Please explain

Sounds like your 8U team got screwed. In the next 10 years they will feel like they got screwed many times. Anyway, I can't think of a single reason why they would declare the other team the winner based on the info you gave above.

You stated all parents and coaches agreed that you had been treated unfairly.  No where in your thread does it discuss how your son and the players felt, after all they were the ones that played.  Does it bother your son or did he enjoy his time playing?  If he enjoyed his time playing then why do you care.  After all it is for the kids.

8u worlds series is kinda silly if you ask me. That age shouldn't even keep score if you ask me. Just sayin.

Look, I may be out of line, but I can't resist putting in my .02 here. BTW, I agree with standballdad, 8U world series is ridiculous.  I wasnt' even really going to give this thread a second thought until I read "Disappointed I haven't done more but maybe explaining this "life lesson" to my 8 yr old after it all dies down is a silver lining....baseball is, after all, a game."

Really....."life lesson"???? your kid is 8, if that.  How is this possibly a life lesson?  I bet if you and the other parents did not say another word about it, all the kids wouldn't even remember it in a week.  I am sorry if what I am about to write offends you, but IMO, you do come across as one of "those" parents.....8U world series...the only thing worse than that is a T-Ball State Championship Tournament....IMO of course.  You were right about one thing IT IS A GAME, let the kids enjoy without parent interference

Do I understand this correctly?  In the championship game, your team was trailing when the 3rd inning was finished, tied up the game in the bottom of the 4th, but the 4th inning couldn't be finished? 

USSSA rule 7.03.C.1 says 3 innings is a regulation contest if it was scheduled for 6 or less innings.  If your team had led at the time play was suspended in the 4th inning, then it would have won.  With the score tied, it reverts to the previous full inning.   Tournaments which have a pool play followed by bracket play use pool play only as a way to seed the brackets.  The bracket play winner is the champion, regardless of pool play results.

I understand the frustration, especially when one team intentionally slows play to take advantage of a rule.  If your son keeps playing travel ball, you'll probably be frustrated again.  And, as the years go by, the wins and losses of previous years turn out to be not so important and typically not even remembered.

Meanwhile in a parallel universe:

I'm outraged.  My son was competeing in an 8U world series.  we were very smart and didn't use all our good pitching in the round robin round so we could save it for the bracket which is really the only part that matters.  Anyway, we lost to one team during the round robin and then played them in the championship.  We were up after three innings but then they tied it in the bottom of the fourth when rain forced it to be cancelled.  We tried to restart to be fair but couldn't get it done for the safety of our kids.  So by the rules we should have won, but not the tournament is trying to call us co-champions.  How do I explain this life lesson to my 8-year old?  All the parents are outraged in this small town.

Sarcasm right?

Please take this with all the love that it is intended with; but you have your priorities screwed up and need to back away from the baseball field for a few weeks.  Look at what you just wrote.  Pre-War Germany, Civil Rights era, and losing an 8u baseball game.  Which one does NOT fit with the other 2?
I am nervous for your son and how much pressure and emphasis you are putting on your son with baseball.  Trust us when you hear us say; calm down and realize it isn't that important.  Do I remember my son's 8u all-star season ending?  Yes, I do.  He cried and we crossed the street and took team to McDonalds.  All was forgotten within 15 minutes. Games will get more intense; missed and bad calls will get worse and more questions of the actions of others will arise.

How you handle these will show your son what is appropriate and if he will love the game or if he will fight the game. Ever kid I know who had parents that fought the game; are no longer playing. 

Learn to love the process and the game. 

"Please take this with all the love that it is intended with; but you have your priorities screwed up and need to back away from the baseball field for a few weeks.  Look at what you just wrote.  Pre-War Germany, Civil Rights era, and losing an 8u baseball game.  Which one does NOT fit with the other 2?"

