Incentive clauses for LL son

Is this for real?

What a clown.

How about this for incentive.

If you make good grades in school. Keep your room clean. Do all the chores we ask you to do around the house. Treat your parents with respect and others as well. Stay out of any trouble. We will let you play baseball.

No wonder we have problems with our kids taking PED's and other stuff to get better. They learn early that there are great material rewards for a job well done, even if the don't live up to their contract.

What ever happened to getting the job done for personal pride over your accomplishments. This sounds more like bribery to me.

JMO

quote:

Originally posted by Coach May:
If you make good grades in school. Keep your room clean. Do all the chores we ask you to do around the house. Treat your parents with respect and others as well. Stay out of any trouble. We will let you play baseball.

Imagine that...we agree again. My son can tell you all of the things he must do (same as your list) in order to be allowed to play the game.

.............................. you gotta be kidding me. I hope with all of my being that I never, ever get to coach this kid.

Pardon me while I go puke.

I hope this dad is setting aside a few bucks every week because he WILL be bailing his kids a$$ out of jail one day.

Is that your son, RJM? If you don't post your source of that post, or give us a link of that post, I would assume that's the contract between you and your son.

Please come out clean, RJM, you don't want us put you under oath, do you?

quote:

Originally posted by RJM:
I found this post on another board. What do people think of this?

How can a parent look in the mirror after saying that to their kids.

Initially, I just about dropped my teeth because I missed the first line of the post and for a 1 split second I thought those were RJM treats for his kid ,

Nurse..... it's time for my meds please

quote:

Originally posted by bbking:
Is that your son, RJM? If you don't post your source of that post, or give us a link of that post, I would assume that's the contract between you and your son.

Please come out clean, RJM, you don't want us put you under oath, do you?

My son is in high school. In LL I made my son pay every dollar for his bat over $100. That contract would have busted me. My son did them all except the walk off homer. I'm sure with the talent of poster's kids on this board, I'm sure nmany here have son's who would have broke the bank with this contract.

I'll post a link eventually. I'd like to see poster's opinions first. Here's a follow up quote to the posters who responded negatively .....

"I still cannot believe anyone else hasn't at least accidentally told their kid they'd give them something for a HR, a QB decleatment, or a 3 point basket. He blows up a QB on a blitz and he might get keys to the car."

I think this kid is at my high school currently. he puked the first day of conditioning and I have not seen him again. Still walks aroud telling people he is starting varisty. It will be a fun cut, I am sure. Can not wait for daddy to call.

quote:

Originally posted by RJM:
I'm sure with the talent of poster's kids on this board, I'm sure nmany here have son's who would have broke the bank with this contract.

I am not sure if you got the point, this type of thing is INSANE to consider for any one less than a pro. These are KIDS!

quote:

Originally posted by BOF:

quote:

Originally posted by RJM:
I'm sure with the talent of poster's kids on this board, I'm sure nmany here have son's who would have broke the bank with this contract.

I am not sure if you got the point, this type of thing is INSANE to consider for any one less than a pro. These are KIDS!

I agree it's insane. On that board I called it absurd. That's why I brought the post over here. The "broke the bank" comment was a joke response to someone joking if this was my kid. I made my son pay part of the cost for his bat in LL. His reward for success and proper behavior was he got a ride to return to play again.

.

I threatened mine that if they didn't behave I'd send them to Military School.

Oh well...


cadDAD

.

quote:

If you make good grades in school. Keep your room clean. Do all the chores we ask you to do around the house. Treat your parents with respect and others as well. Stay out of any trouble. We will let you play baseball.

Everytime I hit a triple, my reward was being asked why I didn't make it a home run?

And after the game, we got a ticket for a nachos or hot dog and a soda We would always run to the concession stand. You'd think we'd be worn out after the game?

My son had to help pay for his new bats too. Gloves and other equipment were included in birthday and Christmas gifts.

You know how much a weekend series would cost to go to the Red Sox for 3?? Heck 5 X-box games must cost a small fortune..for doing something that will get him ejected and hurt his team!!

quote:

Originally posted by Coach May:
If you make good grades in school. Keep your room clean. Do all the chores we ask you to do around the house. Treat your parents with respect and others as well. Stay out of any trouble. We will let you play baseball.

That's exactly how it works in my house PERIOD.

Wow little league is getting more expensive by the day.I thought the baseball and catcher's gear was alot.---I might take my boy for a Banana Split at the local ice cream shop if he does something extraordinary and he is perfectly happy with that,definitely not no XBox.

