Son played in the Lewis & Clark League in the St. Louis area this summer. All things considered, it was a good experience for him. However, the actions of league officials in fabricating the results of games that were never played put a real damper on things and embarrassed players, coaches, and parents associated with the league.
This was the league’s third year of operations. Nearly all games are played on the weekend – often a game Friday night and then a double-header on Saturday and another double-header on Sunday. Decent quality competition – a few players from D-I’s, more from D-II’s, D-III’s and NAIA programs.
In any case, shortly after the league’s all-star game, the defending champions from last summer dropped out of the league. Never heard the full story, but it was apparently a combination of injuries, guys needing to go home, etc. The league’s hierarchy was obsessed with protecting the league’s image and felt that they couldn’t have the champs dropping out. So, they pretended that it had never happened. Any game the now-defunct team was scheduled to play was treated as a forfeit. However, the scores posted on the league website were not the standard forfeit score of 9-0. Instead, the scores were 6-5, 5-2, etc., as if they had been played. Near the end of the season, the league posted an article on the website on what each team in one of the divisions needed to do to get the #1 seed for the playoffs – including the team that was no longer playing. In a final touch, the league website had the “fantasy” team making the playoffs. Alas, they came up short – 6-3 – in their first round game and were eliminated.
A truly bizarre situation. Never see anything quite like it.