Our Tennessee High School Player's names are listed here as commiting to a college, or signing with a pro baseball organization. This is quite an achievement, and we are proud of them, as we should be. We offer congratulations to them and their families, and we should do that also, as this puts them in an elite group. But what about some other very important things to be proud of them for.
I know a lot of these kids and know a little about many more of them. Due to our son's involvement in baseball, most of us associate with kids that play baseball and their parents, that's natural after all, they're very similar to what we are. But we should stop and think about some of those kids that aren't involved in baseball for comparison's sake. What about a kid that plays baseball all through childhood, his teen years, through high school, and still wants to play beyond high school. He knows by now the time, work, and dedication involved, yet still wants to keep playing. Do we really understand how rare that is for 17 & 18 year old young men today? To stick with something that long, and still want to keep at it? Do we really think about how neat, well groomed, well dressed, and well mannered these young baseball players are as compared to the general youth population? How many kids this age have been involved with or are dependent on alcohol? How many of them are involved in or addicted to drugs? I don't know any of these baseball players that are. How many have been arrested for guns, knives, fights, etc? How many have multiple citations for speeding, wreckless driving, or have been in or caused numerous automobile accidents? While our boys are going to practices and games, many of these kids are riding around in cars doing who knows what with people they shouldn't even be with. How many of them are flunking out of school, while our boys realize that good grades are important to play college baseball? Do you know what a lot of these kids goals are? They don't have any. Have as much fun as is possible regardless of the consequences, that's the goal of many of them. While at the same time our boys have clear and defined goals, and they're working toward those goals daily. Now I'm not saying that every kid that doesn't play baseball fits in these categories, but many do. I hear all the time that these kids and their parents can't communicate, one won't listen to the other, they're on different wavelenghts. Do you see things like that posted on the HSBB Web? No! You see stories of fathers and sons being best friends, traveling to games and practices together, discussing baseball, spending time with each other because of their love for the same game, baseball. The players I know that are listed here and the others that I know something about live exemplary lives, clean lives. They're respectful toward coaches and adults in general. They sacrifice time with a girlfriend or time spent in a car to practice and work on their favorite subject, baseball. These kind of accomplishments are just as, if not more important, than those on the field. We should be very proud of them for all of these things. Do we realize how much garbage is out there for them to get into? It has to be difficult for a teenager to lead a clean, disciplined life in this world. What a compliment to those that do. Not only should we be very proud, we should also be VERY thankful. They have their sights set on something higher. Let's help them all we can to achieve their goals.
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