I made a joke on twitter the other day that my favorite thing about the Little League World Series is that it's the last sporting event before college football begins. Every year I decide I am not going to watch the Little League World Series, I mean I barely even watch Major League Baseball, but then every year around this time I tune in and enjoy it.
The thing about the Little League World Series is that it's fun. These kids are enjoying playing baseball. There's no playing for a contract, there's no keeping your girlfriend separate from your wife in the stands, no steroids, no egos, it's just boys playing baseball and loving the game. When we were 12 we all had something we did because we loved it. It might have been baseball, soccer, ballet, reading or horseback riding (I tried to reach my small female audience a little bit there. Hey mom!) but whatever it was we did it because we loved it.
As we get older we stop doing those things either because of peer pressure, lack of time or your soccer career ends after high school. Whatever the reason it's sad that we don't do those things anymore. I haven't played competitive soccer since my senior year of high school, back in the fall of 2005, and I miss it. I got to play soccer everyday with some of my best friends at the time and with my younger brother. I was able to do something I loved with the people who meant the most to me. I am not sure that same type of experience exist as an adult.
Watching the Little League World Series takes me back to that time and it is fun to see those kids having those same experiences. As much fun as that is to see, it's just as tough to see the losing team moments after the last out. Those faces, with eyes full of tears, are tough to see. At that second those boys are crushed. One day, just like with the rest of us, those boys will look back at these moments and when they do, they won't remember the losses, they will remember what it was like to do something that you loved. No money, no grades, no promotions or deadlines, just baseball.
I watched a little of the Canada vs AP LLWS game today and was reminded of how special those days were as a parent watching your child play a game they loved. Fond memories that I will cherish forever.
ReplyDeletePS...Your female audience may be bigger that you think!