Perfect Game: A blessing and a curse?

Maybe the simplest answer to the question: "PG -- blessing or curse?" is simply:

 

YES!

 

I work at AT&T. I have no doubt that many here would cuss us and nitpick us (like I did over the coffee) -- or that many would applaud what we make possible. 

 

So my answer, for the record, is that PG is a blessing -- as is AT&T.

 

But both are businesses, and in business, perfection doesn't exist.

You work for AT&T and you nitpicked about coffee?  They have a 100 million dollar law suit for misleading customers on data plans.  Talk about scams!!!!!

We drank out of a water hose as kids and lived to tell about it.  

The water in Georgia won't kill anyone.

Go ahead, blame your sons illness on Perfect Game!

Your sons team is playing in the championship round and you still are finding ways to be negative?

And BTW which championship may that be?

Who would expect to get a good coffee at a ballpark, do they have biscuits and gravy? I like biscuits and gravy but I think I would drop my kid off for BP and then go find some biscuits and gravy. I'm still waiting for PG to do something about the weather, I need the temperatures in the low 80s with a slight breeze blowing out to left center on all fields.......did I mention I like biscuits and gravy?

       
       
I like B & G a lot too!  It would be best if they could offer it free like some hotels do for their free breakfast.  Expanding on that I see no reason they shouldn't include a free.lunch buffet including all you can eat ribeye steaks.  Our team would be much more likely to come down there with these two simple moves!  Oh and ice cream too please - free of course.

A spa would be nice. Complimentary of course.

 

And while we're at it: mojitos with fresh mint.

Don't worry, you won't have to go back to LP, your sons game is at Emerson HS.

It was about having to throw a half cup of coffee away before entering the park.

It was all PGs fault I guess. 

 

My point, if you have an issue, contact management at the park, not post on a message board. I see this as deliberate intentions to make someone look bad. 

Its just not right and down right ridiculous.

JMO

 

You obviously don't know what your are talking about.  All seed games according to the schedule are being played at LakePoint. 

And we don't go back to LP because my son's team hasn't been there yet. 

This was the round trip mileage from our hotel to each of the playing venues during the PG Evoshield tournament.:

106 miles

16 miles

60 miles

90 miles

106 miles

I probably should have waited for the schedule to come out before finding the best location for a hotel. I certainly wasn't going to be forced to stay at a particular hotel. 

I did get to run the scoreboard at the 3rd venue.  I had to call the parks manager (Hunter Park) to open the scoreboard room.  I liked it because I had A/C during the hottest part of the day.  

Ok Ms. know-it-all: My wife was taking medicine and needed the damn coffee to swallow a pill. This isn't about coffee -- and you know that. Well, maybe you don't. You just THINK you know it all.

 

Jesus. Move on. 

 

(And if you knew ANYTHING about business, you'd know enough no not take an uninformed cheap shot at AT&T, either. Especially given the damned point I was making.) 

 

http://www.geek.com/mobile/att...s-16000-max-1629809/

 

So no apologies from you and an idle threat.  I'll be sure to remember to be afraid.
"Enemy"?  Really? Aren't you being a bit melodramatic?

Jerry, 

 

It wasn't hard to figure out who lionbaseball is by piecing together various hints he dropped along the way.

 

I'll send you a dialog.

Are all tourneys at L.P. PG tourneys? Because the norm of tourneys where 2016 plays for years he/I  get a 1/2 gal.  igloo water/ice for him to haul with for games.The players can carry one in at L.P?For my thinking correct if wrong.PG doesn't run all PG tourneys?Is it a licsesne thing with 1 or none quality guy around or just a contact for PG just in case?I always make it a point to talk to the people working tourneys.Typically theres 1 field guy and 1 tourney guy sometimes same guy not always.I have found over the years that the tourney guy at the non main field can really be hit or miss on how things are.I would bet they feel intimidated having to deal with the public being there on thier own.This bottom part of this has nothing to do with PG as I am pretty sure we only went to 1 event this year.That ended up a fiasco because it rained most everyday for 15-20 days.I have no doubght EVERYONE had had enough when championship was played 9 days past original date.

 I wish I was down there tonight, I watch a lot of detective shows I could probably find the unhappy camper that is apparently feeling less than disenfranchised!

       
       

I'm famous!

 

Real suggestion for the water in the dugouts, provide large(r) cups.  My son was definitely dehydrated from his DH on Wednesday, and mentioned that the cups provided are tiny.  I did suggest using one of the bottles he routinely sneaks in, but realistically that shouldn't be necessary.

 

On general concession/water issues, $1 bottled water would go a long way.

 

People have been complaining about facility issues with outside parks going back to before LP existed. Non-working scoreboards are a pretty common complaint, and I'd think PG would want to do as much as they could about that type of complaint (allowing that there might be limited options given the number of HS fields in play).