RJM, I specifically asked you not to spread my story, I mean that story, to another forum. Thanks pal!!

What ever happened to what happens in the Delaware Valley stays in the Delaware Valley?

We only had one incentive. After the game, Dairy Queen. It is for the kids, really, not that I don't like hot fudge sundaes or heath blizzards. It is for the kids. Or banana split blizzards. Or large twists cones dipped in butterscotch. Or strawberry sundaes. Or...

quote:

Originally posted by Doughnutman:
We only had one incentive. After the game, Dairy Queen. It is for the kids, really, not that I don't like hot fudge sundaes or heath blizzards. It is for the kids. Or banana split blizzards. Or large twists cones dipped in butterscotch. Or strawberry sundaes. Or...

Doughnut...man, Hotfudge...man, Heathblizzard..man, tiwstconesdippedinbutterscotch...man Hmmmm I detect a trend here.

Here is my incentive program...it is very easy to follow:

Any grade less than an A or B for the 6 week grading period---grounded until said grade is an A or B.

No mention in our incentive program about baseball performance...sorry.

While coaching my younger sons basketball game, I had to yank him out of the game because was taking a bunch of bad, left handed shots. When I asked him what he was doing, he told me grampa offered to give him a dollar for every left handed basket he made. He didnt get paid, and he didnt take any more bad shots. But gramp coulnnt understand why I was mad.

I have to agree with the rest on this one, the parent is seriously screwed up with this concept.

Of course, on the other hand, I'm sure there is some high dollar travel team out there looking for this parent right now. With that sense of delusion, they could really charge him some serious money!

The thought never once crossed my mind. I bought the gear. He used it from 4 years old until 22. We went out to eat after alot of games, because we were hungry. Call me crazy, I guess. We went to MLB games because we could.

Don't remember offering him much as far as LL incentives go, maybe a few bucks for knocking one out. Never made a bid deal of it because didn't want to add any unneeded pressure on a young kid. But when he got into high school, I offered to help buy my son a car for college if he got an academic and or athletic scholarship. It was a win-win incentive for everybody. The money he would've saved in tuition could have gone towards a decent car and I wouldn't have to let him borrow one of my cars when he comes home from school.

Imagine if this kid tries out for the high school team. good luck coach

Wow. For us there has never been any incentive to play well. Or to make good grades. Both are his priority. I take no credit - it is the competitive spirit that he was born with. I realize we are lucky, but you should see his room!

I will admit that there is a monetary incentive to hit well against a certain local pitcher who badmouthed him last year. "He's going to have a hard time at this level."


$100 per base. First $400 goes into his college fund, the rest he gets to keep. Paying it will be my pleasure.

quote:

Originally posted by 2Bmom:
Wow. For us there has never been any incentive to play well. Or to make good grades. Both are his priority. I take no credit - it is the competitive spirit that he was born with. I realize we are lucky, but you should see his room!

I will admit that there is a monetary incentive to hit well against a certain local pitcher who badmouthed him last year. "He's going to have a hard time at this level."


$100 per base. First $400 goes into his college fund, the rest he gets to keep. Paying it will be my pleasure.

Something tells me I know the pitcher.

for us, we just say good job and when equipment gets worn out, it gets replaced w/o much dickering.

How serious was the parent with this offer?
These were LL incentives. How realistic are they? My son was a pretty good player in LL, I think he accomplished one of them.

What bothers me is the triple with head first slide, which is illegal. Seems like he's teaching his son early how to cheat.

I'd like to see the link.

Thats the first I heard of the head first slide being illegal

quote:

Originally posted by TRhit:
Thats the first I heard of the head first slide being illegal

It's illegal in LL except for diving back to a base.

Thanx

That tells you how long I have been away from LL

Come on RJM, I read the thread, seems to me it was just a dad just having some fun with his kid. He knew his son most likely would never live up to the "contract".

You took this as serious? If so, coming from you that surprises me, I could almost see you posting that, in jest of course.


I must be missing something.

I wasn't the only poster who thought the guy is out of his mind. Some who didn't were preteen ball dads. Maybe I'm coming from an angle where I've seen the guy make several other "red flag" posts in relation to kiddie ball. One was (paraphrasing), "If a kid has it going on the mound, why remove him? Some kids are big and strong enough to handle it."

This is far fetched ---- or is it?

