Don't blame the kids. We've litigated and organized them to the point we've sucked every ounce of joy out of the games.
I read Ranger's diatribe. How many times did he call kids "dumbasses?" Did you see the part where he "crawled the ass" of a kid who swing at a 3-0 pitch?
Not taking shots at Ranger because he's far from the only one to do it, but it's the organized ball mentality that ruins the game for kids. 90% of the time the games are for the parents and coaches. They're trying to win -- to live vicariously through the kids -- as opposed to teaching them. In doing so, they rob the games of their joy.
Why don't kids get together in back yards to play stick baseball? Because they have to go to practice and get screamed at by men, many of whom were fringe players in high school themselves -- if they ever even played. The game isn't fun. They can't just go out in the yard and swing at rocks without some well-intentioned "coach" coming along and instructing them on the proper technique to roll the wrists.
I think you tried to play Sigmund Freud way too much in my post and way over analyzed something that was very simple.
First of all, when you look a kid straight in the face and tell him what he needs to do not once or twice, but three times and still does exactly the opposite, that is being a dumbass in my book. Kind of like tonight when we had to tell our third basemen four times in a row to charge in on a bunt and he sit dead still every time. Even his own mom, who is one of the sweetest ladies you will ever meet, had to yell at him and asked him if he was awake and listening to us. It embarrassed him, but when the next batter tried to lay down a bunt, his ass was charging in then.
Secondly, please don't erroeounsly lump me in with a group of parents that I don't care too much for either. You don't know me and even though you said you were not taking a shot at me, you did try to judge the way I coach and the way I treat my son based upon the fact I was actually complaining about how kids don't seem to listen and pay attention these days. So, please excuse me if I take that "non-shot" a little personal.
I played college ball and I don't feel like I left anything unaccomplished, so I don't live through my kid. Actually, I got very close to not letting my son play baseball at all this year because of his attitude. If it was not for his mom intervening by asking me to not take away the one and only sport he really enjoys, he would not have played this year . Despite the fact that I get asked to coach his team every year, up until this year I have stayed of the field when my son is playing and stuck to umpiring youth league and high school baseball and also coached American Legion baseball. The only reason I am coaching this year was because three coaches are needed and for some reason no other parent wanted to do it.
I do know the type of parents you are talking about. I have an assistant that is "that guy" and me and the other coach, who also played college ball, really wish the idiot would just shut up about his kids "awesomeness". Hell, the guy is already talking about summer and fall ball and worried about finding a team for his kid to play on. Shoot, when our league tournament is over this Thursday, or tomorrow for us if we lost the semifinal game, my son and I plan on getting in all the fishing and camping we can. These kids that are playing baseball all summer and into the fall of school, yeah, they will become better players for it, but many of them are also going to be burnt out by the time they get in high school.
Also, please show me where I "crawled up a kid's ass" for swinging at a 3-0 pitch. I believe I only talked about the fact that we had just told them to take the pitch and they did not. You said that some parents are way too protective, so what exactly am I supposed to do when a kid is totally ignoring what we tell them to do and keeps screwing up? Do like their mommies want us to do and tell them it is okay to keep making the same mistake over and over? Like during the first part of the year when our guys kept looking at third strikes over and over, game after game (one game we 13 strikeouts and 9 of them were looking) or do we stay on their asses to correct the damn problem? You can't claim that parent's are too soft on their kids, then try to give me shit about trying to coach a kid to play the game right. Like my dad always told me, it was up to me if I wanted to play, but if I was going to play, there was no half-assing it.
Look, some kids, like mine (who did not inherit much of my athleticism and I am ok with that), are not really good athletes, but they get out there and bust their tails. Usually those kids are eager to learn. It is the kids that are good athletes or have the potential, but yet want to do nothing but give attitude and not listen to anything we say is what pisses me off. Hell, tonight one of my better players, who also has a big ass attitude, struck out his first time at bat after fighting off several 3-2 pitches. On his way back to the dugout, I tried to give him a pat on the helmet and told him he would get it next time. What does the kid do? He intentionally dodges my pat on his helmet. The dugout coach tries to do the same thing and the kids again dodges the attempt at encouragement and then the kids gets in the dugout and shows his ass. Me and the other coach looked at each other in disgust. This kid has been benched for talking back to us during the game when we try to correct him and still has not learned a damn thing.
The part of your reply that I bolded...I have to respectfully call bs on. Unless you have some coaches wound up really too tightly where you live, I don't recall seeing many coaches trolling the backyard wiffle ball games. Sorry, but I see and hear the same complaints from way too many parents and coaches on why they can't get their kid outside....the almighty gaming system. I see it with my son, his friends, and his cousins. Technology has take the place of wiffle ball, hide and seek, playing army, etc. Now you can all of that on your TV without having to leave the comforts of air conditioning.
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