him and pitch to shunt head, then we'll all go pound some Budweiser"

 

And, what's more competitve than getting that other team's best player out?

 

again, kids being cruel to kids comes with the territory. the bullies need to be disciplined by adults.

but there's NO EXCUSE for adults being cruel to kids. isn't that the issue here?

the intentional walk tells the kids: "screw the weak. only the strong survive. winning is everything."

nice message, huh?.