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quote:

Originally posted by cball:
"My Freshman didn't make varsity, what now?"

Or

" Our coach is a mean stupid moron"

Either one.

Also include, "Parents are idiots".

Seriously, I had the same thoughts, seems to be a lot of whining and complaining and blaming someone else when things don't go as planned, a lot more than I can ever remember. But I do seem to think that every year.

I don't mind folks coming on with questions with issues or how to handle situations. What gets me is how they react when they don't get the answers they are looking for, that tells me a whole lot more about what is really going on.

For the new parents and players, a very big part of the journey is learning to be patient, as you hear us often say, baseball isn't a sprint it is a marathon.

It's also learning, as parents, how to handle the disappointments as well as your sons achievements. How to understand and keep your emotions in check, and how to help your son to mature as a player and an individual by being involved when you should and not involved when you shouldm't. This is his/her game, enjoy it as you would any fan, it's a lot more fun that way.

The biggest thing is DO NOT compare your son to others and do not compare others to your son. What works for one may not for the next. Worry about what you can control and not about what you can't. I also believe that things happen for a reason, sit back and try to enjoy the ride, I know it's hard, but when all is said and done you will be happier that you paid more attention to the good stuff and not the bad.

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

If Johnny doesn't make varisty as freshman how is he going to quit high school after his Jr. year, get his GED, enroll at a JUCO for a year and then get drafted #1 overall.

Parents need to realize that Bryce and LeBron are once in a generation talents.

Parents of freshman who thinks their kid should play varsity need to pipe down. When they pay their dues, they'll get their shot.

I think it better for a freshman not to play varsity the first year, get time in the high school arena, my son didn't play varsity his first year and worked out great, he played in every freshman and JV game. When it came playoff time he was one of the adds for the tournement, although he never played in playoffs. He was disappointed at first but it worked out for the best.

Set him up for a very sucessful high school career.

Second year was starting first baseman, and relief pitcher. Third year, firstbase, closer. Senior year, starting pitcher and DH, team captian.

Now in his first year college, D2 program, recieved baseball money, pitcher only know, and leaving this saturday for spring training in Miami.

During spring training they are going to figure out his role for the season, either closer or starter, not sure yet, Junior is hoping for a starting rotation slot.

Don't rush it, before you know they will be gone.

As far as paying your dues, I don't feel that should apply when a player is at that level. Varsity ball is about winning, you have to play the best players regardless of grade or age.

quote:

As far as paying your dues, I don't feel that should apply when a player is at that level. Varsity ball is about winning, you have to play the best players regardless of grade or age.

As far as paying your dues, I don't feel that should apply when a player is at that level. Varsity ball is about winning, you have to play the best players regardless of grade or age.

When you have a senior leader do you want the kid who had to work hard on the freshman/JV team to get a spot on varsity or do you want the kid who started as a freshman on varsity and takes almost everything for granted? Paying your dues is not always a bad thing. I've seen teams where the stud who started all four years had almost zero respect from his teammates and they had a lot more respect for a player who didn't start on varsity till his junior or senior year.

Performance doesn't always make good leaders, and a bunch of performers doesn't always make a good team.

quote:

Originally posted by TrueFan28:

As far as paying your dues, I don't feel that should apply when a player is at that level. Varsity ball is about winning, you have to play the best players regardless of grade or age.

Unless that player is flat out better than anyone at a given position on varsity, he should pay his dues at the lower levels and mature. A freshman should not be on varsity just to ride the pine He should be growing and playing at the frosh or JV levels. I'm a big believer in seniority because all things being equal, older players get the nod every time because they can handle the pressure playing on the varsity level better and are more mature. I've seen sophomores rushed up with talent but wilt under the pressure getting the job done on the varsity level because their lack of maturity overtakes their talent. They improve over time but it goes back to not being ready to take a varsity spot. I say let them pay their dues and gain experience at the sub-varsity levels. It won't kill them to pay their dues.

quote:

I've seen teams where the stud who started all four years had almost zero respect from his teammates and they had a lot more respect for a player who didn't start on varsity till his junior or senior year.

Excellent point.

