Fam’s busy tonight so I’m gonna real wacky and wild with the boys. Board games!
14 thoughts on “July 15, 2023: Game Night”
The end of season little league tournament has concluded for the Bauble's team. The result: dead last.
Ouch. That happened to me in Babe Ruth. I quit with a game to go because my coach was a petulant jerk. We technically won the last game by forfeit, but they played it anyway and the opposing team still won with just 8 players
They were up 6-2 heading into the bottom of the 6th. Mistakes were then made.
You played Babe Ruth? I thought you were done before then... which team were you on?
No recollection. Different names both years. One may have been Rangers.
Did they have fun? Did they all get a chance to play? Did they learn something?
I know it's easy to look at results, but sometimes it drives me crazy when they do it at the youngest levels. Last weekend Neitzsche's team (he's 9) played their tournament. Fortunately they did a 1st game break, where losers were just given 2 games against other losers, with no chance of winning their way back. They lost, won, then lost. All season they maybe won 3 games. But they were young (all 3rd graders in a 3rd/4th league), and they all got a chance to play more because of it. This will pay off in the future.
Aquinas is now at that age where it starts to matter (7th/8th grade). But when he was younger he had coaches who cared about winning and, honestly... there's basically no difference in my mind between Aquinas' team winning when he was Neitzsche age and Neitzsche's team losing. I'd much rather more of his cohort had gotten opportunities. At this point there are only 4 from his grade still playing in our town, and that's sad since they chased away like 8 or 10 other possible players trying to win.
4th graders definitely know who is winning and losing, and some/many care. Maybe not so much for 3rd graders.
But a positive experience is more than (different from) just winning. A team can lose every game and still have positive experiences. Having a chance to win means a lot. Making a catch, getting a hit, even making solid contact are all opportunities for positive experiences.
Yes, they definitely know. But they also seem to forget about the result shortly after it happens.
That said, I have no problem with a team that age trying or hoping to win. I have a big problem with them doing so at the expense of those other values. I was glad that didn't happen this time around for us. They did give lots of kids chances, they did all improve a lot, and they did celebrate the big hit or nice catch made by players who had struggled.
I was on a house basketball team in 7th grade that went like 0-14 and we had so much fun that season. Our coach was so kind and encouraging. He kicked his own son off the team due to academic issues but he handled it in such a gracious way that I looked up to him.
We lost four games by exactly one point, including the season finale. We even got off a final shot at the buzzer to no avail. I remember nobody being down about it. I think part of it was we knew we were terrible. I mean, they started me at point all year.
Due to what I assume is this being a small town, he started kid pitch this year (he'll be 10 in a couple weeks), so he's playing with kids as old as 12 going on 13. The 4th graders are at a massive physical disadvantage so they don't get in the field more than an inning or two. Also, unfortunately, he's the smallest kid on the team and figured out early on that his strike zone is tiny so he never swings. That did result in him getting a walk in his first at-bat yesterday and coming around to score their first run, but I would still prefer he actually try to get a hit once in awhile.
But yeah, they keep score and have a scoreboard and all that. One of my challenges this year has been getting him to be positive and supporting of his teammates because he gets upset when things go badly. He even got pulled from the game by his coach on Friday for being an asshole, so we had a long talk on the way home and he was much better yesterday. Their best pitcher threw the first five innings, then I think he hit his pitch limit (which is 85 pitches! seems like a lot to me.) and the coach brought in a kid who's had a rough summer and he promptly gave up three runs, was pulled, and the next pitcher promptly gave up the winning two run hit, which lead to the first kid bawling his eyes out, which lead to me remembering why I don't want to coach kids this age.
Niblet and his team - U7/8 (I believe) entering 2nd & 3rd graders - had an end-of-season game this morning, coming at the close of a very successful campaign: 10-3. They definitely kept score and know who won and lost. Today, they entered the bottom of the 6th with the win well in hand (league is 5 runs/inning or 3 outs, and they were up by 7). They played it out and won 23-17 and Niblet, after getting the first hit of the season back in May, made the final out of the season fielding a grounder at his position at first. He’s hooked and I couldn’t be happier with his experience.
congratulations white sox 🎉 who tonight became the 1st team in history to achieve the following in one game:
- get shut out - ground into at least 4 double plays - walk at least 9 guys - give up at least 9 runs
The end of season little league tournament has concluded for the Bauble's team. The result: dead last.