Oh, oh,...........pick me, pick me, pick me....I know this one.....hehe

At age 8 my son hadn't played anything above NYS. Some other kid's mother was the coach. The season was 8 games long, but we had three seasons every year. Of course he still played the s-word thing and touch football, so at that point he hadn't down selected to baseball quite yet.

He is currently playing for the Fairbanks GoldPanners in a college summer league, which isn't a "premier" summer league team, but he is having an absolute blast doing it.

Fishing every night after the games, got a save in the mid-night sun game, had a salmon stolen by a bear, second in the league in ERA on a team that won the regular season, sent me a text at one point that said "I just got run into by a humming bird, but it turned out to be a mosquito", another picture of the infamous $5 footlong priced at $9.50, but more importantly made some great friends he'll be friends with for life.

Tonight is their last night in Fairbanks and the team is going to a restaurant that serves all you can eat prime rib, salmon and cod for a flat fee of $24, so long as you start after 5pm and are gone by 9pm. They're going to try and put them out of business. I got a text after the first 45 minutes that he was already three plates deep.

He's done play by play on the live stream and has been absolutely hilarious doing it. We've watched every live stream from our home in Arizona. Not the same as being there, but I feel like I know all of those boys.

Baseball is supposed to be fun. You should have fun at every level. Losing sucks and when you lose for the wrong reasons it sucks more.

My advice, watch another couple of hundred or even a thousand games more and you'll learn its the journey, experiences, family and the friends made along the way that really matter.

Results? They just make for great stories later. I hope in the next 8-15 years, you'll be sitting around the table with a lot of other parents talking about a HS, College, minor league or even MLB game and everyone will be reliving their stories from youth baseball and you can tell this one.

You got screwed, but in the words of the imortal Bill Murray from the movie Meatballs, "It just doesn't matter, it just doesn't matter..." 

They are EIGHT years old.  Instead of complaining and whining about it, use it as a teachable moment.  Let them know that sometimes things just don't work out the way they think they should.  Make sure they know it's not the end of the world.  They will survive and live to play another day.  

I've umpired a lot of 10u, 9u, etc... and the biggest problem is that the parents/coaches act so babyish.  The kids are there to have fun, and their fun is always interrupted by some adult that comes un-glued because something doesn't go their way.  

Again, they are EIGHT YEARS OLD.  Give them a hug, tell them great job, and go home.  Who cares who won, BECAUSE THEY ARE EIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Here's the thing about teachable moments in youth baseball when it comes to winning and losing:  in general people have the flow of the teaching backwards.  If they are willing and able,  it's the adults who should  learn something from the kids. 

The kids  love to play, and to compete, and to win. When they lose, they take their lumps and move on to the next game. It doesn't matter whether they lose by on run or by ten, and it doesn't matter whether they lose by a home run or by a bad call. They take their lumps and move on.    Years later, I can have a beer with fellow coaches and we're all capable of talking for hours about how we should have won certain games.  But if you ask any of the players, who are now HS students, they'll say, "yeah, that sucked" and move on.  That's what they do.

I could spend a few paragraphs talking about the time we were eliminated from LL All Stars because an umpire ejected our #1 pitcher, without warning, for accidentally throwing a bat during a swing. But I won't .  I've moved on.

Most 8 YO's I know are more interested with what the snack is after the game....

Good grief I am going to bite my tongue and on this one and let it go. 

Just curious what does it cost to play travel ball For 8 yr olds?   How much travel is involved?  We did LL close by until age 13 and had a great time and learned to play the game. Son still in touch with kids from that time- a lot r at local HS and we see at diff sports or even play against each other in baseball. Can't remember when we felt cheated-I'm sure it happened  but its not import. And u forget.  Meeting good families and enjoying games was import. So many Don't play past age 12. Burn out can happen if parents make it intense too early.

Hope kids r not key holed into one position too soon- which can happen w travel teams. Your the ss and that's where u stay for ex. Kids at 8 r just learning the game and should try out diff spots.

