News to unsettle your soul

[CO. Hoosier]

The Little League governing body strips Chicago's Jackie Robinson West of its national title.

As usual, adults are the problem. It seems the Chicago team officials stocked this team with ringers from neighboring leagues. Looks like another local team blew the whistle. Notwithstanding, Mayor Rahm Emanuel intends to honor the team and give them championship rings. His reasoning is that the kids didn't do anything wrong.

There is so much wrong with all aspects of this. First, there are adults and parents who thought that cheating was okay. Second, what are the youngsters to think about this as they grow older. Third, what is it about the United States that cheating, lying, deception, fraud and corruption, infects so much of our life from sports, to entertainment, to government, to education, to families--everything. Seems as though all the major policy questions of the day have in their DNA, cheating, dishonesty, or deception. This is destroying lives, causing turmoil, making governance difficult if not impossible, and is creating a nation of skeptics and anarchists. Even something as wholesome and family oriented as little league and youth activities isn't immune.

As I posted here a couple of times, I was very impressed and took distant pride in this team. I like baseball, I think youth should play more baseball, and this team was a good model for African American youth to relate to. Now, sigh . . . . .I have nothing to say.

I have no clue about what to do about this but we need to fix it. The social problems infecting the United States are reaching critical mass.

 

[TheOriginalHappyGoat]

I'll add three things.

1) From what I have read, what JRW did was apparently very common and not a big deal; at least one of the other districts they partially annexed said they were fine with it, since they weren't fielding a team, anyway, and that it was common for districts not entering the tournament to have their best players annexed by neighboring districts. Apparently, the primary thing JRW did wrong was not get permission from all the affected districts ahead of time, and then trying to cover it up after the fact. This puts the LL in the same light as the NCAA, in my mind, where we have to expect people to follow the rules on one hand, while recognizing the rules are stupid on the other.

2) The hardest thing about this not being the fault of the kids is that it doesn't really matter. They have to be stripped of their title. If not, what kind of lesson is LL teaching them? Cheating is cheating, no matter how stupid the rules, and no matter who was involved in the cheating. Even if they aren't to blame, the kids have to be shown that there are consequences for not following the rules. But most disturbing is this: if the other team hadn't squealed on them, the kids would likely not have ever known that they did anything wrong. In other words, it wasn't the cheating that taught them the wrong lesson, but the fact that the other team complained and brought it to light. The only people originally who were in need of being taught a valuable lesson - the adults involved - are the only ones who probably don't care, anyway.

3) I don't really care about Emanuel. That's what mayors should do, I guess. I will say that I think the kids will be fine. They'll remember themselves as champions, even if the official record books don't reflect that fact. If the mayor wants to give them some kind of ceremonial honors, fine, but I doubt they'll need them.

goat

 

[CO. Hoosier]

A fourth thing

4. Stolen valor. There is another team of kids out there who didn't have the joy of victory, didn't get the championship trophy, didn't get a trip to the White House and meet the President, didn't get a parade and didn't get rings from their mayor.

I don't buy the rule ambiguity thing. Every team sport, at every level of competition, youth, amateur, collegiate, professional, foreign, or international, has rules about fixed rosters and prohibitions about bringing in ringers to compete in important games. Even if the little league rules were a little complicated, the team officials were well aware of this concept and should have taken all necessary measures to ensure compliance.

 

[mjvcaj]

Rather than equating LL to NCAA, how about HS athletics?

The IHSA (and equivalents) have been battling these cheats for decades. There are always sketchy things going on with sudden HS transfers, reclassifications, etc. There are powerhouse public schools that claim they "do not recruit" and even worse, the private schools that spend millions to have successful HS basketball programs (Findlay, Oak Hill, etc.).

 

[TheOriginalHappyGoat]

I don't disagree with that.

I was just pointing it out as one of the many aspects of this whole situation that sucks. It's even more frustrating, I think, if it's true that it was only a matter of paper-pushing, that if JRW had gotten their ducks in order ahead of time, they could have had the exact same players, but be perfectly legal. It's yet another example of how the kids are getting screwed because the adults messed up.

goat

 

[TheOriginalHappyGoat]

The whole thing is messed up.