 

The excuse that you can't do anything about the parking fee rings hollow. You mentioned at one point previously that LP wanted to charge $10 and you told them they couldn't charge more than $5, and it's difficult to imagine that PG doesn't have the leverage to address it more if they wanted to (though I can see why you wouldn't think it was worth the effort given that there's apparently little benefit to PG to doing so).

"Man, we are talking about water...water, man, water.  We talking about water...I mean, water. You all are bringing up water.  Water.  Water, man....it ain't nothing but water...and scoreboards" - Allen Iverson's brother

 

PG provides a life changing opportunity for our boys to play in front of 100s of the best college coaches and most influential scouts in all of baseball.  It's like Disney for these boys when they play there.  They love every minute of it.  Have your son bring a stinkin' gatorade bottle full of water like the rest of us.  Geesh.  Please, listen to yourselves.  This is almost surreal.  Jerry probably wants to stop and ask "Am I on candid camera?!"

 

Jerry...JERRY...JERRY!! You forgot to read the article I posted above.  Here it is again.  Take a look, and this time I'm not joking!  It will help deal with all the haters.

http://goodmenproject.com/feat...e-toxic-people-fiff/

 

PG rocks; long live PG.

 

 

A substantially larger number of people/organizations benefit from the existence of PG than just the players, and I think the argument could be made that the players, as a whole, reap relatively little of the benefit (economically speaking).

It's an opportunity, not a guarantee.  You may feel some get "lucky".  But, what's that old saying about luck is when preparation meets opportunity?  I joke around and can be overly direct at times on this forum.  Fact is, I am a very compassionate guy.  If your son or others you know aren't talented enough and didn't prepare enough or did not work hard enough to let the appropriate for his skill level (Division, Conference, etc.) college coaches know where and when they would be playing...well, I am sorry and know that it may have been a lot of effort for naught.  But, don't blame Jerry or PG.  Deal with the reality of it.  It's a setback, perhaps...I don't know.  And don't shoot the messenger.  Really.  That would be being bitter, and that is not good.  And, for crying out loud, don't whine about water and scoreboards.

jacjacatk,

 

There is no doubt that my posts are unprofessional. It is because I am not a very professional type person. Never have been, never will be, I will have to live with that.

I HATE business. I love baseball! We ARE in a position to affect a players opportunities.  Yet, we have never done that In a negative way. Truth is, in a perfect world, we want every player that participates in our events to be successful.

 

I have tried harder than most anyone would to be polite, answer questions, help people, and so on.  So when the polite approach no longer works, I'm not going to sit here and allow others to rip into us.  Especially when it gets to be never ending complaints without a single positive word.

 

I guess I don't understand why you jumped back in only to tell everyone how horribly unprofessional my posts were.  Wouldn't others be able to figure that out for themselves or did you feel it was just necessary? Listen people can reach me privately as well.  In fact, I am extremely easy to reach.

 

I don't expect everyone to understand, but reading this stuff is very disappointing.  I keep thinking we have been donating to this site for many years. Even before there was any advertising.  We have never been involved here to advertise or promote Perfect Game.  We donate because this site is important and it has helped so many people over the years.  The amount of caring people with experience and knowledge would be hard to find anywhere else.

 

Then to log on and read about how terrible we are, by the same posters all the time....

It's just disappointing! Then if the response finally gets to the point of sounding unprofessional, we get piled on for that.

 

Listen, There is nothing special about me.  I am a hard working honest person with a lifetime of baseball experience.  I love what we do (except this) and I love to help the kids that play the game. I want to help the game grow and I want every deserving kid to have opportunity in baseball. We spend nearly all our profit to create better and more opportunities for players, coaches and scouts. We are not bigger than the game And we are far from being perfect.  I never thought we would get this big and I really never intended to.

 

So call me unprofessional, oh wait you actually added "horribly" unprofessional for additional impact. I agree with you!   You see I don't care about that because all I want is to be what I am.

 

 

 

Butting in....

 

My kid has never played a PG event, and I'm not sure he ever will. So I have no dog in this kerfuffle.

 

I think the OP and any general discussion of the benefits and costs of how PG and similar organizations function in the recruiting process is totally fair game and potential quite useful. But I think there are better ways to air grievances about specific events and stuff like parking and water.

 

Admins, I think Lion's gone a bit off the rails again.  You know what to do.

 

jacjakatk and JP you are both among the posters here who have earned my respect, but this really isn't the place to air personal complaints about concessions etc. at PG events.

 

I think Jerry is one of the most knowledgeable , plugged-in, and useful participants on this website and it would be a shame if he bailed due to this type of nit-picky crap.  Let's not forget that we had a genuine MLB scout here but he left about a year ago when users insisted on personally insulting him repeatedly.  I'd hate to see that happen with Jerry, It would be a real loss.  

