Rick Reilly has a much discussed commentary in Sports Illustrated this week. It concerns a kid's league baseball championship game that took place in Utah. The boys participating were 9-10 years old. In the bottom of the last inning the Yankees are up by a single run with 2 outs when the Sox' best batter, Jordan, comes to the plate. Batting behind him is a sickly kid, Romney, who is recovering from cancer. The Yankees' coach decides to walk the strong hitter to get to the sickly kid who subsequently strikes out. Romney cries himself to sleep that night distraught over the loss.
Naturally, many of the parents were outraged. Why go out of your way to put a weak kid on the line? The game after all is about competing and doing your best. Personally, I would have wanted to pitch to the strong hitter. I would have wanted the kids to know the joy of going the difficult route and not taking the easy ay out to a cheap, empty win. It's not all about winning, it's about challenging yourself and others.
Apparently the young Romney understood that. The next day, instead of feeling sorry for himself he told his dad, "I'm going to work on my batting, then maybe someday I'll be the one they walk." You have to love that kid's spirit.
What bothers me about all this is how much coaches' egos often get in the way of the kids really learning about the games they play and about life. Are we really so focused on winning that we forget about the value of competition? After all, playing competetive sports is about giving kids the opportunity to test themselves. When you put yourself on the field, you have to be prepared for what comes at you. Jordan should have been pitched to, but Romney should have been pitched to as well. As it turned out, everyone was robbed.
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