There is no single route. On my son's HS class, two players are now in high level D1 baseball as juniors. One went frosh/Jv/varsity/varsity in his four years of HS ball, and one was on varsity mid way thru his freshman year and played all four years there.

There's no difference now.

quote:

"My Freshman didn't make varsity, now what?"

Or

" Our coach is a mean stupid moron"

I do see and read what you are referring to, but I think you have to expect those questions on this type of forum. However something is bothering me far more than the questions, I probably will get bashed for this, but here it is…..

I get more aggravated at reading some of the responses to a question than I get aggravated at the question itself. This is an open message board. When I see a person come on the board and post one of the questions that aggravates you all about a coach or about making the varsity team, I think they are asking to get some insight. What I see more of is the impatience with the poster and all of a sudden it seems like more of an attack than suggestions on leading and guiding the poster to an answer to their question. I do believe there are some topics that lend themselves to banter and good debate, I have been involved in some. But to do this all the time becomes counterproductive and I could see sending a wrong message to the next person who wants to ask a question but is fearful of being labeled a whiner, complainer or an idiot.

Even though this is an open board, there obviously are long time “old timers” on the board that give great information and responses, truly the backbone of the site. They consider this to be their home in many ways. So when “Newbies” come on and ask questions that are aggravating, I see too many times lately that it’s like the person just entered your home and walked through it with dirty shoes on. The point of the original question gets lost, suggestions on how to proceed with the situation are gone…and all that is left is bashing the person for their ignorance or even worse doubting the situation they asked about is even true. While you might see some ignorance in the questions, which you should expect that in this type of forum, I see ignorance in not all, but lately too many of the responses. If you have become impatient with answering those types of questions, then don’t. Let someone else do it that might get the same point across in a more productive manner.

quote:

Parents of freshman who thinks their kid should play varsity need to pipe down.

bottom line it is what the coach thinks.

Sure agree with you shortnquick.

There is a young man I know who is a college pitcher and was ranked one of the top 10 prospects in the Perfect Game Collegiate Summer League in 2011 by Baseball America. He has a very good chance at being drafted this June if he continues to work hard.

This young man was cut from his varsity baseball team...as a senior.


To the parents of freshman: relax. Enjoy the ride. Four years from now it won't matter if your son played varsity as a freshman. What will matter is where he stands at that point in his life. Each and every aspect of someone's existence, whether related to sports or any other venture in life, has a purpose. That purpose is to enable that individual to build upon that experience and hopefully become a better person out of it.

quote:

Originally posted by shortnquick:

quote:

"My Freshman didn't make varsity, now what?"

Or

" Our coach is a mean stupid moron"

I do see and read what you are referring to, but I think you have to expect those questions on this type of forum. However something is bothering me far more than the questions, I probably will get bashed for this, but here it is…..

I get more aggravated at reading some of the responses to a question than I get aggravated at the question itself. This is an open message board. When I see a person come on the board and post one of the questions that aggravates you all about a coach or about making the varsity team, I think they are asking to get some insight. What I see more of is the impatience with the poster and all of a sudden it seems like more of an attack than suggestions on leading and guiding the poster to an answer to their question. I do believe there are some topics that lend themselves to banter and good debate, I have been involved in some. But to do this all the time becomes counterproductive and I could see sending a wrong message to the next person who wants to ask a question but is fearful of being labeled a whiner, complainer or an idiot.

Even though this is an open board, there obviously are long time “old timers” on the board that give great information and responses, truly the backbone of the site. They consider this to be their home in many ways. So when “Newbies” come on and ask questions that are aggravating, I see too many times lately that it’s like the person just entered your home and walked through it with dirty shoes on. The point of the original question gets lost, suggestions on how to proceed with the situation are gone…and all that is left is bashing the person for their ignorance or even worse doubting the situation they asked about is even true. While you might see some ignorance in the questions, which you should expect that in this type of forum, I see ignorance in not all, but lately too many of the responses. If you have become impatient with answering those types of questions, then don’t. Let someone else do it that might get the same point across in a more productive manner.

