http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/baseball/mlb/08/25/pitcher.toogood.ap/index.html?cnn=yes



Pathetic! Absolutely pathetic! Unfortunately things are like this everywhere. Anyone that exels on anything will, sooner or latter, be looked at like hes done something wrong just for being better than everyone else.

People take sports too seriously. It's not a game, it's a business. A game is something that's supposed to be fun. (Yes, I know I'm missing the point. I don't care.)

All part of the "feel good" movement. Can't have excellence; it doesn't fit the program. Everyone gets a star !

Yes!! I am unique, just like everyone else!

I want a star

Joe, there isn't a star in the library here. This is as close as I can come :



Not meaning You're dizzy. The quashing of achievement is dizzy.

Everyone chant:
LET THE BOY PLAY!

Sounds like the defending 'champs' are jealous they don't have the talent. So they try to remove their obstacle to victory. Ridiculous.

I think Snapdad's closer to the mark here; the article itself states that Jericho declined to play for the defending champs, who was sponsored by an employer of one of the league's administrators. That's like washing a crack sniper out of the Scout/Sniper force just because he didn't want to transfer into the Colonel's nephew's platoon.

"He is a very skilled player, a very hard thrower," Noble said. "There are a lot of beginners. This is not a high-powered league. This is a developmental league whose main purpose is to promote the sport."

?????...

Cat,

How in the world do Lawyers like this pass the bar? If this guy does not deserve a quick kick in the teabag, I don't know if anybody ever will! :-)

That article had me up until it mentioned that the league was co-ed and they offered to let him pitch on an older team. So who wants a 40 mph fast ball thrown at their 9 year old daughter the first year she plays ball? Also the part about mom hiring a lawyer... I sense there may be some one-sidedness in this story.

I've played in summer league co-ed softball and volleyball and soccer and usually they're set up so it's pretty casual, but there always seems to be that one team out there that plays like they're in the big leagues. They whine about refs and they play hard when they shouldn't be. They're in the wrong league. I can understand the desire to have teams/players like that removed, but nothing prevents someone from signing up to the leagues. Some go down in league level so they can win easily. I doubt this 9 year old kid wants to do anything other than just play ball. There's probably a more competitive league out there for him somewhere but there also wasn't anything preventing him from joining this one, looks like. His abilities aren't the problem here.

How fast is an average 9-year-old's pitch? 30mph, maybe? Is there a big difference between getting hit by a 30mph ball and a 40mph ball? Getting hit by the ball is part of the sport, if the idea scares someone then baseball's not the sport for them. Next they'll be telling a kid who's 10-20lb heavier than the others that he can't play Pop Warner football because he can tackle too hard.

"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."

-from Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut

The ever flowing font of truth, Wikipedia cut/paste:

In the story, societal equality has been achieved by handicapping the most intelligent, athletic or beautiful members of society down to the level of the highest common endowment. This process is central to the society, designed so that no one will feel inferior to anyone else. This is overseen by the United States Handicapper General, Diana Moon Glampers.

Harrison Bergeron, the protagonist of the story, has exceptional intelligence, height, strength and beauty. As a result of this he has to bear enormous handicaps. These include headphones that play distracting noises, three hundred pounds of weight strapped to his body, eyeglasses designed to give him headaches, and a mask to hide his beauty.

My own inane comment:

This is disturbing. However, the kid is 9 and still has the days of "competitive sports" ahead and he can blow holes right through his feeble competitors and the crowd will cheer. I can see some parents getting very vocal about their little 45 pound 9 year old getting knocked out whilst playing Little League.

Thanks for the stars grognard

This story smacks of politics or whatever that's called in the sports world.

I personally would encourage the kid to play, If he's such a good pitcher, it would only make the kids facing him better wouldn't it?

Exactly.

Grog's comment is all part of the "blame it on liberals" movement.

This is about cronyism, which has nothing to do with either side of any ideological fence - except that it exists on all sides that is...

Vulg, I'm pretty certain it isn't the "self-reliance conservative" thought being excercised here.

E=1/2MV^2 So that would give a 40 mph ball about 78% more energy than a 30 mph ball.

But again, it's a little kids co-ed league. This is not regular little league we're talking about. This is the league for kids for whom baseball isn't the sport for them. And I don't buy the mother's story for a minute. Would you call the cops if your kid got kicked out of little league? Just saying

I ma not positive but I think if they are over a certain weigh they can only play offence. Again not sure.

Maybe the other players should learn to excel at hitting a baseball.