There's a 9-year old kid in New Haven Connecticut who can throw a 40 mph fastball!!
Good for him, huh? Wrong!!!!!
Everybody knows that if you can throw faster than other kids your age, you shouldn't be allowed to play baseball... (heavy sarcasm...)
The league told the boy's coach that he cannot pitch. If the boy pitches, the league will disband the entire team. The coach did not allow the kid to pitch the next game. However, he understood the injustice that was being done and defied the wishes of the league by allowing the kid to pitch in the next game (2nd game after ban). The team's opponent for that game saw that he was pitching, packed up their equipment, and left, forfeiting the game... The league's legal representative justified the actions of the league by saying, "There are a lot of beginners. This is not a high-powered league. This is a developmental league whose main purpose is to promote the sport."
3 obvious questions about this story....
1) What kind of mindset convinces someone that it is okay to punish one person for being better at something than his peers? (Answer to come later)
2) What kind of mindset convinces someone that it is justifiable to punish several kids for the actions of one kid? (I'm talking to you, school teachers! ;) ) (Answer to come later)
3) What kind of developmental league limits the available development of it's members?
My answers to the obvious questions.......
1)
- Who punishes investors for making intelligent and informed investment decisions? The liberals.
- Who punishes a corporation for putting together a successful (and legal) business strategy, resulting in great profits for the corporation's shareholders? The liberals...
- Who complains when a company can't compete with a better/bigger competitor? The liberals...
It is obvious to me that it is a completely liberal mindset that allows this sort of thing to happen to a kid who is "too good" at baseball. In their selfish and self-entitled minds, they can't handle the fact that people are better at things than other people, especially if they or their kids are not the "better than" person...
2) Sorry, school teachers... The idea that you should punish a group of people for the supposed transgressions of one person is a completely socialist ideal. I remember this happening in elementary school and being baffled by the idea that I should be punished for somebody else's actions simply because we happened to be in the same room... If you feel like being caught up in this sort of society, then by all means, join the socialists... You can find them here.
3) Finally, what is the baseball league trying to "develop" the players into? Wussies? Look, if you want every kid to get a trophy/award, and every kid to be a "winner", then T-ball is the limit... If you want to teach your kid that when he's not good enough all he has to do is complain or quit, and he'll be taken care of, then I've got a problem with that. That kid will end up having the same entitled attitude as you, at the expense of everybody who is trying to "develop" into something more... When your kid gets poor grades at school, it is you who complains until the teacher raises his grade just enough to get you off his back... That, again, is punishing those kids who actually earned better grades.
Am I way off base here? If I'm wrong, please, someone tell me... There's a guy at work who's better at typing than me, and I'm thinking of having him punished...
6 comments:
I read that story and remember shaking my head...
It reminds me of the "Incredibles" movie. What can it possibly benefit our community, our nation or our world to punish success and celebrate mediocrity.
Stuff like this just really fires me up.
I'm so fed up with all this PC crap that wants to make everyone the same so no one's feelings get hurt.
AGGGH!
The bad guy in Incredibles made a comment about this very thing. He said something to the effect of,"I'll make gadgets to make everybody super, then nobody will be." Argh! Too many celebrations of mediocrity.
it's just silly to ban the kid from the game because he's better than other kids his age. but, i can see how it'd be hard for the other kids in the league to get better a hitting the ball if they're never able to hit his pitch...
wouldn't it make sense, then, to see if there's a way that the awesome kid can get put in a league with older kids where he would enhance the competition? then he has the opportunity to hone his pitching skills (maybe kids in this league can actually return his pitch and he'll therefore have to have a more focused aim) and then the kids in the other league can continue to progress as well.
am i being too diplomatic?? (hee, hee.)
Jamie, I agree that it would be best to find a better league for the kid to join... However, if that option is unavailable, I feel the only respectable thing to do is to let the kid play. If you want to implement rules against such situations, do so before next season. To change the rules midseason is completely wrong.
Also, the kids that face him don't face him every game, so they still have opportunity to improve, even if they don't take the opportunity when facing him...
Thanks for commenting!
I am so glad Laurie put a link to your blog...I never knew it existed and I have spent the last little bit reading your stuff -- you crack me up because you write just like you talk and I can totally picture having the conversation with you. I will now be a regular to your blog.
Totally going back to the blog about the swimming/hair...I loved Jason's advice :-)
We miss hanging out with you guys!
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