 

 

Every year, my son's HS coach hands out a rubber bracelet to his entire team with "FIO" on it.  It stands for "Figure It Out", and every kid and parent on the team knows exactly what it conveys.  It is beautifully simple and what a great life lesson it connotes.

 

* If PG is such a bad experience => don't go

* If someone puts a gun to your head forces you to go, but you don't like the water => bring your own

* If parking is too expensive => ask someone for a ride or car pool

* If your son is not getting the looks you think he deserves => have him work harder to get better or reach out more regularly to the right coaches

* If your son just isn't good enough to get the coaches' attention => maybe he isn't destined to play college baseball, or at least D1 college baseball.

 

FIO. Don't call out good people in public.

Through this all......

 

Zero or little concern for the aspect that really matters most. The for profit promoters that have inserted themselves between high school and college athletics (baseball especially) are simply turning the baseball recruiting landscape into one that requires you to pay large sums of (non economical sense for 99% of players) monies or be largely an outsider to the captured recruiting process.

 

Don't come, don't go, is really not the issue or doable. Do you really have a choice? With the way the process is being subverted daily in ever increasing methods?

 

I don't think you guys for the most part get that issue. Nor do you want to consider how that issue really affect the talent pool.

 

I obviously run in poor circles cause I personally know absolute handfuls of higher talented players at all ages that will never be able to attend a $650 showcase or a weeklong tournament in Georgia. Or to even drive 3 hours in rush hour traffic between Atl. area venues.

 

Ability to pay these fees does not equal talent.

++++++++

 

He is probably the most excellently professional unprofessional person I know  

 

I, too, have a hard time understanding why regular posters who know what an upstanding guy he is and how valuable his contributions are here (and I'm not talking $$) would choose to harp on some of the stuff they do.

I certainly don't agree with PG on some things which are baseball related. I enjoy the ability to exchange those ideas and have for a number of years.

To read suggestions that  PG is, on the one side, "responsible" for the dehydration of a HS age player because water cups are too small and, at the other extreme, is also "responsible" for the entire socio-economic imbalance of college baseball recruiting (which actually starts and is fundamentally rooted in 11.7 and other limits the NCAA imposes) seems  implausible to be polite and  ridiculous to be more accurate.

In my view, this entire thread is worthy of  being deleted.

Fair point.  It is a legit argument..actually, it is a legitimate sentiment, and I get it.  But, then, so what?  Does PG not deserve to exist?  Should the government intervene and shut them down?  Should those that can, not go?  Should the poor kid who lives in nearby in Atlanta and who works odd jobs all off season to save enough to play for East Cobb Astros (because he was blessed by God with enough talent to play with and against the best) not do so and play instead vs. much lesser talent in local leagues?  With all due respect and sincerity and compassion, my response is "So, what?".  Your thinking is flawed.  I could extend it to say that IBM and Microsoft should never have invented the PC because it was too expensive even for most small businesses to use.  Did you ever stop to think that PG is so pioneering in what they do that they will lead to "me too" organizations at a more local level? Or, that PG themselves will be so successful - well, not in your world because that would require that dirty word "Profits" (oh my) - that they themselves could partner with others and grow their presence to a more local level..where everyone and anyone could afford to go?

 

 

 He knows nobody is on board with this silly crap, I just spent 2 weeks in Atlanta and I was ready for Iwo Jima after listening to some nonsense on here.

 

PG is the only member I follow on here....when EF Hutton talks people listen.

Interestedobservor,

 

Why not contact us and see if we can help those kids you know. We have a long track record of helping talented kids that lack resources. Some of them are in the Big Leagues right now.  But if people like you don't tell us, we may never know about many of those kids.

 

What do you have to lose, if you truly care about those kids, let us know.  We do lots of things that most people never hear about. We care about talent, not how much money they have.  Sure we make money, otherwise we couldn't help anyone.

 

It won't be hard to find out for sure.  You can help solve the problem.  If you find that we don't care, you can go tell the world.

 

BTW, I apologize to everyone.  While I am not very professional, I still try to be at times.

Can I blame it on stress? Thanks for the link BucFan

 

It may or may not be a fair point ( I actually think it is missing the source by a considerable margin) but it does not belong in this discussion, in my view. Of course about everything posted today in this thread is an illustration of a very very bad day on the HSBBW

...or, if not deleted, locked. One or the other.

Observer, I've seen many times where PG has offered for someone to contact him directly if cost is an issue and he would try to find a way to help that individual (edit - I swear I typed this before PG's post 4 minutes prior to this one where he did exactly this yet again).  Even if one is convinced they need to be on the PG radar, they do not have to go to a week long tourney.  One could do just one well-timed showcase.  As you said, ability to pay fees does not equal talent.  Someone with the talent and drive and a little guidance could surely explore ways to earn money for a showcase and/or find someone in the community to help them pursue their dream.  I believe I have also seen PG make efforts to match a player with a team that may be looking for a team for one of the tourneys.  For someone in his position, he goes so far above and beyond it is amazing to me.  My son and several players I have been involved with have had to go through the process with limited budgets.  It is something that can be overcome if it is important enough to the individual player.  And as others have stated, there are other ways.  Most JC's who have decent players get enough exposure that a talented player will not get missed.