The produce/reward system is very common in our society. I can remember the gold stars on my report cards when I was a kid for A's. Allowances are another "reward" that is very common. The kid usually has to do something to earn the allowance. That is work/reward. I used to "reward" my son for his baseball accomplishments (indirectly). His work ethic earned him a CD player in his truck. He wanted to work at Kroger so he could buy the CD player and I said if he would work at baseball I would buy the CD player for him. His baseball production also garnered him many rewards even a college scholarship which in part was paid to him in cash. It may be wrong to write a contract promising money for a home run but many parents "reward" their kids with expensive baseball "things" hoping for increased production.
Fungo

"a college scholarship which in part was paid to him in cash"----please explain---thanx

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Fungo:
This is far fetched ---- or is it?

Fungo...Spot on as usual.

The boy has always been dedicated to getting better. And he sucked for so long, incentives were pointless.

The deal in our family. The boy is working towards a goal in baseball, 2- 4 hours of homework each day plus the weekends. Bats, batting gloves, gloves, under armour whatever is on me! As long as he keeps his nose clean the gravy train keeps rollin. Knock on wood, no problems yet.

Is it far fetched? Yes , its totally bogus in every way possible.

I've been a really fortunate dad.........

On my little league team some years back a grandfather offered a player on my team $500 for a homerun over the fence. The kid walked about two times all year swinging at everything but never did get that homer.

I might understand rewards based on grades or chores, but not to work at baseball. How does one know for sure if someone has the necessary dedication and love for the game if they are playing for material rewards.

Then again, I suppose if the results are good the method is good.

When our kids were young I was too worried about making sure there was enough food on the table, so rewards for playing sports never entered my mind. In a way, I'm kind of glad it went that way. If I could I would have given our kids anything, but it wouldn't have had anything to do with playing ball.

To me the problem with what RJM put in the opening post is the parent(s) aren't teaching anything productive. They are teaching reward equals reward when they need to teach work equals reward.

quote:

Over the fence homerun = MLB game tickets for him and a friend + food, souverniers, etc

A homerun is a reward for working hard at practice. Getting tix is a reward for whatever you want it to be. Where has this "dad of the year" taught the vaule of working for something? In the back of his mind that might be his goal but he hasn't shown the boy the path to getting the homerun.

quote:

Multiple HRs = (I think he's got Scott Boras working with him on this one. I'm saying it has to be more than one in a single game or I'll even go the same week. He wants every HR after the first one to be worth) MLB tickets all inclusive to a 3 game series with a friend. Wants to take the train too

How is this in anyway different than the first promise of a reward?

quote:

Complete game shutout = I'll clean his room for a week. Complete game no-hitter = I'll clean his room for a month + no chores for an additional month + double allowance for an additional month

So how does the room get cleaned in the offseason? Does he have to score 3 touchdowns or 20 points in a basketball game? When does the child learn that things don't put themselves up? When does the child learn that when you don't keep your stuff clean and in good shape they last longer?

quote:

Triple w/ head first slide = (Since sliding head first is illegal in LL, it's stipulated that his team has to have a comfortable lead because he'll probably be called out) 5 XBox games and I have to play them with him.

There are a million things wrong with this statement. TPM did a great job of explaining why this is wrong but here is my take on it. An Xbox game will run around $30 - $40 per game. So this guy is going to spend $150 - $200 on games to reinforce to his kid that it's ok to break the rules by showing up the other team that you are beating easily and possibly getting hurt in the process.

quote:

Walk off HR = long board skateboards for both he and I and I have to ride mine with him sometimes. So basically this one costs me a bunch of cash and broken bones

This statment makes me think that this guy is trying to get quality time with his son. I really doubt the parent wants the skateboard but he's willing to get two of these so he can ride with his son? That makes me think a dad is begging / bribing his son to spend time with him.

Fungo you said you bought your son a CD player for his truck based on if he worked on baseball. Obviously your son was successful but would you have bought him the CD player if he got cut from the team? I'm willing to bet that you would because to you the work wasn't hitting homeruns and throwing no hitters. To you the work was creating and developing a work ethic to see how when you put effort into something that there is a real value to it. This guy isn't doing that.

What kind of pressure is on this kid now? What is more important to this kid - "I got to get 2 homeruns today because I want the Xbox game" OR "I got to get 2 homeruns today because I need to help my team win"?

This guy isn't teaching his kid it's a privilege to play the game or that playing the game is the reward itself. As this kid gets older he will expect more and more rewards for his play.

