Where's Morris Buttermaker When You Need Him?

What the hell is wrong with kids' sports today?


If this is a question that you've been pondering lately, then it's your lucky day because I'm coming out of a self-imposed blogging retirement to tell you.


Remember the good old days when you could try out as many sports as you wanted and you were guaranteed a spot on the team?  Those days are over.  Today kids have to "pick their sport" by second grade so they can get down to the business of training.   How do I know this?  Because my third grade son is in the process of trying out for spring baseball teams.  This means he goes to try-outs that last three hours and does everything in his power to impress coaches so that he can have a chance to play baseball again in the spring.  If he makes it, he'll train all winter so that his team can be competitive.  Does this sound like The Sandlot to you?  No, it's more like gymnastics training in Communist Russia.  And I for one am not up for watching the spirit of my son and his little friends be slowly crushed by a bunch of Commies.  This is where you all yell "Wolverines!" and help me kick their asses.


Seriously, though, is this what sports is all about?  Furthermore, is it what we want childhood to be all about?  I think not.  While not exactly athletic, I am a huge sports fan.  I love the feel-good nature of sports films.  I love underdogs and reluctant heroes and unexpected friendships.  I love the whole mythology of sports and I think every child deserves to have a few years when they can be a part of that mythology.  That doesn't mean I think they should all be in the MLB or play in college or even in high school.  But I think while they are young, every kid deserves a chance. 


Ever hear the story about how Michael Jordan, arguably the greatest basketball player we have ever seen (if only because Len Bias didn't live to show him up), was cut from his high school basketball team?  What does this prove?  It proves that the top athlete when you're eight or nine won't necessarily be the top athlete when you're 14 or 18 or 25.  But if he's made to feel like he isn't good enough at a young age, that athlete might give up.  Kids shouldn't give up before their bodies and their minds have time to develop.  What a waste it would be if the next Cal Ripken's spirit is crushed when he's just a child and we never get to see that greatness come to fruition.  And just as wasteful is crushing the spirit of a ball player who will never be great.  Who cares?  Every moment in life is not about competition.  Some moments can just be about fun.  And no one should take those moments from our children.


My very favorite movie is Field of Dreams.  I cry every time I watch it and I want desperately to play catch with my dad even though I can't catch anything to save my life.  At the end of the movie, the voice says "Ease his pain" and Ray Kinsella thinks the voice is talking about his dad's pain, but the Ghost of Shoeless Joe Jackson tells him "No, it was you, Ray".  I wish I could wrap all the children I know up in my arms and take them to that field.  Ease their pain.  And play a little baseball just for fun.  That's what sports should be about.  It's what life should be about.  And the fact that it isn't is the start of what's wrong with our world.