Now here is some stuff you wrote when you posted the first time
quote:OK. Now you all have got me fired up and I need to get some things off my chest.
You just said "you all" well that means pretty much everyone before your post. When you say "have got me fired up and I need to get some things off my chest" means either you agree with what we said and want to contribute OR you disagree with us and want to point out our wrong ideas. I think it's obvious that it's the latter (no sarcasm since you have a hard time picking it out).
In your first big paragraph you tell a nice story (once again no sarcasm) about how you got some kids to play well against the high school team. That's great but you are talking about 15 or so kids 20 - 25 years ago. IMHO you can't apply that to the situation of what we are talking about. Obviously you think it can and that's fine.
In your second paragraph you enlighten us to the fact that kids quit and it might not be their fault. Then you go back to your story about the mid 1980's and how this high school coach is not very good because he called them losers. Once again a small sample from a very long time ago to use for comparison to the topic we had going.
So we have 14 or so posts from all over the United States saying kids are quitting and not playing baseball in the 2000's yet you want to preach about how a bad coach in central WV in 1984 was terrible in calling kids losers? Not really seeing the connection here - sorry (once again no sarcasm because I don't see how it is really all that relevant). Now if you had provided information from all over the US from 1984 then yes your point of how kids have not changed then yes I would have seen the point.
quote:It is almost inevitable that some members of an older generation have a tendency to look at the present generation of high school age athletes as unique. As if they are so very different from the previous generations and most certainly different from THEIR GENERATION. They are quitters, losers, video game players, they have other priorities and if their highest priority is not baseball, they are being disloyal to their school and their teammates.
Ok I went back and reread all the posts before yours and NONE of them called any kid a loser or quitter. They said they have quit but not a quitter - huge difference there. Did people point out that there are other reasons why kids have quit - yes they did - does that mean they are calling them quitters and losers? Not in the least. Face it in 1984 kids didn't have the video game access or TV access or internet access like they do now. If you don't think that plays a factor in kids quitting then you havve never met the real 2000 generation. Things have changed and kids are different. Go into any classroom and see if it compares to your 1984 kids.
quote:They are not the first generation to be misunderstood by an older generation and I am sure they will not be the last. But it is rather obvious to me that good baseball players that love this game have been deciding who they want to play for and who they don't want to play for a long time and that will continue as long as baseball is played by teenage boys.
You are right here and others even expressed this point of view before your post as well. We are not arguing this. Some kids will not play for certain coaches it's been like this for a long time.
Your last big paragraph is another story about a dumb high school coach because he kicked off some kids and one of them was a kid you liked. I want to know what the kid did to force the coach to throw him off the team. You say it's because upperclassmen were tossed to have younger kids fill out the startting positions. Not enough information here for the rest of us to make an accurate assesment.
quote:Take a good look in the mirror tomorrow and have a nice day.
This isn't a very nice statement - I can detect sarcasm fairly well.
Now this from my response that you have quoted above
quote:There are quitters and losers out there. They quit and are bums every day of their life but we shouldn't categorize every kid like that. This is definately a case by case basis. I agree with you on that.
quote:PLEASE DO NOT PUT WORDS INTO MY MOUTH. I NEVER EVER SAID OR HINTED THAT I EVER CALLED ANY KID EVER A QUITTER OR A LOSER OR A BUM. I WAS QUOTING OTHER COACHES WHO SAID THAT ABOUT YOUNG MEN THAT I KNEW WERE DEFINITELY NOT QUITTERS OR LOSERS OR BUMS.
I think these two quotes show that we just totally missed each other's meanings of what we were trying to put.
I am not saying that you said this. First I made the statement that there are quitters and losers in the world. You cannot deny this fact and I am simply bringing it to your attention. Now as for the rest I am saying that all the previous posts were discussing WHY kids quit - never said the cases prior were quitters. As for the last part I implied from your response that you need to look at a kid quitting a team on a case by case basis. You did not say that but that is the meaning I took from your post. Now I think it should be a case by case basis to determine if a kid has valid reasons to quit or not - now do you agree or disagree with that?
Here is what I think it comes down to - you had a problem with two high school coaches in the 1980's and not too long ago. You found some kids you liked and connected with. They end up not playing for the high school team because they ended up not liking the coach as well or they got tossed. So now you get on here and read about high school coaches and parents and fans talking about why kids quit and you want to bring in your two cents about kids possibly not liking the high school coach - which was already pointed out by the way. You tell two stories that make a good point about ONE of the reasons why kids quit but get ticked at the previous posts when they put about other reasons. You are basically saying the only reason kids quit is because they don't like the coach.
Now as for your first post being a tirade - how could someone not take it as one? When you post in all caps it implies "yelling" or really wanting to emphasize a point.