What will he expect his HS coach to reward him with? A car?

quote:

it's a privilege to play the game or that playing the game is the reward

Coach,
Bingo! And the biggest reward for all the hard work is you get better at playing the game you love.

And if you end up playing the game well enough someone else rewards you.

quote:

I might understand rewards based on grades or chores,

My dad tried this with my brother. My dad said he would buy my brother an X-Box or something similar if he made the Honor Roll. It wasn't money being spent for that reason, but rather spending that money elsewhere. The money to buy that game system would have come from the money saved on the car insurance for the "Good Student" discount program.

I am not sure this was a real serious post, he even admitted that his son was not such a great player last year.

I am sure that at some point we all promised our sons something for their hard work, not necessarily baseball.

Don't we reward our sons when we take them off for a weekend to a showcase, or a tournament or sign them up for travel ball?

The thing that struck me, was that it seemed more like bribery than anything else, and IMO, there is a difference.

The good thing is that most here, agree that there are lessons to be learned in life and working hard and seeing results seems to be the common thread between us, not materialistic rewards.

In the first game my boy pitched I was trying to keep track of how many walks and strikeouts that he had. I guess he was about nine or ten years old. I was holding my hands in my pockets and counting on my fingers. When I ran out of fingers I had to improvise. Since I had a pocketful of change I started using copper for walks and silver for strikeouts.

After the game we tallied the stats and without thinking I gave it to him. In the future games, it was quite clear that I had stumbled upon an incentive program.
For the rest of the season, I always tried to have more quarters and dimes in my pockets than nickels. I also remember going back to the truck a few times during the game to get more pennies.

If a player, regardless of age, needs incentives then , in my mind he does not truly love the game---he is doing it for the rewards he gets from Mommie and Daddy and whomever else


Wrong Wrong Wrong !!!!

quote:

Don't we reward our sons when we take them off for a weekend to a showcase, or a tournament or sign them up for travel ball?

I believe we reward our kids with the opportunity to climb the baseball ladder based on their talent, work ethic and passion for the game, not stats.

I'm guessing hoping the original posting was at least half in jest! It would never have occurred to us to bribe or "reward" our kids for good performance in sports. We didn't pay them for chores or grades, either, although those sound more reasonable. My husband did pay our younger son about $100 each spring for voluntarily doing "annual yard cleanup" when the snow melted. I guess spring yard cleanup, with a 90-lb lab in the family, is kind of like a really gross marathon.


Sorry to share that.

Julie

quote:

Originally posted by TRhit:
If a player, regardless of age, needs incentives then , in my mind he does not truly love the game---he is doing it for the rewards he gets from Mommie and Daddy and whomever else


Wrong Wrong Wrong !!!!

I agree TR.
Also, rewarding for HR and strikouts may actually backfire. A kid trying too hard to hit a homerun or throw a strike by a batter usually doesn't. Swinging hard trying to jack one out will probably lead to bad mechanics and habits. Players and kids don't need any additional reasons to start pressing and forcing something to happen. Good things happen when a player stays within himself and his abilities.

As usual, if this is a true story, over the top parents usually get the exact opposite results than the ones they are trying to accomplish.

I read the entire thread on another site where it was posted and discussed....

Guys and Gals.... the Dad is dead serious!!!

what were the response on the other site?

For some reason I do not think he is very Unique

Some of the responses were "hey that's a good idea"
and many of them were, "I don't think you want to open up that can of worms." They weren't as, shall we say old school, as the opinion over here at the hsbbw. Woody, cue the photo of a really old school building.

TR... as I think about it; you're probably right.

quote:

Originally posted by TRhit:
For some reason I do not think he is very Unique

i agree...happens a lot more than we realize i bet, however maybe not with that kind of bankroll...

i remember 2 different kids in LL that had "that dad", neither kid plays on the high school team today......wonder why? either they never learned to love the game....or perhaps the parents went bankrupt and couldn't honor the contract

I found the site and I think in some regard the reward system was kind of a tongue-n-cheek conversation between dad-n-kid. However, as much as he tried to downplay it, he was kind of serious about the reward system

The site itself looks it's made up of many younger players families and reality has not yet reared it's ugly head. What did surprise me was the number of positive replies to the "contract".

What I did learn from what I read is the HSBBW is in a class of it's own.