 

I do understand that, in general, the ownership of financial burden for getting exposure has shifted over the years from the schools to the player and their families and it's not easy.  But the new business model makes sense in so many ways.  I believe the baseball world is fortunate that people like PG are spearheading the process and assuring that compassion, common sense, open mind and ears and genuine interest in the cause are part of what drives the decision making.  Try to imagine what it would be like if true businessmen with bottom line as the primary focus were in PG's shoes.

This thread makes me miss statsforgnats.

" I never thought we would get this big and I really never intended to."

 

But you did get this big, Jerry -- and as anyone at ANY BIG organization -- public or private -- will tell you: Criticism, complaints, and even haters come with the territory. I appreciate that you are not a businessman -- that you have a real love of this great game, and that your passion in life is helping young ballplayers achieve their potential.

 

You've done it, and like so many others -- I applaud you. (And on my son's behalf -- I sincerely THANK you!)

 

But the reality is, Perfect Game is IS BIG BUSINESS -- one that makes BUSINESS decisions every day -- like how much to charge for parking, fees to watch games, fees to enter teams in tournaments ... rules that govern where teams can stay when they're in town .. and on and on.

 

And with those decisions ... comes complaints.

 

I guess what I'm saying is -- if you can just accept that what you're hearing from all sides is inevitable (and the complaints will only increase with time; it's axiomatic) you might come to realize that like any big organization whose brand reputation is valuable -- you'd be better off staying out of the gutter with the haters. 

 

I've told people here I work at AT&T. I actually do PR at AT&T. And I know this:

 

It wouldn't be hard for someone to interest a sports reporter in a story about how the founder of Perfect Game is trying to identify someone on a forum who's complaining -- to print your post in a paper or on a sports website -- with an implication that could hurt Perfect Game.

 

You're a role-model in taking the high road. I hope you'll stay there.

Just came back from LP ( 2 weeks) it was hot... the concession prices were fair, cheaper than theaters or college fields.... had no issues with water... son played on a team with Jordan Adell.... remember that name.... wish I could go back and do it again.

 

all money spent was worth it, 2018 played well, and received much attention

 

One thing that did bother me was a few coaches from team elite that seemed to bitch at the umpires until they were kicked out of the game... I think there was too much leeway given , the umpire took more abuse than he should have...

"Why not contact us and see if we can help those kids you know. We have a long track record of helping talented kids that lack resources. Some of them are in the Big Leagues right now.  But if people like you don't tell us, we may never know about many of those kids"

 

I did. I was referred to the (page 6?) form where one can take to local businesses for sponsorship money.

Good post...however DK was up at LP for the EC/PG tourney and his team, including himself brought drinks and food into the park. No one bothered them so honestly some of this stuff is just plain silly and IMO brought up on purpose.  One has to consider the source, a troublemaker who was once cut off because he would purposely say things to start controversy.

 

FWIW, as suggested by PG, the post by lion about water was deliberately written to cause confusion.

 

I am just coming home from a local tournament. It was 100 miles round trip, rescheduled from last night from a field about 60 miles round trip. No water, an entry fee. No one complained, they came to watch their kids play, not complain. Isn't this what travel ball is about? I don't get it, son played up that way every summer at EC and I never even thought to complain running to different HS all over town, entry fee, no water!!!!

 

I guess times have changed. We never felt entitled, we just wanted good baseball and to have the opportunity to have our kids seen.

I've been the internet face of a business before, and the admin of discussion forum of the same magnitude as this one.  I don't think any criticism/complaint/suggestion I've made on this site has been out of bounds, and I've dealt with plenty of similar conversations from the other side of the keyboard in that previous life without the level of acrimony that seems to always follow here.  Maybe it is all my fault, and I just don't see it.

 

Still, consider reading this and think about to whom it applies (albeit imperfectly) from among all the actors in this endeavor, from LP, to PG and the other showcase organizers/entities, to the travel organizations, to the schools, and to the players.

 

 

I don't think anyone got on your case. There are ways to express concerns that are constructive and then ways that are destructive.  I don't see you as the latter. JMO

So take your pill drink the coffee and then enter the field.

You compared ATT to PG. I don't see where there is a comparison but then again that's my opinion.

If you were entering a big stadium to watch a ballgame (most don't allow ANY THING) 

do you think they would have said, its OK?

But since you brought it up, doesn't ATT have their own customer rules and regulations as well?