harpowitz
08-27-2001, 11:44 AM
I don't remember where the following comes from "It matters not who won or lost but how they played the game", but it certainly does not apply to the recently concluded Little League Championships.
I was rooting for the Bronx kids because they represented NY and because they and their fans brought some "color" to the games. According to league officials, these 11-12/13 year olds became the most scrutinized team in history. Also, the managers of the team were most cooperative and forthcoming in providing proof that the kids met all the age and residency requirements. Despite this there continued to be accustions that they were either too old (as one person said Almonte handled himself in a fashion that was too mature and adult for a 12 year old) or not residents of the Bronx. Two teams, Staten Island and a New Jersey team, hired private investigators at a cost of $10,000 to dig up what they could to discredit the team.
On the other hand, many players on the other teams looked more physically mature than 12/13 but no questions were raised about their status.
The announcers, Kelley and ? surprised me by taking a stand that I didn't think I would hear. They agreed that the basis for the reactions of the other teams was that the Bronx kids were minorities from the inner-city so clearly suspect of any kind of chicanery!!. They would do things that teams from white suburbs would never do.
The only ones who showed any class and didn't let losing affect their appreciation of getting to the series were the kids themselves. They seemed to understand there was something beyond the outcome of the game that was important.
How can we keep adults away from kids so they can enjoy growing up?
I was rooting for the Bronx kids because they represented NY and because they and their fans brought some "color" to the games. According to league officials, these 11-12/13 year olds became the most scrutinized team in history. Also, the managers of the team were most cooperative and forthcoming in providing proof that the kids met all the age and residency requirements. Despite this there continued to be accustions that they were either too old (as one person said Almonte handled himself in a fashion that was too mature and adult for a 12 year old) or not residents of the Bronx. Two teams, Staten Island and a New Jersey team, hired private investigators at a cost of $10,000 to dig up what they could to discredit the team.
On the other hand, many players on the other teams looked more physically mature than 12/13 but no questions were raised about their status.
The announcers, Kelley and ? surprised me by taking a stand that I didn't think I would hear. They agreed that the basis for the reactions of the other teams was that the Bronx kids were minorities from the inner-city so clearly suspect of any kind of chicanery!!. They would do things that teams from white suburbs would never do.
The only ones who showed any class and didn't let losing affect their appreciation of getting to the series were the kids themselves. They seemed to understand there was something beyond the outcome of the game that was important.
How can we keep adults away from kids so they can enjoy growing up?