Math or Baseball

quote:

Originally posted by FormerObserver:
Could the math contest be done between innings to bolster interest in the math department?

What a great idea. Between the first two innings, have the math kids spin around with their forehead on a bat. Then they have to calculate the distance they travelled while spinning on the bat. Something about circumference and pi I believe.

Then between the 3rd and 4th innings have them dress up in giant inflatable sumo wrestler costumes and give them a word problem. If one sumo wrestler is running at 2 mph and another is running in the opposite direction at 2.2 mph, what will the force of the impact be?

And finally, bring out the air powered t-shirt shooter and make them do the math to see how many shirts they'll need so 13% of the fans get a shirt.

Some truly ludicrous posts here !!

Again I ask you as a parents---how proud would you be if your son had to make this choice??? Nobody answered that question

Very proud. My son was in the same situation as a sophomore. He passed up the regional math contest to play a game. I found out about it later. The coach had given his blessings for son to attend the math contest but son politely turned it down and the alternate (2nd place) went instead. He does know that education is more important than athletics but at the time the game was more important to him. He is now a senior and has turned down a chance to play college ball because the university does not offer his major.

09

Maturity is setting in !!!

quote:

Again I ask you as a parents---how proud would you be if your son had to make this choice??? Nobody answered that question

Very proud. When my son started looking into schools, he started late which I couldn't figure out why. Maybe was still undecided, but once he got into the process, his first choice was going JUCO with some idea with what he wanted to major in, and was still considering playing college baseball. Then he got a letter from the state university, got accepted and scored high on the entrance exams (those same exams that got him benched for most of one game) which qualified him to bypass some of the basic college prereq courses and take his core courses for his major. He also got accepted into some teaching program which will require and additional 36 credits on top of the credits needed for his bachelors degree. Also, in order to stay in the program, he must maintain a 3.0, not a 2.0 GPA and that's when he decided that was it for baseball.

TRhit, my priorities are in order. My child is NCAA cleared, D1 signed and he did not get that way by missing TEAM practices and games.

My son missed his cousin's funeral last year because it conflicted with with team.

Was he bummed, yes. He easily would have been excused. He certainly would have sat hour for hour of his time missed.... That is the team policy, but that is not why he chose not to go.

We have taught our son to commit. If he plays in a sport, works at a job, has a family.. whatever he does if people are relying on him he has been taught to do it fully and dependably and responsibly.

He has not been taught to put himself first. Sometimes what is best for you as a person is not what is best for the group you have committed to.

That is all I'm saying.

Now if this kid told the coach in the summer hey I've got this math thing that may come up or not and the coach agreed to put the kid on the team anyway then go do the math.

Special exceptions just dont play well in the dugout.

It's high school for pete's sake. Missing one game won't destroy an entire career. If I'm a recruiting coach at a college, I look at overall player commitment and see that he missed one game, and that it was because of extraordinary circumstances: he qualified for the state math finals. I call his coach and ask if he often misses games/practices for other activities, or just this one? If the answer is "just one" then I think I'd want him on my team. If I'm the head of the math department in a competitive/academic school and admissions calls and says, "The BB coach is asking us to support a slot for this kid. He's interested in being a math major and would be in your department. What do you think?" I'd say, give him the slot. I want him in my department.

In some schools, the math might be key to the baseball. In others, not so much. I am with the majority: communicate with the coach and ask for his blessings. There are many baseball games. Go to the math competition.

playfair

I have had two sons and a stepson play college ball, two at the D-1 level, so I two know a bit as to how to get there.

The math aspect is a bit different than a school trip

playfair--missing a game for a math contest is one thing--but for a relatives funeral is another! You are entitled to your opinion but to me Family#1, that is just my opinion

you missed the point.

first missing the funeral was his choice not ours. the rest of us flew across the country.

the point of mine has been the same all along. special exceptions just dont play well in the dugout and when you sign up to do something with 15 other guys then do it.

quote:

Originally posted by Baseball Dad 46:
playfair--missing a game for a math contest is one thing--but for a relatives funeral is another! You are entitled to your opinion but to me Family#1, that is just my opinion

The way I see it, the decision was made so the player would not have to give up his position for a few days. ANY team can live without one player, that's what TEAM is about, stepping up when you have to if an important player is missing.

This is not about missing a game for attending funeral (poor example) but about academics vs. sports.

According to my understanding, in our county, there is no "punishment" for missing a game for anything that is related to school, junior day visits, senior class trips, SAT's included. Any other reason is at the coaches discretion. I doubt that you would find any HS coach who would make you sit the bench for anything you might have to miss for school. If so, that coach has his priorities messed up.

