Youth All-Star Game Canceled To Prevent Bruised Egos

[Spouting Horn]

BEACHWOOD, Ohio -- A local community has canceled an all-star game for youth baseball players because it doesn't want to exclude anyone.

...

For decades the game has been played on July 4, but in a letter to the coaches, the parks and recreation department said the tradition is over, saying its not their desire to exclude any child from participating in a recreation event.

...his son is very disappointed because this was the first year he was selected and he's worked hard all year to get this honor.

http://www.weathernet5.com/sports/16717616/detail.html?rss=nn5wx&psp=news

[undeterred]

1. Inclusiveness taken to an extreme.

We're not going to elect a president because the other candidates would feel excluded.

[shrdlu]

2. How to encourage a nation of wimps...n/t

[Winterblues]

3. This aspect of Liberalism is not to my liking

While I can understand a parents concern for their child's delicate ego, I disagree strenuously with this sort of everybody is the same mentality. It sets these same children up for a terrible bruising in their later life. Life is competitive and the sooner these children learn that the better IMO.

[msongs]

7. so is it ok to beat little gay boys because to do otherwise sets them for later bruisings? nt

[pt22]

10. You probably shouldn't smoke that stuff.

:eyes:

[BigDaddy44]

13. You equate an all star team with beating up gay kids?

Geez, extrapolate much?

There's a difference between a bruised ego and a bruised body. This is all about making those who aren't good enough not feel bad. Well, they need to get used to it. Sometimes in life you AREN'T good enough. It could be because you didn't work hard enough, or because you weren't lucky enough, or because you weren't smart enough. Its just tough. Thats the way it is. If we were all the same, and no one excelled, and we were all at the same level, it would be a pretty dull place.

[tuckessee]

23. Wow! That came outta left field. n/t

[distantearlywarning]

27. Um...what?

:crazy:

[anigbrowl]

34. Basketball game =/= beating up gay kids

Please, get sensible.

[Elidor]

37. .

[snooper2]

39. Are you a fucking idiot?

or do you just act like one on DU?


:rofl:



GOBAMA!

[DS1]

46. Oh for fuck's sake. Nice right-wing Hannity tactic

[Bill McBlueState]

25. Is this really part of "Liberalism"?

Or is it more that right-wing propaganda would have us believe this is an example of liberalism?

Liberalism is a political philosophy, not a guide for running a youth baseball league.

[Winterblues]

32. I do believe it is

I believe it is good intentioned but just not realistic. Liberalism is basically about caring for people. These mothers care for their children's feelings very much but it is just too over protective IMO.

[LanternWaste]

41. I think it's better to put off the toughest of life's lessons

"Life is competitive and the sooner these children learn that the better IMO."

I disagree. I think it's better to put off the toughest of life's lessons until it becomes necessary in the eyes of the parents. I was a happy kid and I was a naive kid-- the first because of the second.

[Bake]

51. This is hardly the toughest of life's lessons.

The really tough ones don't get put off:

"Sorry, son, I know you need that kidney transplant but Mom and Dad don't have insurance and we can't afford the operation."

"Sorry, daughter, Mommy can't afford to buy you school clothes because Daddy left and no one knows where he is and he hasn't sent any child support."

You get the idea.

Those are a little tougher than "you didn't make the All-Star team." And they NEVER get put off.

Bake

[LanternWaste]

52. I'm responding to this line in particular

I'm responding to this line in particular, not the little league scenario itself...

"It sets these same children up for a terrible bruising in their later life. Life is competitive and the sooner these children learn that the better IMO."


...and I maintain my position.

[spartan61]

4. Rule 1: Life is not fair - get used to it!

Rule 2 : The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer.. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

There are 11 Rules. I only posted 3 of them.

Politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in the real world. (attributed to Bill Gates)

[ieoeja]

31. There are 14 rules (not 11), and they are by Sykes (not Gates).

And they are in no way, shape or form related to "political correct teachings" unless you are seriously suggesting that, for instance, breaking the school up into semesters is politically correct.

http://www.snopes.com/language/document/liferule.asp

[LanternWaste]

42. I think there are twelve rules

Actually, I think there are twelve rules-- the twelfth being that lists of arbitrary rules are more often than not subjective bullshit.