While I never offered my kids anything for their performances, my parents had a standing offer for me of a banana split for an over the fence home run in little league. Never cashed in on that

[QUOTE]Originally posted by RJM:
I found this post on another board. What do people think of this?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Funny thing is that even almost all of the ones he didn't reach, he got paid off on eventually anyway. There was a Wii and an XBox 360 that he eventually got for XMas

Why not a Benz or Lexus?

So far we've got:

Over the fence homerun = MLB game tickets for him and a friend + food, souverniers, etc.

Moneybags should have forked over for the Suite!

Multiple HRs = (I think he's got Scott Boras working with him on this one. I'm saying it has to be more than one in a single game or I'll even go the same week. He wants every HR after the first one to be worth) MLB tickets all inclusive to a 3 game series with a friend. Wants to take the train too.

Cheapskate, get the chopper or at least the limo

Complete game shutout = I'll clean his room for a week.

Complete game no-hitter = I'll clean his room for a month + no chores for an additional month + double allowance for an additional month.

Hey moneybags, hire a maid!

25+ innings w/o a wild pitch = new catcher's gear

What's wrong with the current gear?

12K's in a single game = Nike ID (ones he personalizes) cletes with nickname and # in All Star colors if he makes it or for football.

Those shoes stink. Bot em, bottoms fell off after one hoops practice. Made in SE Asia by slave labor.

Triple w/ head first slide = (Since sliding head first is illegal in LL, it's stipulated that his team has to have a comfortable lead because he'll probably be called out) 5 XBox games and I have to play them with him.

Richey Rich had a father?

Walk off HR = long board skateboards for both he and I and I have to ride mine with him sometimes. So basically this one costs me a bunch of cash and broken bones.

Now you complain about money?

That's about it so far, but as the season develops they normally change. QUOTE]

I got an idea, why don't you give me 1/2 your money and I'll take you out back and kick you in the b-lls!

quote:

"a college scholarship which in part was paid to him in cash"----please explain---thanx

I should have said "check" instead of "cash" but I meant the money was given directly to the player. The way the college scholarship was awarded left it up to the player/parent as how it was to be disbursed. They would write me a check for the full amount and I in turn could pay the bursar's office for tuition, books, fees, etc --- or --- they would pay the bursar's office directly which I wanted them to do. Since my son was going to live off campus the room and board allowance was given to him in the way of a check.

quote:

The site itself looks it's made up of many younger players families and reality has not yet reared it's ugly head.

That's true. I was more active there before my son hit high school. Other posters have graduated to this site. Sometimes we offer advice/experience. The dads of kiddie ball think they know better than the experienced dads. I do enjoy the post scripts when I'm PM'ed after the fact I was right. I'm a believer in learning from the experienced. That's why I'm here. I also enjoy watching DeeMax beat up on Chris O'Leary, if anyone remembers O'Leary from this site. He's returned as John Ya Ya.

So what site is it on? Can we post a link or would that be bad?

Coach May nailed this early on in the thread.

quote:

Fungo you said you bought your son a CD player for his truck based on if he worked on baseball. Obviously your son was successful but would you have bought him the CD player if he got cut from the team? I'm willing to bet that you would because to you the work wasn't hitting homeruns and throwing no hitters. To you the work was creating and developing a work ethic to see how when you put effort into something that there is a real value to it. This guy isn't doing that.

Coach you're right on. Had nothing to do with production but everything to do with work ethic. I saw it as a fork in the road for my son. College and baseball down one fork and ---- becoming accustomed to earning money and associating minimum wage as being successful down the other. I've seen it happen too many times with high school aged boys. I felt if I could make the lure of getting a job at Kroger (the CD player in this case) disappear, he would stay on the right track. It worked out fine in his case.
These young players need a support person(s) in order for them to achieve loftier goals whether it be in baseball, academics or whatever. I didn't build him a BMX track, Xgames course, or a launching ramp for a skateboard but I did lot to keep him focused on academics and sports including building a football goalpost, pitching mounds and soft toss nets. Did I entice him to do more and better baseball --- probably. I did my part --- he did his part. He and I both understood that each were committed to the "cause" --- but nothing was written in a contract. I have said many times "Look at the parents work so hard just so their kids can play"
Fungo

Since several others have found it .....

incentive thread

Please respect when I copied his post to this board I maintained his privacy. Please leave him alone.

Paying for specific acts in any single game seems more than extravagant. There are rewards for playing baseball as many people have pointed out above. I do remember hearing some parents offer a dollar for a hit. That seemed more of a motivation effort, especially if the kid had not been hitting.