As far as teammates being upset, why should they be, this gives the player who sits the bench a chance to get in the game.

playfair,
I don't want to hear about commitment, all of our kids make commitments and they all stick to it. Your son is no different in that respect than anyone else.

But your son will learn as he gets older that any team that he plays for can live a game (or two) without him (not sure if this is all about him or the TEAM). And he will learn that baseball should never be your highest priority in life, it's just a game.

Maybe you have not explained yourself well, but IMO, seems like your son thinks he is irreplacable, or perhaps replaceable?

BTW, no college coach would care that a player missed a game because of academic reasons.

quote:

Maybe you have not explained yourself well, but IMO, seems like your son thinks he is irreplacable, or perhaps replaceable?

No one person is irreplaceable, and everyone can be replaced.

It is a ME society. Go do the math.

So it isnt a "TEAM" thing is it !!!!

I am not into players missing games but when it comes to academics it is fine with me even in the fall when kids have SAT or ACT exams on Saturdays

I also vote for 'math'...

My son will miss the game scheduled over spring break because he is going on a class trip to Europe (along with two other starters). The team will survive. The trip was planned before the schedule came out...The coach knows they're going and I doubt it's an issue.

My son plays small school baseball because the academics and opportunities at this school were better than at the bigger school. It would be hypocritical for him to now prioritize baseball ahead of academics....There will be other baseball games but only one European school trip....

quote:

Originally posted by playfair:

quote:

Maybe you have not explained yourself well, but IMO, seems like your son thinks he is irreplacable, or perhaps replaceable?

No one person is irreplaceable, and everyone can be replaced.

It is a ME society. Go do the math.

Your point is confusing.

Missing a game because of another obligation or desire to do something does not mean that you are not a good team player or you are into ME. Being late for practice or games, fooling around getting down on your teamates, just missing because you don't feel like coming makes for a bad team player.

The team concept is about sharing responsibilities and working together towards one common goal. Some are not as committed as others, but that doesn't make them bad team members.

quote:

first missing the funeral was his choice not ours

Just curious but how was your son when he had the choice to miss the funeral? How close was your son to the cousin who passed away?

quote:

Originally posted by coach2709:

quote:

first missing the funeral was his choice not ours

Just curious but how was your son when he had the choice to miss the funeral? How close was your son to the cousin who passed away?

Coach,
In defense of playfair's son, don't think that's really important, just as I don't think the situation has anything to do missing something connected to school.

However, I must have been a bad parent, when my kids were younger they didn't have certain choices about certain things.

TPM - I almost didn't post my two questions because I didn't want them to come across negatively. I know if I have a family member who passes away that I barely know I would rather play baseball. I'm really and honestly curious as to how old and close about his son.

Playfair if you don't want to answer that is fine with me. Or if you are offended by my questions then I apologize because that wasn't my intent.

Here's a slightly related issue on my team.

A player is missing practices this week because of cheerleading tryouts for next year. Should he be penalized?

quote:

Originally posted by JPontiac:
Here's a slightly related issue on my team.

A player is missing practices this week because of cheerleading tryouts for next year. Should he be penalized?

In the fall my son was busy playing high school s0ccer and travel fall ball for his high school coach. He was cut from basketball for not attending offseason workouts even though he started on the freshman team.

Sometimes it comes down to choices. Your example is choosing cheerleading over baseball. At the very best he's earned a spot at the very end of the baseball roster. At the worst, he's cut. His responsibility is to his sport in season. He needed to make other arrangements with the cheerleading coach.

Cheerleading! Cheerleading?

JPontiac,
I'm not sure I understand. Is the tryout for a high school sponsored cheerleading team whose season begins next fall? If so, let's hypothetically recast the situation as a player missing baseball practices mid-March so he can tryout for the next fall's football team. Doesn't that sound absurd? I have two sons at different high schools, and in neither school would a fall season sport be allowed to hold tryouts in the previous spring.

On the other hand, if the cheerleading is not affiliated with the high school, then it's a case of a year round club team versus a seasonal high school sport. He needs to give one or the other priority, and suffer the lumps in the other sport.

quote:

Originally posted by JPontiac:
Here's a slightly related issue on my team.

A player is missing practices this week because of cheerleading tryouts for next year. Should he be penalized?

If it's all-star cheerleading thats associated with a gym, they can usually arrange a private tryout with the gym on a date that don't conflict. If it's high school, the sport that's in-season takes priority/ Maybe talking to the high school coach about an alternate tryout date might work but the priority is with the in-season team.

I don't see it as a problem at all if an in-season coach benches somebody for missing a practice due to trying out for another sport.

It is a team thing, and the team can suck it up and do without the player for this legitimate outside activity, as many have pointed out, multiple games...one State Math contest STUDENT athlete !

quote:

Some truly ludicrous posts here !!

Could you define ludicrous for me?