When I was a kid, the team I was on was the one my dad helped coach. Our big goal was to win the league title and have fun. That was it.

Sports today just ain't what it used to be.

goat

 

[GOIU]

You have no idea

My daughter was fourth going into fifth grade and plays all star softball. There were girls on her team that had their own hitting and/or pitching coaches...some of the tournaments she went to you could tell some of the other teams had played together for years and practice all year round.

 

[Brockway]

I have my doubts about your take #1...

I haven't researched it on a national level, and I haven't been around LL for over 15 years.

I never heard of anything like this in Indiana back in the day.

I can say with 100% certainty that the '99 Brownsburg team was 100% legit. I'm 99.9% sure the '01 team was as well.

 

[Ladoga]

I do have an idea.

I have a grand daughter in 2nd grade who plays recreational basketball. After a couple of very good performances on an unbeaten team, she is now being recruited to play for a "select" team - in a travel league. Recruited as in they came to she and her mother and asked her to play. Uniforms, warmups, shooter shirts, gym bags with her name on it. Imagine how it will be when she turns 9!!!!!!!

 

[iubud]

Rules need to looked at

We had the chance to have our daughter play for an AAU basketball program based out of Indy. It would have been a 3 hour trip each way for her to practice every Sunday. We decided to play for a local AAU program. We know one person that decided to play for the club out of Indy and make that trip. If someone is willing to do that, they should be able to do that.

I don't see an issue in an area like Chicago to allow people to play for a team outside their district. I know a lot of kids that play American Legion baseball for teams in other cities. As long as you pick a team and stick with them, I don't see the problem.

In this case they broke the rules and should have to pay the penalty. I don't usually support changing rules because people aren't following them, but this seems to be correctable.

 

[Noodle]

One of the fundamental rules in Little League is that you play...

within your community, and only within your community. Each local league within Little League has defined boundaries, and the rules unequivocally state that only a kid who has a parent residing within those boundaries may play in that league. The rule is absolute, and Little League will not even consider waivers of the rule. And I think that this rule has been in place for many decades. (Although it was not until the 1970s, I believe, that they started to enforce the rule with respect to international teams/leagues.

American Legion ball is something entirely different, as are the various travel leagues and teams. And the fact that in other sports and leagues such as AAU basketball is operated differently is entirely irrelevant. There is a reason Little League has that rule, and there is absolutely no reason for them to change it. The purpose of Little League is not to see who can amass the most talented team possible by recruiting the best players no matter where they live.

 

[Noodle]

It's still that way around here

I think our Little League program where we live has well over 1,000 players every summer. The young kids are randomly distributed among the teams. For the older kids they have a "draft" based on a grading system. A league official evenly distributes the players among the teams in an effort to make the teams as even as possible. The only modifier is that they will let 2-3 coaches stick together, along with their kids (all of the coaches are parents). But if a team has 3 coaches with kids at a high skill level, the person in charge of team assignments will adjust the other players accordingly.

Having been an assistant coach for 3 seasons, the most rewarding experiences (apart from seeing my own son blossom into a decent player) were seeing a less-talented player get a hit or make a great play in the field. The only thing better was when a team of 9 and 10 year olds turn a triple play to end a game--with the first baseman throwing out the final runner at home, in a cloud of dust. I will never forget that one as long as I live.

There are also a lot of kids in the area who play Knothole baseball or on various travel teams. We did that one year, but it wasn't a good fit. As a result, despite over 1,000 players every year, I doubt our league will ever send a team to Williamsport. There are just too many other areas around here where Little League keeps the best players. But that's fine, as Little League is meant to be inclusive of all abilities.

Heck, even my 11yo son plays in the Challenger Division for kids with developmental disabilities. It's a great program, and every game they bring in a team of boys from the one of the other divisions to serve as helpers in the field. I think they get more out of it than the players in the Challenger Division. That's something those kids would never get to experience in Knothole or other baseball leagues.