But when I think back, we did pay a lot to play baseball; not only in dollars, add a lot of time to that equation.

I would like to enter a synopsis from my perspective;

T-ball – Son age 4 (played early with July birthday)
REWARDS – son loved running around and playing with 11 other kids all season, plus a couple trips to Dairy Queen. Parents received much more REWARDS and had more fun than you should have watching their own kids and others kids playing on the diamond for the first time. Still my favorite year!
COST – uniform, about $40 dollars plus park fees about $40, plus several trips to Dairy Queen. Total = $80 or $90

First Travel ball team – Son age 10
REWARDS - son playing with what amounts to an all-star team from the park all season long. Son improved by the challenge of playing against other “all-star” teams and playing with kids that were into it as much as he was instead of playing with some kids that really did not care that much to be out on the field. My wife and I enjoyed the time with kids in the car (really), at the hotel, at the park, etc.. get the picture.
COST – uniform(s) $250 for three shirts, two pants, under shirts and accessories. Team fees (I am having trouble remembering for sure) around $400. Now add hotels, gas, food, park entrance fees, t-shirts, sun glasses for son and daughter, etc… I have no idea; did not really keep track of all this; probably averaged $300 a weekend over at least 14 weekends, so lets say $4200. Total $4850 Say $5000 for good round number!

Several more years of travel ball that I do not want to even try to add up. Let’s just say the first year was the cheapest! Son age 12 through 17. REWARDS – son getting to play on the Atlanta Braves Scout team when he was 16. (Well I believe he turned 17 that week!)

High school ball had it costs and Rewards too.

Vanderbilt baseball team and education! No matter what my costs are, this experience is priceless for both my son and his family!!!!

I believe we all seek rewards for what we do in one way or another. We just need to keep a good perspective on that and make sure the kids enjoy the experience as the reward and provide some “treats” along the way.

Summary:

A poster on the other site criticzed the comments I brought over anonymously from this site (for example referred to Coach May as "high school coach, respected travel coach, dad of a D1 player"). Another poster stated it doesn't matter what parents of college players think. I responded these are people who have been through the journey including preteen ball. They've experienced and witnessed all the good and bad of preteen ball.

Here's the last response from the original poster:

"Gee, I don't know how can ever thank you. That's b.s. I found the site those responses came from. All I can say is with the luxury of complete annonymity you can be whoever you want to be on the net. It amazes me how many choose to be hostile and intolerant."

Conclusion: Sometimes you can't even lead the horse to water.

I've learned a lesson. It makes no sense to offer advice and experience to kiddie ball dads. Some are born experts. They have a better way than what has already worked for every player that become successful.

I'll stick here where I can learn from knowledgeble, experienced people on the road ahead for my son and myself as his dad. I'm still glad I shared the thread with this board. I found it to be one of the all time outrageous kiddie ball posts.

My favorite all-time outrageous preteen comment:

If you remember several years ago SI had a cover story on the ten year old athlete. One 10U pitcher pitched 234 innings one year. When a youth sports expert and former NBA player interviewed the dad and told him 234 innings was over the top, the dad responded, "What the (heck) do you know? You're not playing competitively anymore. I'm going to give my son every chance to fulfill his dream of becoming a MLB pitcher."

Note: When the article came out I checked the kid's innings against MLB. Only four MLB pitchers threw more.

RJM,
Sometimes people just have to learn as they go forward, then they can look back and see for themselves what jerks they were.

Not saying that preteen dads are jerks as most here are not. This place kind of changes your prospective on what you think you know vs. what you don't know.

quote:

Originally posted by RJM:
A poster on the other site criticzed the comments I brought over anonymously from this site...

Looks like RJM fired the first shot across the gorge.

Actually I read it over again and I still think he joking or at least was half serious.
JMO

rjm

that was a very interesting site. i found myself browsing around for awhile. is it fairly new?

man i need to get out more.

Even worse than the idea of incentives is the extreme this guy took it to! I wouldn't get treatment like that from my parents if I won a nobel prize! It wouldn't be such a big concern if the guy was just throwing a buck or two at his kid here and there.

quote:

Originally posted by 20dad:
that was a very interesting site. i found myself browsing around for awhile. is it fairly new?