Ouch. That happened to me in Babe Ruth. I quit with a game to go because my coach was a petulant jerk. We technically won the last game by forfeit, but they played it anyway and the opposing team still won with just 8 players
They were up 6-2 heading into the bottom of the 6th. Mistakes were then made.
You played Babe Ruth? I thought you were done before then... which team were you on?
No recollection. Different names both years. One may have been Rangers.
Did they have fun? Did they all get a chance to play? Did they learn something?
I know it's easy to look at results, but sometimes it drives me crazy when they do it at the youngest levels. Last weekend Neitzsche's team (he's 9) played their tournament. Fortunately they did a 1st game break, where losers were just given 2 games against other losers, with no chance of winning their way back. They lost, won, then lost. All season they maybe won 3 games. But they were young (all 3rd graders in a 3rd/4th league), and they all got a chance to play more because of it. This will pay off in the future.
Aquinas is now at that age where it starts to matter (7th/8th grade). But when he was younger he had coaches who cared about winning and, honestly... there's basically no difference in my mind between Aquinas' team winning when he was Neitzsche age and Neitzsche's team losing. I'd much rather more of his cohort had gotten opportunities. At this point there are only 4 from his grade still playing in our town, and that's sad since they chased away like 8 or 10 other possible players trying to win.
4th graders definitely know who is winning and losing, and some/many care. Maybe not so much for 3rd graders.
But a positive experience is more than (different from) just winning. A team can lose every game and still have positive experiences. Having a chance to win means a lot. Making a catch, getting a hit, even making solid contact are all opportunities for positive experiences.
Yes, they definitely know. But they also seem to forget about the result shortly after it happens.
That said, I have no problem with a team that age trying or hoping to win. I have a big problem with them doing so at the expense of those other values. I was glad that didn't happen this time around for us. They did give lots of kids chances, they did all improve a lot, and they did celebrate the big hit or nice catch made by players who had struggled.
I was on a house basketball team in 7th grade that went like 0-14 and we had so much fun that season. Our coach was so kind and encouraging. He kicked his own son off the team due to academic issues but he handled it in such a gracious way that I looked up to him.
We lost four games by exactly one point, including the season finale. We even got off a final shot at the buzzer to no avail. I remember nobody being down about it. I think part of it was we knew we were terrible. I mean, they started me at point all year.
Due to what I assume is this being a small town, he started kid pitch this year (he'll be 10 in a couple weeks), so he's playing with kids as old as 12 going on 13. The 4th graders are at a massive physical disadvantage so they don't get in the field more than an inning or two. Also, unfortunately, he's the smallest kid on the team and figured out early on that his strike zone is tiny so he never swings. That did result in him getting a walk in his first at-bat yesterday and coming around to score their first run, but I would still prefer he actually try to get a hit once in awhile.
But yeah, they keep score and have a scoreboard and all that. One of my challenges this year has been getting him to be positive and supporting of his teammates because he gets upset when things go badly. He even got pulled from the game by his coach on Friday for being an asshole, so we had a long talk on the way home and he was much better yesterday. Their best pitcher threw the first five innings, then I think he hit his pitch limit (which is 85 pitches! seems like a lot to me.) and the coach brought in a kid who's had a rough summer and he promptly gave up three runs, was pulled, and the next pitcher promptly gave up the winning two run hit, which lead to the first kid bawling his eyes out, which lead to me remembering why I don't want to coach kids this age.
Niblet and his team - U7/8 (I believe) entering 2nd & 3rd graders - had an end-of-season game this morning, coming at the close of a very successful campaign: 10-3. They definitely kept score and know who won and lost. Today, they entered the bottom of the 6th with the win well in hand (league is 5 runs/inning or 3 outs, and they were up by 7). They played it out and won 23-17 and Niblet, after getting the first hit of the season back in May, made the final out of the season fielding a grounder at his position at first. He’s hooked and I couldn’t be happier with his experience.
I approve of this.
Thats a shame.