The bashing a newbie for venting here is uncalled for but the topic comes up so much I sort of tounge in cheek but half serious think the topic should have it's own forum. How about:

"Whine and Cheese"? Or "The Whine Bar"

CBall, the tongue in check nature of your question was not lost on me. I think we could just come up with a standard, cut and paste responses, such as:

Let your kid work it out.
Tell them to work hard.
Stay out of it unless safety is involved.
It isn't too late.

Shortnquick, I agree with you. If someone is insulted by the self-indulgent or repetitive nature of a question, the best approach would be to ignore the question.

Of course there is some merit to what Shortnquick is saying and even the topic of this topic has been discussed here often.

So, here's an actual forum suggestion without tongue in cheek...

I suggest that we, as a group, come up with something like a Top Ten Most Frequent Topics section. We could then dump our favorite threads into the appropriate topic. When a new inquirer brings up a related question, we could copy that link and offer additional specific comments as appropriate. This would give the new inquirer immediate access to the best info HSBBW has to offer as well as the usual live comments without trying to search through thousands of threads.

I know there is already a general info section outside of the message board and it has some very good info but most articles are one-author pieces that don't incorporate the many valuable discussions from the board.

quote:

Originally posted by twotex:
If someone is insulted by the self-indulgent or repetitive nature of a question, the best approach would be to ignore the question.

I agree twotex, being thin skinned only handicaps you, not the bully, I mean critic.

The good thing about spending time on this board is the predictability with which a certain few will respond, and they can be counted on one hand.

So my advice is to let such comments go in one eye and out the other (I know, one ear etc.)and don't shy away from posting anymore than you would allow someone to tell you what street you can walk down.

quote:

Originally posted by cball:
"My Freshman didn't make varsity, now what?"

Or

" Our coach is a mean stupid moron"

Either one.

From the parental point of view the thread could be called ...

"I have to suffer the indignity of hanging out with JV parents when my son played for an elite 14U team last year" thread. Sometimes I wonder how much this is the real issue.

I didnot make varsity as a frosh nor did any of my sons----things are still the same

quote:

Originally posted by shortnquick:
[QUOTE]However something is bothering me far more than the questions, I probably will get bashed for this, but here it is…..

Rather than bash your thoughtful and well-written post, shortnquick, I'd commend you for sending out a reminder to any of us "long-in-the-tooth" contributors here who need to exercise more patience when we respond to some newcomers. Since one of the principal aims of this site is to provide information to those who are just beginning to walk down the recruiting path, I consider your post both timely and appropriate.

Taking the opportunity to reflect for a moment upon the times when I know that my own patience has been tried, the first thing that comes to mind is that it's a small minority who prompt that response from me. Additionally, if I were to categorize the few who do, I think I'd create three types: (1) posts that reflect absolutely no effort on the person's part to read even a smidgen of the information that's here on the topic they've raised; (2) posts from parents who seem to think that they are their son's agent in the college recruiting process; and (3) posts from persons who seem to think that the game (and their situation in it) owes them something.

The first one I can almost always simply shrug off; and, if I choose to respond, I'll try to include a gentle reference to the fact that it's a popular topic and one that can and should be searched on the site.

The second and third, I admit, do get under my skin. Because I've commented a number of times about how counter-productive I think it can be for a parent to take such an active interest in their son's recruitment that the coaches wonder whether it's worth offering their son a scholarship, I'll not "beat a dead horse" here. The third one, however, I've rarely commented upon.

In my opinion, the game of baseball owes none of us anything. None of our sons is so good that the game will miss a beat if they are excluded from some aspect of it. For those who are a part of it for any length of time, it comes to be known as both a frequent source of joy and of disappointment.

The best that we can hope for is that our sons are recognized for their dedication and contribution to the game during their playing days by those who have been entrusted with the game's leadership. Many times that works out; sometimes it doesn't. However, in no case are we the ones who do or should have any control over that determination.

In any case, thanks for the reminder. In the case of the first category, I promise that I won't cause a newcomer to feel the least bit unwelcome. My promise in the second and third cases is... Well, I'll work on my responses to the second and third cases. How about that?

shortnquick,
Thank you for the post, it should be a reminder to everyone to be a little bit more patient and tolerant when answering questions.

Prepster,
Thanks for your great response.

BTW, take my word for it folks, Prepster is the real deal, read carefully when he posts.