Believe it or not there's a USSSA 5U Tee Ball World Series. I remember someone a few years ago on a board telling how serious it was. The kids practiced five days a week and played tournaments on the weekend. He tried to explain all the kids had rifle arms. By his statements I felt he was being serious. The team he mentioned was listed in the 5U WS on the USSSA site.

same here.......

I find this disturbing.  I'm wondering if this borders on child abuse?

Baseball is child abuse?  Another new poster, and this.

Youth travel is a few weeks of sports, family travel, ice cream parties, singing anthems, cheering.  Bad stuff.

Seriously, folks.

Practicing 5 days a week with 5 y.o. is nuts.  Their attention span is less than 5 minutes.  This is more of parents trying to relive their childhood through their kids.  

I've am on the downhill of raising 9 kids and there is no way I would have had my 5 y.o. being forced to "have fun".  

Everytime I think about over-the-top parents at this age I think about this thread started by BOF so many years ago.  "Perfect Game Toddlers"

http://community.hsbaseballweb...erfect-game-toddlers

LMAO

Too funny.

guess early youth sports helps the economy. I'm seeing more and more 7 yr olds on "travel teams"  with uniforms that cost several hundred dollars. They have matching jackets and names on everything. Of course you need the bag too. And in those bags are several bats, and exp. Gloves.  Wish I had that much money to waste. Little League was $100 yr and you could get your white pants fairly cheap. To go out of states to play at that age is crazy. To play "competitive" teams is usu the excuse.  How competitive can 7 yr olds be?

Now envy.  What's next? Gluttony?

Seriously folks.

And wait until this parent find out in 8 or 9 years 1/2 the 8u championship team players don't even play anymore! I know from our 8u days the kids either moved on to other sports, got burned out by their parents, or stopped being the biggest kid on the field when it all evened out in their teen-age years and quit playing.

Quite true.  My son played on a travel team from 11U to 17U.  Out of the 12 original players on that team, seven played HS ball (JV and Varsity), two are playing college ball and one actually went pro (drafted out of HS).

Bum, I forgot about that thread. Was really funny (I think).  I kind of miss some of the old humor that used to be around here.

BTW, I'm sort of in the minority about 8 year olds playing somewhat serious baseball.  I understand what others are saying. It sure isn't necessary, but I say if they love doing it, go do it.  Who cares if they are still playing when they get to high school?  Who cares if the big kids for their age won't dominate when others pass them by? Maybe for some this will be the only time they succeed in sports.  Maybe it will become a great life long memory.  What's wrong with someone being successful at 8 years old?  Many are never successful at any age.

i do believe leadership is the important thing, especially with young kids.  They have to want to do it because they love doing it.  8 year olds like to win, it is fun to win!  8 year olds have fun doing things they are good at.  It's the adults that have to make sure the kids are first of all having fun and second of all they are safe. The adults can't get caught up in winning at that age. When that happens they just end up looking like a fool and ruin it for everyone.  Unfortunately, that does happen some times.

After all, if kid can go to school every day and be a Cub Scout why can't they travel somewhere to play a baseball game?  It's only a GAME!

PG OK you asked for it....this one is a bit outdated but appropriate for this thread I saved it, well because at least I thought it was funny.

Perfect Game Introduces:  PG InVeet FS

December 1^st 2009, Des Moines Iowa**

Perfect Game Introduces In Vitro Fertilization Service (InVeet FS)

In a bold move to get ahead of the competition Perfect Game introduced today the “Perfect Baseball In Vitro Fertilization Service, branded as “PG InVeet FS tm”

