Thinking Out Loud, Volume CDXLIV

You can count on me! I'll be pulling for my team to win. In fact, the reason Angie and I made the trip to Southwestern Louisiana on Independence Day Weekend was to cheer them on. Some of the best boys baseball teams from several southern states converged on Sulphur, Louisiana for the USSSA World Series, and my eight year old grandson was fortunate enough to play for one of those teams, the West Monroe Sox. They put on a fantastic showing with a series record of five wins and three losses. What an awesome weekend! Before I get to the real point of this week's article, let me take one paragraph to describe the kind of talent we saw on display during that series. Those eight year old boys, and I'm talking about all of them....from every team, were quality players. Each player, from the top of the order to the bottom, was a threat when he stepped up to bat. Defensively, the quality of play from every team was remarkable. It was a weekend of great hitting, catching, throwing, running, sliding, and overall sportsmanship. It's difficult to find words that would adequately describe the improvement we saw in the way our boys performed from their first game of the season to the last. As I spent that weekend with our boys, however, interacting with them both on and off the field, I couldn't help but notice one major thing.....something we all tend to forget while they're actually on the field of play: At the end of the day, when the games are over and it's time to get some food and settle in for the evening, they're still just little boys. Maybe it's the quality of play we see during the games that makes us forget that all important fact. They're scared of the dark. They cry when they hurt their fingers. They fall asleep in the car and have to be carried in to bed by their parents. They still have their "little boy" voices. And most importantly, they hear when derogatory comments are yelled by adult spectators in the stands, and those thoughtless words bring pain to those young impressionable minds. Phrases like, "He can't run!" or "Easy out!" are remembered by those little guys when they lie in their beds at night, and also the next day when it's time to play again. It's fine to cheer your team on....that's why we were down there. It just needs to be done in a positive manner. To be honest, the vast majority of the people attending that event are quality people and wouldn't dream of uttering such hurtful words to players of any team, which means that type of chatter was rare, but it doesn't take much to do its damage. (Also, most of those comments I heard were during games when our boys weren't even playing.) If we want our little boys to grow up to be good sportsmen, it's up to us adults to teach them how by providing them with good examples. It's my hope that every little boy playing any type of sport can look back on those days with pleasant memories. Every word an eight year old hears from a thirty-eight year old should be instructive, encouraging, and loving, regardless of what team he's playing on. Here's hoping every adult gets this message soon. Preston