Why be negative

caseyatbat

JEALOUSY !!! Just plain flat out Jealousy that is all

I know the player you speak of and he is a player to say the very least

When my own son went to New Mexico State we heard the same thing--- he never came home, played his Division I ball for 4 years, got a degree and now nobody asks why?

Don't let the pettiness get to you--it will never cease

TRhit

TRhit

I have to agree with you as there is no other way I can think of to explain it. Like your boy, I hope he proves them wrong.
Thank You

It sounds like another challenge to someone that is already one up on the majority. I find it funny that those who make negative statements are actually helping in making someone a better person/player. The good ones take a negative and make it a positive. I wish the young man good luck and my dollar says he proves them all wrong.

rz1

I totally agree about making someone a better person/player--my guy went away witrh a firm resolve to make it successful--he left with a "I will show them" attitude

TRhit

caseyatbat,

It's not just the Philly area. It happens everywhere. If your not rated highly by the local dads or make the paper, for example, means you can't play. Yea right!

The good coaches can see what a kid has inside. That is what determines success in my opinion.

Good luck to that young man.

TXDad

I must agree...

I feel for this boy and any who must be subjected to such small minds...isn't it funny how this type of attitude seems to be world wide...

I do think it boils down to jealousy- be it regret for life choices that person may have taken or because their son or daughter didn't have the same success.

My view on this is - that type of person must truly be miserable, if they must puff themselves up by being negative about some one else....

I hope and pray this boy who is headed to Arkansas excels beyond belief....

Amen TRHIT! Jealousy is a sick disease!

I think a couple of things are at work in these situations. Jealousy is certainly one of them. But also a misconception that you have to be perfect all the time in order to move on. Ever heard the expression "what have you done for me lately," or "you're only as good as your last outing?"

As our son has progressed up the baseball ladder, about 90-something% of the locals seem so genuinely happy for him. But there's that small minority who just can't believe it happened to him and not to them (or their son). They think back to the time they (or their son) got 2 or 3 hits off him in youth baseball, or the time he got hit hard as a sophomore pitcher on varsity, and they say - WOW! - how could this be???? He's not ?that? good (- or is he?).

I've talked to another family locally with a high profile player and they've experienced some of the same things. Their son needs to hit a home run or strike everyone out or people wonder whats wrong with him.

Unlike TR's son, ours has chosen to go about 15 minutes away from home for college next year. I believe when our son steps onto the field next year, there will be 150 locals in the stands cheering like crazy for him - but there will also be 2 or 3 hoping he gets rocked. Sometimes they seem the loudest. It just seems to be the way it is.

And to address how its affected him - its made him a better ballplayer - both the 150 who are as happy as can be for him (he gains strength and confidence from them) and the 2 or 3 who root against him (he seems to gain passion, determination and resolve from them).

Probably some of the same folks who said the Panthers had "no chance" against the Eagles.

Dont worry about the idiots in the stands.

Just hit the **** ball over the fence, catch everything hit to you - gun them out - and run like the wind.

The idiots will disapppear very quickly if you do those things.

I don't even know this young man but would like to wish him the best of luck.
What is being discussed here happens all over the country,I've witnessed the same remarks being said by the same shallow kind of people.
It seems to me that some people enjoy the failure of others no matter what the situation.Even when the same young man or woman succeeds you don't here praise coming from their mouths.
It would be miserable to wake up every morning with this mind set.

Sounds just like the question my son ask me the other day, He Ask " How come if i play good everyone hates me and if i have a bad day they all love me"? I told him its people hate to see a kid play outside the box, Thats why i tell him he has to let that stuff go and leave the others behind he can't play at there level and have them like him and get what he is wants which is to play in the pro's. They cant stand a younger kid playing heads above them and the jelously is rampant. I think if i keep it positive and he does also, We will be OK.
I wish you the best of luck with yours and always Keep it positive.

TRhit as always dead on, Keep it up.

Confusis say: "Baseball was wrong, Man can not walk with 4 balls"

This player has to use this experience as motivation.

Through the years, my son has complied a "list" of "people who didn't believe in him," and periodically we refer to the "list" because these are the people who have helped mold him into the determined young man he is today . . . playing at a major Div I college!

Turn the negatives into positives!

I am not saying that jealousy is not sometimes the problem, but I do think that jealousy is an over used excuse.

I do not know if this thread is about a particular player, but I will answer in general.

What I have seen is that a kid who owns the field at the level is seldom given this type of treatment. Folks have seen what these kids can do and expect more of the same. They are not surprised when he signs with a college - and in fact will be surprised when no one picks him up (which by the way does happen).

However, all of us know something that most hs fans do not. And that is the fact that college athletes are selected for their potential - not their high school success level.

A young man who has tons of potential in the eyes of some coach is going to be recruited even if he has yet to display that level of talent.

The average fan however, is not going to understand this potential thing and is apt to wonder if the kid has bitten off more than he can chew. It does not make them jealous - simply confused.

Not everyone understand the potential thing. They base their opinions on what they have seen. Sure, they are often proven wrong, but after all this whole judging potential thing isn't as cut and dried as most folks think it is.

(This does not make their actions (or words) acceptable. I just don't think jealousy is always behind it).

Coaches and recruiters see different things in the same player. I don't have to name a list, you guys know who they are, players that have accomplished great things after most said they couldn't or wouldn't. Working hard and believing in yourself are both very important. When a situation like this occurs, I tell my son that usually these negative comments come from those that aren't going to do anything themselves, won't make the necessary commitment anyway, and/or have little expectation for themselves or their kids. Never, never let that nonsense distract you, and never, never give up!

Gosh where to begin. Anyway, how can any parent hope someone has failures. I have never hoped a kid fails, even those whos' parents I can't stand. If we would sit back and watch the game, the cream always rises to the top. For those parents who drive their kids to "make it", if it is meant to be, it will be. Sometimes, I think the kids would just play the game even if there was no one in the stands. But to heckle a kid in the hopes that he doesn't make it, because your kid got two singles off of him in Little League, and he must be better...all I can say is horrible!

It's easier to bring someone down than it is to bring yourself up! Human nature! Water is not the only thing that seeks it's own level!

There is a world of difference between someone PREDICTING failure and someone HOPING someone fails. Let us not confuse the two.

When someone makes a comment that a kid will not make it at the next level it does not mean they hope they don't succeed - just that they don't expect them to. And let's be really honest with ourselves - not everyone who goes on to the next level is going to make it.

As parents we don't like to admit that some of these kids will end up quite dissappointed with their college selection - but it is a fact of life. A lot of us have seen it happen a time or two.

Just because someone predicts it is a mismatch does not mean they are mean spirited - (tacky not doubt) - but even those who pedict such things often will add "I hope I'm wrong, but..." (and it's usually it is the same folks who predict who is going to win each game).

The benefit of the doubt helps keep us from being as negative as we perceive them to be.