May 9, 2002

4:42 PM

High Standards, High Expectations For the Select Few""We have three or four kids that need to be under control when they do something wrong," Ruben said. "The pressure isn't coming from the coaches. It's self-induced. That should be gone by now. When they are 7 or 8, you can chalk it up and say they are only 7 or 8. 'They are 10' doesn't wash anymore."" Somehow, some of us used to have fun playing baseball.
posted by owillis (4 comments total)

That seems a little OTT for a kids sport, no? Seems to me that the parents and coaches are taking it way to seriously and building an unreal amount of pressure on the kids. Doesn't really seem fair...shouldn't kids just be allowed to be kids? At least for a little while?
posted by dejah420 at 8:15 PM on May 9, 2002

Yeah ... one of the things I think is slowly disappearing is the idea of childhood as a time to explore without pressure or obsessive scheduling and regimentation. Some of my students are scheduled virtually every moment of their lives, and I wonder if they find it suffocating.

And what's the deal with thinking that boys are past crying when they're 10? As someone who's taught every grade from first through eighth over the past decade, I can tell you that lots of boys are still crying all the time at 10. There are still tears at 12, even. And I've seen honest tears at 15 - not often, and not over little things. But real tears nonetheless.
posted by Chanther at 10:49 PM on May 9, 2002

When has baseball ever been a low pressure game?

My younger brother played for the team in the story about fifteen years ago. He seemed to really enjoy it. Me -- I played rec league for one year. Hated it. Just because the "stakes" are lower doesn't make it any more fun when you strike-out or drop a fly ball.

My personal favorite was playing baseball on the street with the neighborhood kids. But even then you've got the kids who get picked last, and the "umpire" ends up being the kid with the biggest mouth. Some kids have a lot more fun playing by themselves without adult interference. Others just get tormented.
posted by jtripp at 7:05 AM on May 10, 2002

"It's kind of the year [age 8 and 9] that they are going from little boys to little men, so it's a grow-up year," Caddigan said.

Caddigan is an ass.

If someone lives near him, please walk up and give him a solid smack upside the head for me, k?
posted by five fresh fish at 9:57 AM on May 10, 2002