Said Jerry Madering perfect game president. “We finally figured out that all of this ranking stuff really did not mean anything” the key to being a successful baseball athlete really starts with the genes” If you want to be a great baseball player you must have the genes, everything else is just a bunch of malarkey” After 10 years of observing and ranking players from PG Infant, PG Toddler, PG Adolescent, PG Youth, PG Little Johnny, PG Teen, PG High School, PG College, and PG Cadaver, we could not figure out how great baseball players came about.  We finally found the key by cross-referencing MLB players with every athlete that has been ranked a 9.5 or above in our database. It turned out that every one of them had a former professional athlete in their family tree. We did note that a couple did make it to the MLB, which were data aberrations, and besides most were from the deep south which is known for some cross pollination, if you get our drift. We are also pretty sure there was some hanky panky going on”

After months of negotiations with the Major League Baseball Players Association we came up with a great idea. The MLPA has agreed to provide sperm from the top athletes in the MLB. Our great marketing department came up with the “PG InVeet FS tm” name and Whalla we were in business.  We are offering the following specimens:

Pitchers mound

Cy Young Special. (Only ones we could still find alive, it was just too weird to be digging around in someone’s grave). BTW we made sure that Tim Lincecome’s sperm out-gassed long enough so don’t worry.

Flame throwers. 95MPH + throwers. You know who they are. No - their dads did not use their own guns.

Weird guys that seem to get people out.   Rolly Fingers, Johanthon Papplbon, etc.

Hitters Alley

Big Boppers. (no not what your thinking)

Small Ball Special (again not what your thinking)

On base heroes.  Ichiro, Ricky Henderson.

Ted Williams Special. Were not sure how this happened but we found some Ted Williams frozen sperm with his head.

Defensive Indifference Everyone knows that baseball is about pitching and hitting so we did not bother.

Grab Bag: Random selection of sperm.  For those who do not want to seem like they are trying to predetermine their children’s path.

A-Rod Special booty club

A-Rod has become tired of bopping all of the actresses and singers in New York he figured it might be fun to do the hokey poky with some regular moms. To join this club you must first send in advance your picture with your measurements and sign a special 20 page Non Disclosure and Personal Release contract developed by his agent Scott BoarA$$ as well as agree to a 5% royalty agreement on all future earnings from your son. In addition, you must agree to put a life-sized picture of A-Rod above your mantle. (at least until your son signs his first Major League contract) There is also a special release stating that you are aware that your son will be narcissistic.

Managers Specials: As odd as it may sound, some customers actually wanted their offspring to look like Joe Torre, so we have a manager’s special. (Were not really sure why, but hey we’ll take the money)

You are probably wondering what happens if you have a girl…Well there is always college softball, so at least your investment will break even, when offset by the cost of a college education. We have also hired a nutritionist who has developed a special “boy only diet” It’s really not that complicated, you just eat carrots and drink carrot juice for 6 months straight.

We also have a repeat users discount for those who want to build their own team from scratch.

For those who outgrow their hometown with their perfect child and want to find a place where they can play baseball 24x7x365 days a year, we have arranged for discount from OCB’s Perfect Child Moving Service. His company will fly you, and your prodigal son, in his personal Leir Jet to any one of his hand picked cities. You will stay at the nearest Four Seasons while your personal belongings are moved into your new home complete with adjacent baseball field.

If you have to ask how much all this costs then……..well…. don’t bother calling.

Additional information is available at :

www.myperfectbaseballplayer.com

###

I agree with Jerry, miss some of that humor that used to exists here.

As Jerry states, it's only a game and it should be viewed that way, IMO is that it is not, just too much seriousness for the 10-12U parental crowd these days.

The first post in this topic definitely is a great example.

I am so happy that son had more fun than wins at that age, I feel sorry for any little boy that is not experiencing that and his folks as well.  When you have to mention pre war Germany and the civil rights era in the same topic as baseball, something is definitely wrong.

JMO

BOF,

You missed your calling, you should be writing comedy.  That is really funny stuff.

However, would it be possible to go back and change my name to one of those good ones you come up with. Like PG President Jess Perm for example.

I'd hate to see someone using that material to quote me somewhere else.

