U.S. LLWS runner-up: Jackie Robinson West cheated, should lose title

David Haugh:

Chicago Tribune

(N)o matter what officials declare, it always will feel to me like something defined by a technicality more than a conspiracy. It feels as if Little League International is doing the right thing by the letter of its by-laws, yet it’s hard for me to look at this as an example of all that’s wrong with society or sports or our city. It’s hard for me to grasp the idea that this group of kids from the Far South Side benefited from a geographical advantage.

 

Obviously a racist conspiracy.

 

Boy, he's usually pretty smart.

That's fucking idiotic.

 

The Las Vegas players are on their way to the airport now. Running late because they had to stop and get beer.

 

I think the biggest Vegas kid was 5-9 and about 170. That is a big 13-year-old* but not one who is wildly off the charts.

*Players are eligible if they are 12 or under on April 30, so a kid could be as old as 13 years 3 months for the LLWS. Like the Canadian hockey players in Outliers, a high percentage of these All Stars have advantageous birthdays.

 

You and I both know what they're listed at and what they really are aren't always congruent.

 

It appears they are still getting a trophy.

Chicago Tribune

Mayoral candidate Willie Wilson announced he would present the team a "special Black History Month trophy" to recognize their accomplishments and place in history. "It's a sad day when kids have to pay the price for adults undermining the rules of fair play," Wilson said in a news release. "Children are more important than rules."

Good for them.

 

I watch far more of the LLWS than is healthy for a man in his 40s. The Vegas team did not strike me as particularly overgrown.

The California-Michigan game a year earlier featured a 6-4, 225 pitcher against a 6-3, 200 pitcher. Now that was fishy.

 

Heaven help our country.

 

Yeah, rules are important for everyone.

Look how that "Entitlement Generation" turned out.

 

How did I get in the middle of this mess?

 

Would love to have seen what his opinion would be if the offending team was from, say, Grand Rapids or Indianapolis, and they beat a Chicago-area team on the way to the LLWS.