[NeedleCast]

5. Meanwhile, the Nanny-Staters

Nod and smile.

Slowly we move. Step by step.

[pt22]

8. Next step is -> force airlines to hire blind pilots

:grr: :puke:

[BigDaddy44]

14. My favorite is the braille markings on the drive up ATMs

I realize we're supposed to be supporting the handicapped (sorry, "differently abled"), but I draw the line at letting the blind drive.

[Occam Bandage]

17. ATMs are mass produced. They have the same keypads whether they're drive-up or walk-up.

[LanternWaste]

44. Shush... some people needs a good reason

Shush... some people want a legitimate reason to make fun of others, and you're taking one of them away...

:evilgrin:

[pt22]

54. And some people go to great lengths to find something to whine about.

:D

[pt22]

20. A few years ago I saw a sign in the window of a restaurant:

Braille Menus Available


(Yes, yes, I know, it just struck me as humorous)
:shrug: :D

[dysfunctional press]

29. blind people take taxis and sometimes they need to get cash.

nt.

[Bluebear]

50. Oh yes, that is the next logical step. (Idiot.)

[cobalt1999]

6. That just going to make the shock when the real world smacks them in the face worse.

Children are tougher than people think. They can handle that.

[fishwax]

9. I don't see a problem with not having an all-star game

It seems to me, though, that it's stupid to make that decision in the middle of the season after teams have already been selected. If they wanted to restrict all-star games to the over-12 leagues, the appropriate thing to do would have been to make this season's all-star game the last. It seems rather pointless to change it midstream.

[Initech]

11. George Carlin was right - parents have taken all the fun out of being a kid

I mean come on - isn't that the point of the all star game in the first place? :eyes:

[CBGLuthier]

12. Harrison Bergeron by Vonnegut

THE YEAR WAS 2081, and everybody was finally equal. They weren’t only equal before God and the law. They were equal every which way. Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else. All this equality was due to the 211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments to the Constitution, and to the unceasing vigilance of agents of the United States Handicapper General.

http://instruct.westvalley.edu/lafave/hb.html

One of his greatest and most important short stories.

[MedleyMisty]

15. Why can't anyone strike a balance?

It seems to be an issue I run into all the time - equality does not mean conformity.

I hate exclusion. But I also hate forced conformity and denial of individual strengths and weaknesses.

So some people are better at baseball than others. Why can't people just deal with that? I'm sure that some of the kids who aren't so great at baseball are better at math or drawing or playing a musical interest or learning foreign languages or some other activity.

Humans are not all the same, but we do all have the same value. And that value is based on the fact that we are alive - our different levels of skill in different activities are just who we are and helps to make us all different and interesting. They have nothing to do with the value of our selves.

Surely it would build better self esteem to teach kids how to deal with not making it to the all-star game? Like "You tried your best and that's what counts - not everyone has the same ability in the same areas but everyone has worth. Do some exploring and try other things and try your best at them until you find what you personally excel at. Or hell, if you enjoy playing baseball and are okay with not being the best at it, do that. Do whatever you want and what makes you happy, but accept that you're not going to be the best at everything."

God knows I could have used that when I was little - now I'm this raging perfectionist who gives up rather quickly if it becomes apparent that I am not going to win or be the best.

[BigDaddy44]

19. You hate exclusion?

Exclusion is a wonderful thing.

We exclude people who aren't qualified to fly airplanes from being airline pilots.

We exclude 500lb people who can't run from being police officers. (well, i've seen some exceptions down south)

We exclude people with limited mental capacities from designing buildings, and bridges, and important parts of our infrastructure.

The point is, I happen to like exclusion. It sounds like a bad word, but often times it really isn't.

