Posted on 08/24/2013 1:49:50 PM PDT by A'elian' nation
I have been watching and thoroughly enjoying the Little League Championship games. If I could re-live any of my years, it would be the years my son was playing Little League. Baseball is such a great game to learn sportsmanship, values, and life lessons.
That is why it is so sad to see so very few Black children playing in these Little League games. In the 2013 U.S. championship game about to start, California has two Black players and Connecticut doesn't have any.
Where are the Black kids in Little League, and why aren't they there? They aren't there because Little League is all about family, and 70% of Black kids do not have intact families.
Instead of these kids engaged in the joys of team cameraderie and bonding, they are out on their own on the streets. At best, they are playing midnight basketball. Sadly, no dads or moms are there to cheer them on.
When I signed up my boy for Little League in Hawaii, I was surprised to discover he was the only haole ( Caucasian kid ) on his team. It was a great way to become a part of the community. I limed the field and even took a turn at the mike calling the plays. Not easy, brah, pronouncing all dem da kine Hawaiian names.
Watching the Little League games today is a bittersweet experience. It is an all too glaring reflection of our divided society today. Think how much better it would be if more Black kids wore baseball caps instead of hoodies.
In closing, I want to thank the Hawaiian coaches who looked beyond race and saw the talent in my young son and made him better and made him feel accepted. It all culminated in the final championship game when my 7 yr old son pitched a no-hitter. Yeah, that's a proud papa talking who wouldn't mind going back to that special day.
I’m sure urban growth boundaries and zoning laws that artificially inflate land values within cities has nothing to do with it.
OK I’ll stand corrected . . .I was out of line being so critical Apologies
No problem. Actually I thought your profiling jab was pretty clever and funny.
Hi.
My purpose wasn’t to lament about anything.
I was just positing the notion that Little League ( as well as Pop Warner and soccer leagues ) require more family effort when it comes to sports. Which brings with it a lot of positive aspects. It would do Black families and Trayvon-like kids a lot of good to get more involved in these kind of sports.
Then again there is the angle that Sgt. York brought up wherein his wife’s choir became an affirmative action choir when parent involvement was lacking. His example made my point exactly. Hard to get participation from single or absent parent households. Which I guess is lamentable from a societal perspective.
Despite the sardonic comment, there is no doubt you are right.
But I remember kids playing not just sandlot but street-lot.
Manhole covers made great bases.
Sorry, I did not mean to mean to project any bile your way.
I have heard other people bring this topic on espn and elsewhere. They ask, “Where are the Willy Mays and Hank Aarons of today?” The question bothers me. The same can be asked about white sprinters and basketball players. They are few and far between. I wasn’t looking at it from the social perspective as you were. I think your points are relevant concerning dysfunctional families not tending toward baseball for the stated reasons. Sorry again, did not mean to be rude.
Hi. I know you didn’t mean to be rude.
I just think that this administration and the hypocritical media that can find no wrong with it have put us all on edge. We understandably get frustrated and lash out.
You are a good man to try and set things right.
Another reason that you are seeing less African Americans playing baseball is that the sport is evolving into a rich kids game, even for white kids. In the past a kid played little league baseball with his friends in town and for his towns all star team if he was good enough. Probably cost the family $10 dollars tops. Now the best players leave the town to play on club teams, usually regional all star teams, all year round. These teams can cost $3,000 a year to play for. The parents feel pressured for little Johnny to make his HS team that they shell out even more for private coaching at $70 an hour. In my area, typical suburbia, back in the day Lacrosse was the sport for Richie Rich, but now it has reversed. You see more working class kids playing lacrosse because they feel they have a chance without all the club teams and private coaching. It is the Richie Rich who plays baseball today. Kids in the inner city don’t bother with baseball because they feel they have no chance to excel. They can’t compete with a kid in the suburbs with his own private pitching and hitting coaches. So they gravitate toward sports like football and basketball were there are good competetive programs that do not cost an arm and a leg. The inexpensive local baseball programs are just awful because anybody with any talent has been snatched away by some private club team. This is the reason you are seeing MLB being dominated by the Latin player. The talent pool for baseball among today’s young American players has dropped dramatically from what it was 30 years ago. The sport is chasing away those whose parents are of modest means. Is it 100% this way, no, but the trend is there.
Congratulations. Keep that youngster playing ball and he’ll thrive on success.
I guess the same can be said for super rich parents who want to relive their glory days through their kids in other sports as well. Football is not cheap anymore. Parents often have to pay for pads, helmets, etc. They send their kids to football camps to give them an edge over other their peers. Tennis - kids get private lessons all the time. No, I think the main problem with baseball is that kids, of all colors, don’t like it as much as they used to. Baseball is just not very cool anymore.
Your right, kids do not like baseball as they used to. Baseball has no one to blame for that then themselves. For most of baseball’s history, nine inning games were played easily under 3 hours. Today a nine inning game has been stretched to 4 hours, when the Yankees play the Red Sox. Hell I played Div 1 baseball in college and I find the game today tedious to watch live. I need my DVR so I can watch a complete game without losing interest. I heard a sports radio guy describe a recent trip to the ballpark in this way. He thought he wandered into a nursing home when he scanned the crowd. Plus MLB has no stars in the game under 35 years of age, and only one who is reaching 40, Derek Jeter. Everybody else in the game has the personality of a rock. Back when I was a kid you had some characters in the game, it was fun. There was personality. Today they all look the same, talk the same, act the same. They are just freaking boring. I heard a quote once, don’t know who, that said what ever you do, just don’t be boring, it’s the worst sin.
You start worrying about it, for no good reason at all, and then when Congress grabs $500 million for some Midnight Baseball program or such, you say, “Oh, goodie, at last!”, and that’s how such wastes get approved, time and time again. Somebody worried about it, and now somebody likes it.
My twin gransons are in Little League in Hawaii too! I love that they’re in it.
I tend to agree with you about the boring-ness of MLB.
But I tell you what is anything but boring - it’s the Little League Championship. After the Super Bowl it is my favorite sport event of the year. I love the great plays the kids can pull off and the utter unpredictablility.
Something happens to baseball and soccer once you get in the professional world.
They’re ‘keepin’ it real, YO!’
“Where are the Black kids in Little League, and why aren’t they there?”
Andrew McCutchen.
Mike Trout
Yasielle Puig
Stephen Strasburg
Bryce Harper
Clayton Kershaw
just to name a few...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.