It's been around quite a while. I only look at the category the thread was posted. But there are a lot of other categories geared to the baseball fan. I think there's a connection between that site and baseball-reference.com

From the "Be careful what you put out there as an Incentive to your kids Department":

A while back, I bought a new car; both kids (HS senior daughter and HS sophomore son) think its hot and want to drive it. Envisioning an air-bag deploying high-speed catastrophe, I said OK with a catch. It's yours for a week if son throws a no hitter on varsity or daughter gets "Girl of the Week" award from her drill team (there are about 65 girls on the team, and only 10 weeks to get the award, so I figure my odds are pretty good, and I'm feeling as smug as George Clooney and congratulating myself on my cleverness.) Two weeks later, (with less than 300 miles on the car, my flight is delayed so I miss the first half of our first HS football game of the season. When I land, there's a message from my daughter, over the game noise in the background, she's squealing with delight that she was named "GOTW" and telling me where she'll be at the end of the game so I can give her the keys.

I'm not sure what was worse; missing the thrill of seeing her award announced at halftime, or teaching her the art of welching on a bet.

The odds are still with me on son, although in a scrimmage this past Saturday, he throws 3 innings without giving up a hit, so I'm already having to make up lame excuses for him ("You didn't go long enough;" "Not an official game;" That offer expired 12/31/08.")

Moral of the story, at least for me; stick with dinner out at favorite drive-thru restaurant as an incentive for your kids.

This guy took what can be a fun diversion and turned it into a disaster. It just goes to show that too much of a good thing is no good.

I remember my dad bribing me in Little League. It was the only time he ever offered me money for production. I remember it like it was yesterday. He offered me a quarter for a single, 50 cents for a double and so on. During the game I hit a bloop double down the line and after the game he wouldn't pay up. He told me, "that wasn't a real double" and we never did the bribery thing again.

I bribed my son when he was four years old. I felt he was ready for the batting cage but he was scared to get in it. Let me add that the cage I wanted him to try was one built for little kids. T-Ball coaches rented it out by the hour for their teams. I got my son to try it by promising him a Ninja Turtles game. Well, the bribe worked. Once he did it, he loved it and that hurdle was conquered.

As a coach I have bribed players. But never during a game. Mostly during bunting practice. I would put a can with a dollar under it down each foul line. The player that knocked the can over got to keep the dollar. It made bunting practice a lot of fun.

Any coach that has told his players they won't have to run laps if they win or anything along those lines has used bribery to motivate the team. I remember the Denver Broncos coach, Mike Shanahan, giving the players a day off on Monday if they won on Sunday. It can and should be a harmless motivational tool.

quote:

Any coach that has told his players they won't have to run laps if they win or anything along those lines has used bribery to motivate the team. I remember the Denver Broncos coach, Mike Shanahan, giving the players a day off on Monday if they won on Sunday. It can and should be a harmless motivational tool.

Don't you think these examples are a different scope and a different level of competition.

Bribing a 4 year old to get in a batting cage --_WOW

I may be old school but you guys continue to amaze me with what you do !!!!

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Bribing a 4 year old to get in a batting cage --_WOW

I may be old school but you guys continue to amaze me with what you do !!!!

I had to bribe mine to get out...

'Com'on...if we leave now I'll take you to Dairy Queen'...

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Originally posted by Hawk19:

I had to bribe mine to get out...

That happened the second time we went to the cage.


TRHit, what's the big deal?

Any parent here who says they never bribed their children are lying big time.

DOD

Whats the big deal?

Maybe not for you but for me there is huge problem---first of all why is the 4 year old in a batting cage/ If he doesn't want to be there why bribe him?

Yea I am old school but you know what ??? I like that--If my kids didnt want to go they didnt go---what the heck--why force them?


And they all got to where they wanted to be

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if anyone remembers O'Leary from this site. He's returned as John Ya Ya.

That explains a lot!

quote:

Originally posted by TRhit:
DOD

Whats the big deal?

Maybe not for you but for me there is huge problem---first of all why is the 4 year old in a batting cage/ If he doesn't want to be there why bribe him?

Yea I am old school but you know what ??? I like that--If my kids didnt want to go they didnt go---what the heck--why force them?


And they all got to where they wanted to be

TR, you don't like my bribe, fine. But don't say you never bribed your kids. Perhaps we should ask them if you ever did. I wonder if they would agree with your statement, "If my kids didn't want to go, they didn't go--what the heck-- why force them."

For the record, I didn't force him in the cage, which you seem to be implying with that quote.