[Blue_Tires]

16. i would just as soon eliminate psychotic parents from youth sports

because you know someone in the neighborhood probably threatened lawsuit or bodily harm to the coaches if his/her kid wasnn't chosen...so many parents are delusional to think they are raising a future hall-of-famer and death to any coach, player, referee or other parent who dares stand in the way...

more often than not, these fine parents are RWers...I know a poster upthread said the "everyone is equal regardless of athletic skill" mantra was due to liberal pressure, but it is important to NOT own shit that doesn't belong to you -- Because slowly but surely the RW radio loves to pain these stories as "PC run amok" or something like that (they did the same thing with 'zero tolerance' in schools -- how did that ever get to be OUR baby?)

[Irreverend IX]

38. I think that could have been part of the real reason they cancelled it...

Maybe the game organizers were getting phone messages like:

"I know my little Timmy weighs 200 pounds and gets winded walking into McDonald's from our SUV, but he's the most talented little baseball player I know, and if he's not allowed to play in that game I'm going to hunt you down and break your kneecaps!"

As demonstrated by that woman who murdered her daughter's cheerleading rival, some parents will go to freakish extents to live vicariously through their children.

[Blue_Tires]

49. yeah, i forgot about the cheerleader parents -- they can be pure evil

they are second only to the top of the pyramid, scorched-earth destructors of rage-hockey dads!

[Occam Bandage]

18. Dumb as hell.

[SteelPenguin]

21. In Other News

Every youth baseball team in Beachwood will play in the Championship game determined by random interval per inning, and side. Every player will recieve a championship trophy and ribbon stating that they not only won the championship game, but was the Most Valuable Player.

In addition, every student will participate in the science fair, and each will receive an award for participation, though no winner will be selected.

Get well soon to Luke Miller who while taking his randomly generated obligatory turn at Varsity Quarterback sustained a concussion and a broken collarbone.

Beachwood High School has also elected their Prom Queens and Kings. Every graduating senior girl is now a Prom Queen, and every graduating senior boy is now a Prom King. Congratulations Seniors!

*edit*

This just in. In order to not exclude other High School, non-seniors, every Junior, Sophomore, and Freshman at Beachwood High School has also been named a Senior Prom Queen and King respectively.

[ieoeja]

35. So they are forcing transvestite males in HS to be King when they'd rather be Queen? n/t

[dsc]

22. I was a total loser at baseball

and trust me, it didn't take an all star game for me to figure that out. As long as there are ways for all kids to excell at what they are good at then let them excell. The kids who worked to get on that team deserve to play that game.

[davsand]

24. Parents using kids to wave their own dicks.

Too many parents and coaches use the kids to make themselves feel good. The playing of summer sports can be more about Daddy (and Mommy's) ego than what the kids want and I see this kind of flap as being more about that than anything else.


Just a couple observations from one that has been in the dugout with the kids for a few years:

I have seen more kids cry because Mom or Dad has given them shit about a strikeout or a missed catch than I have ever seen due to the kid feeling bad about it on their own. Yep, kids do feel bad sometimes on their own, but usually it is about the adults messing with them than anything else.

I have seen and heard more kids say they do not WANT to play ball ever again because they are sick of adults giving them shit and they are not having any fun. Kids quit playing when it ain't fun, and adults DO that to them.

I have seen kids who cried during and after the game RUN to a vacant field ten minutes later to play ball where nobody is putting pressure on them to perform.



One of the first thing I tell parents is that we are there to have FUN, we are maybe gonna try and learn a little bit about how to play the game, and we are gonna play fair with our kids and the other teams. The ONLY things I am a huge stickler about is my kids do not EVER argue with the umps and you ALWAYS shake hands after the game.

This is RECREATION sports not the majors. I do not take my time and energy coaching just so I can make a kid feel bad about their ability or who they are. This is supposed to be about FUN and we play sports. This is not a substitute for life nor is it an opportunity for the adults to somehow salvage their own egos after the fact.

If you got a problem with that attitude then take your kid and your money and go play in a league where they have tryouts and pay to play tournaments.


:banghead:



Laura

[MiniMe]

26. I glanced at the title, and at first I thought it was to prevent bruised eggs

I think I need new glasses. :silly:

[scheming daemons]

28. The "war against excellence" continues..... We need to stop this shit....

Everybody has different talents... and some people are BETTER at something than other people and there is NOTHING WRONG with recognizing that fact.