We actually had Ted Williams son attend one of our events. Looked just like Ted only bigger and stronger.  Problem was he couldn't play or hit like his dad. Still, I do believe genes are important.  The business you've outlined could be a gold mine! 

8 y.o.'s don't know what they love.

It is usually the parents that are in love having their kids play a sport.  

BTW PG, if I could, I want to take the current managers special! 

Either from current manager from the Birds or Tigers which will produce one mighty fine lookin' catcher!

What does it mean to be successful at age 8?  Is it winning, or is it hanging w friends Learning to play a sport and having fun?

Parents get  too into winning tourn.  at that age w travel ball because they go around to a new tourn, each wk.  I'm not saying some kids don't enjoy the experience, I'm questioning the crazy out of control costs at that age. Do they really need several uniforms/matching bags that cost several hundreds of dollars at age 8? Most get burned out because parents took it all too serious at such a young age.

Have to admit something... I've never seen an 8 year old tournament.  So guess I should listen to those of you with much more experience In that area. I can understand not spending a lot of money, but it has never bothered me where others want to spend their money.

i can think of a lot worse things for young kids to do.  Has playing baseball at an early age destroyed anyone's life?

I have seen enough to know some parents of young kids take the GAME out of Baseball. I knew a father that actually put his hands around an umpires neck and choked him after a local 12 year old game. I think there were some there that day that wish their son was on a travel team rather than see that physical assault on an umpire.

To me it's always about the leadership.  Good leaders are especially important when it involves young kids. Surely there has to be some sane people out there working with those kids.  I'd hate to think they're all nuts. It's baseball, the kids aren't out there causing trouble. Seems like all the trouble involves the adults in some cases.

Can't say for sure at 8 years old, but I remember playing at 9 years old because that was the age organized baseball started in our town.  I would have loved playing or practicing every day.  In fact, I did play every day of the summer. That was nearly 60 years ago and I still remember a lot about playing baseball back then.  Don't ask me what I did yesterday, though. Travel baseball for me was playing on the other side of the river.

TPM,

I don't know how many children Mike  Matheny has but two of his kids have attended our events. One is still in high school and a pitcher.  The other is in college and he is an outfielder.  Both are talented players and as you might imagine real class kids.

Probably the best example we have seen (like father, like son) as a baseball player might be Prince Fielder.

When I was 8 years old I was a pretty good ballplayer.  My buddy down the street and I would play everyday down in the "bowl", a shallow depression park area adjacent to the dead-end street, with shadow infielders and outfielders.  We threw, we ran, we made outs at home.. even phantom questionable calls. 

I wanted a Superball for Christmas.  The T.V. man said I had to have one.  They looked so cool!  You could bounce them, throw them against the wall.. they would ricochet forever!  I begged my parents --please, please buy me a Superball for Christmas.

On Christmas morning, there was a small package under the tree.  Could it be?  I carefully opened the package and there it was!  My dream gift!  A real life Superball, the ultimate toy.  I immediately called my buddy at the end of the street and arranged an impromtu baseball game.. with the Superball.

Yup.  You guessed.  First pitch to me and that baby went 430 feet or more into the trees.  Maybe I exaggerate, I don't know, but they're still looking for that Superball to this day.

This is what 8-year old baseball should be like.

....Done PG. 

I disagree strongly with the assertion that 8 year olds don't know what they love, it is the parents.  I can tell you that I knew my son was going to love the game of baseball when he was 3.  Why?  Son couldn't wait for me to come home so I could pitch little plastic balls and he could hit them with that fat, little, red bat!  I treasure those moments, and I can say without a doubt, my son's love of the game is, and has always been his.  Blanket statements are naive IMHO.  I am a football guy, and I believe there is not greater game than football, but I also love the game of baseball.  I am grateful that my son developed a love of the game at an early age, and although I may have made some mistakes along the way, my son is still passionate about his favorite sport after all of these years.  My son didn't travel to a tournament until he was 10, but if he would have been given the opportunity, I would have considered it.