Posted on 05/21/2015 5:49:56 AM PDT by BlueStateRightist
Because it’s...Boring?
Standing at that plate used to scare the crap out of me. Played one season, then straight to football for the rest of my school years.
There are many reasons for the decline including soccer [one mother told me soccer is nice because it is one hour and done!], missing fathers, kids not going to ballfields anymore, other summer activities, one sport year round, northern weather, baseball takes thinking, etc etc
Agreed.
If 45 kids show up to try our for an “elite” travel team @ $4,000+ a pop, the sponsoring group isn't going to send 30 kids ($120,000) home, there are going to 3 teams. Parents buy the whole argument that the only chance for the kids to been seen by college coaches is to play in these leagues. BS, a college coach's job depends on finding players, not many are missed.
My son played 4 years of college but he made a lot more scholarship money retaking the ACT test than anyone on his team did playing ball. A parent should take the $4,500 and hire an ACT/SAT tutor, they'll get a bigger return on the money.
Well said.
I wonder if they are developing a new grenade that is kicked instead of thrown?
Judging by is 1st pitch performance, president 0 could throw a grenade about 20 feet.
Over a 90 minute game, the average soccer player runs about 8-9km. Heck, even a goalie puts in 4-5km, with their limited space to cover.
Final score: Nil.
It rivals tennis and nascar.
Start with ten minutes of free kicks, then play the “game”. At least there will be a score.
ESPECIALLY at the 12 and under age group.
Also noticed little mention of lacrosse which is the fastest growing sport in the country.
I’ve thrown my share of grenades. NONE of them is theown like a baseball.
I went and looked up last weekend’s English PL scores:
6-1
1-2
2-0
2-1
0-0
0-0
1-3
2-4
1-1
3-0
With the possible exception of the two scoreless draws, any of those could have been (regulation) hockey scores in the NHL playoffs.
Scoring ins’t the only measure of excitement, anyway.
I agree.
How?
Physical stamina? Please. Only two guys in soccer have bases and they’re the goaltenders.
Sadly many of the good coaches who try to teach and do things the right way are often overcome by the politics of the ballpark/league and lack of ethics of those parent/coaches who will do anything to get their kid ahead.
The reason is given later in the article...
“The T-13 was approved for field use, and several thousand were shipped to Europe. They were reportedly issued in limited quantities during the invasion of Normandy, but is believed to have injured more American soldiers than enemy troops due to premature detonation.”
We pay to do the travel thing. I look at it this way.
It keeps my boy active along with our hunting and fishing, better than video games and hanging out. It is also something I enjoy watching.
I’d rather spend that money to be around like minded people as opposed to the kind that go to football games.
If I kept the money I would get a whopping 1% in a savings account versus supplying us with hours of enjoyment so I pay it forward as a risky investment with more likely return than a savings account, and my son really does have a chance to play after high school since he can already throws in the mid 80’s at 15 and has a WHIP of 1.1 and a K/BB of 3:1.
I will add at our level the wheat is separated from the chaff so to speak and kids drop out as the parents realize that they are not going to make it as opposed to 9 year old’s parent who spend more than we do to make Johnny or Susie the next city league MVP.
Farm team ball and college ball is not expensive.
Just exposing to LL with the screaming Moms, often mass confusion and emphasis on “what snack after the game”. is not the same Little League as we grew up enjoying.
One BIG thing missing is ML Baseball on TV. Yeah I know there is all the Pay Channels, but watching the game with Ol Diz calling it on NBC grew a lot of lifetime baseball fans. With that in mind, seems MLB’s greed has a lot of responsibility with loss of baseball fans.
“... figuring out new rules to make up for missing players, etc.”
Remember “Workup” and “pitcher’s hand out”?
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