Amateur Hour
Mid-August means a few things… the end of Summer is looming in the not too distant future, back to school shopping is in full bloom and the sports calendar is almost out of the “dead” zone. I’m well aware of MLB’s ongoing annual marathon of a season but it’s not yet playoff fever so it’s just not riveting. NFL camps are fully opened and the ridiculous preseason games have begun but it’s just not football time until Labor Day. I for one was interested in the women’s world cup because I love any red, white & blue competition; once the US was unceremoniously dumped by, my interest went along with it. Yes, I still have a vested “family” interest in MLS but that doesn’t make me tune in to any other matches. Having said all that, I found myself watching recently and thoroughly enjoying what I believe is the last vestige of pure sports left; the little league World Series.
Think about it… high school sports are no longer played for the joy. Nope not with AAU baseball & basketball, elite youth hockey teams, an exploding club lacrosse scene and the always tainted youth football with middle school kids being recruited to play for private HS teams; it is now a dream factory for all to strive for the college scouts and scholarships. Forget about college sports, that ship sailed years ago. Recent rulings that allowed college athletes to gain monetarily off the images opened up Pandora’s box making what used to be a hush hush money factory at schools now an open book of greed for one and all. So we are left with the kids… the ones from all parts of the country and the world that are playing for nothing but the joy and the memories. These are 12 year olds and yes I’m sure that they all have the best of gloves and bats and hitting cages to work with but once they step on the field, it’s all about the game. They revel in the camaraderie, turn their hats around for rallies and cry when they lose. Not because they won’t get a scholarship or they dropped a couple of slots in an upcoming draft but because their kids. I have continued to watch the games when I fall into them as I enjoy the whole scene. The coaches with pep talks, the nicknames and most of all the fact that winning the game is the only thing on their mind, which is how it should be. So I’m filling the gap with the greatest summertime game of all, little league baseball.
Oh I’ll be gearing up for my Fantasy draft and reading early reports on Bruins training camp soon enough but for now its “Play ball”!