Pick the damn all-star team... the kids that don't make it, by-and-large, aren't good enough to make it.

Quit worrying about everyone's self-esteem... people are resilient. We can take it. Even (and especially) kids.



Reward excellence. Equal opportunity does not mean equal outcomes.

[SoCalDem]

30. This article reminded me of a funny event in our family

Our youngest was a star soccer player, and once when we returned home from an evening out, he came to us looking all worried.

The sitter had written down a phone number of someone who had called in our absence, and Steven had only heard part of the conversation she had with the person who called..

He told us.. "Somebody called and carrie talked to them...they said I had been drafted... MOM..I'm only EIGHT YEARS OLD..why does the army want ME?"

He had been "drafted" by a very tip-top club soccer team..and was happy as a clam when we explained that drafting was done by sports teams too..not just the army :rofl:

[carlyhippy]

33. this is probably why this happened

a player, a pretty good player, did not get picked. The parents pitched a fit with the rec board, and after much debate it was cancelled, probably because this happens every summer with someone and they are tired.

I have seen this so many times when my kid was in hockey. Parents coaching from the bleachers, hollering at the kids, having a hissy fit in front of the other parents if *their* kid was put on the 3rd line and was not a starter. Poor kids

[SteelPenguin]

40. You're probably right

My sister (a 6th grade teacher) gets in trouble with her school administration occasionally because she doesn't always keep her cool with these types of parents. Luckily she's a great teacher and they love her...but she gets the occasional warning to be nicer.

This I think is the actual problem. It's not so much that there are parents in the bleachers yelling at their kids. They had that when I was growing up too, and from what I understand even prior to that. That's not new. Parents push their children to succeed. The problem is in how we've been taught to deal with these assholes.

Back in my day if someone pitched a fit that their Johnny didn't make it in, the board would have rolled their eyes, said there was nothing that could be done, and if the person still was kicking up a stink, they would have called the parent out.

Now the people in authority don't seem to have the balls to stand up to these types of parents, for the most part. Instead of just walking away from the asshole, they try and talk and be diplomatic and "work it out" rather than tell the parent "tough".

If people in authority just stood up to these pricks like people did 30 years go we wouldn't be having these issues today.

[carlyhippy]

45. right on....there is no diplomatic way to deal with these folks

Carly

[Oeditpus Rex]

36. A fine example of the reason I came to abhor Little League years ago

where "Little League" is an inclusive metaphor for virtually all group activities for youth organized by parents. The whole "You're all speshull!" bit, wherein kids are rewarded for merely showing up, makes me want to lob a clue-stick cluster bomb onto Suburbia.

Every year at the airport in this small town there's an event called the "Plane Pull." A California Air National Guard C-130 is flown down from Moffett Field and teams of police, firefighters, etc. kick into a pool, then compete to see which team can pull the plane the farthest in a given length of time. Proceeds from the pool go to Special Olympics. After the competitors have their pulls, all the spectating kids are invited to have a crack at it.

One year I was photographing the event for the local paper. When the kids were pulling, there were maybe 30 of 'em on the rope, and I got in tight on three boys about 10-12 years old and burned off several shots. Afterward, I got their names and ages for the caption and was walking away when a 30-ish woman called to me, "Excuse me, but you didn't get the names of all the children." I told her I didn't make photos of all the children, to which she replied, "Oh, but they'd love to see their names in the paper."

Yes, because they're all speshull.



:eyes:

[Bluebear]

43. What an interesting story to bring to a 'liberal' message board

Have you been surprised at some of the responses, or did you expect everybody to agree with canceling the game?

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

47. Is this before or after the pledged to get pregnant together?

Some people is so gullible.

[Bluebear]

48. You said it.

[knitter4democracy]

53. This means that a parent complained.

I used to teach in that area, and I hated dealing with some of the parents. They put the hell in helicopter parent. I'd put money on it that a parent complained, it got nasty, and the person in charge said that they didn't get paid enough to deal with that crap.