That's one of those big PIC words I don't understand.

Wow, this thread got ugly and attacking.

The sole and only point that I was trying to make is that special exceptions dont play well in the dugout.

A high school baseball season is 12 weeks long. Commit, because if you made the team then there were probably 15 boys who did not and they would have loved the opportunity to commit fully. And, they deserve to be completely ****ed that you show up when there is nothing else you want to do instead.

(BTW, my son adored his cousin.. And I am very sorry I brought it up.)

OK, folks. Slight tweak of the situation that is currently happening in our house. Son has three mandatory Saturday Calc AP review sessions - no student passes this class if they fail to attend each and every one of these sessions. Each Saturday, he also has a baseball game, starting at 11, sometimes home, sometimes away (as usual, players are required to arrive an hour early - he is a captain, and captains generally arrive an hour and fifteen before game time).

The math teacher is giving three two-hour sessions on each of the three Saturdays - son's time slot ordinarily would be 10-12. Math teacher is allowing son to attend 8-10 session because of the baseball games.

On the baseball side - our coach has had each player sign a committment agreement not to miss practices or games, without receiving and excused absence. If you miss, you will sit out, and then you will be cut if it happens again. Tests, testing, etc. qualify for excused absences.

Son plans to go to coach, tell him about the mandatory Saturday sessions, and ask to be allowed to arrive at the pre-games after 10, probably around 10:30.

If you are the coach, what would you say?

Calculus opens tons of college doors. It is well worth it to try to compromise with the bb coach. Especially if it's arriving late for warm-ups. Before my son knew where he was going to play baseball in college he applied to several high academic colleges and was admitted to all of them. I personally think AP Calculus is a tipping factor for many colleges. Because of his AP units in high school he has earned a lot of college credit which then helps keep him on track for college graduation.

quote:

If you are the coach, what would you say?

See you at 10:30...

quote:

three mandatory Saturday Calc AP review sessions

Mandatory study sessions are not extra cirricular. they are cirricular.

coach should say "do well"

Study hard and I'll see you as soon as you can get there.

As for the original question, I'd tell the kid go to the Math contest in a heartbeat. It was a commitment made before the season started - and it is an academic honor. I'll figure out how to play around his absence.

An similar situation occurred last year in college football. Myron Rolle, the starting strong safety for FSU, had a conflict between a Rhodes scholarship interview and a game at Maryland. The coaches said for him to go to the interview -

quote:

"We couldn't be more proud of this happening for one of our players," FSU coach Bobby Bowden said Wednesday. "It's a once-in-a-lifetime chance and you wouldn't dare deny him that. I just hope he wins it."

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.c..._mandel/11/06/rolle/

While I wouldn't put a statewide math competition on the same level as a Rhodes scholarship, for a HS student it is a big deal - and can make a real difference in college applications.

08

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quote:

Originally posted by no11:
OK, folks. Slight tweak of the situation that is currently happening in our house. Son has three mandatory Saturday Calc AP review sessions - no student passes this class if they fail to attend each and every one of these sessions. Each Saturday, he also has a baseball game, starting at 11, sometimes home, sometimes away (as usual, players are required to arrive an hour early - he is a captain, and captains generally arrive an hour and fifteen before game time).

The math teacher is giving three two-hour sessions on each of the three Saturdays - son's time slot ordinarily would be 10-12. Math teacher is allowing son to attend 8-10 session because of the baseball games.

On the baseball side - our coach has had each player sign a committment agreement not to miss practices or games, without receiving and excused absence. If you miss, you will sit out, and then you will be cut if it happens again. Tests, testing, etc. qualify for excused absences.

Son plans to go to coach, tell him about the mandatory Saturday sessions, and ask to be allowed to arrive at the pre-games after 10, probably around 10:30.

If you are the coach, what would you say?

This is a very pure academics before athletics scenario. Does the coach prefer academically eligible players?

It is all pretty silly. If a genie popped up today and said," I can give your son the talent to play in the HS baseball state championship or the ability to compete at state in Math. Take your pick."

I would pick the math. It is a no brainer. Having to make a choice of one over the other is idiotic.

JPontiac said: So, before the new year even began, I participated in a math contest for our school's math team and apparently it qualified me for the "state" math contest.

Unfortunately, it conflicts with a baseball game.

What do you think I should do?
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This is what's commonly referred to as a moral dilemma usually caused by conflict or equivocation. The answer resides within your own heart in your own goals for what you anticipate you would like to be.

IMHO the prior January commitment takes precedence over the secondary commitment even though you may love baseball more than you do math. That is the way I would address the issue.

If the first commitment (math) causes a negative fallout with your baseball team or your coach that will be the consequence of being a principled person who keeps their commitments to those you committed to first.

JMO