Why Kids Suck at Baseball

Baseball is called America's pastime.  That's because you can play it with a stick and a ball, the rules are simple -- and the heroes are likable and lovable with names like Whitey, Babe, Willie or just Joe.  When we were kids we played ball around the clock.  Some of the kids never played for a "team"...mostly because they weren't good enough, it cost money, or they didn't care enough to sign up. Kids in my 'hood just played to play.

In 1998, I moved to the suburbs....two doors down there were two brothers (Eric and Matt) that played all day long.  Screaming and yelling at the top of their lungs at every close play, every home run -- all with a passion I once played with.  In an odd way I was jealous of the passion they played with because now my passions had switched to coaching and projects around my new house. Their shrieks brought back so many good memories, they were sounds of joy (almost music to my ears). Sidebar: Eric and Matt went on to fantastic baseball careers.

Fast Forward to 2011

I coach an 11 year old traveling baseball team. I have a nice crew of boys that play the game well (their defensive statistics rival a major league teams, they throw strikes like a pitching machine and some can hit balls pitched speeds I know I couldn't have ever hit at that age).

But here are a few reasons why kids aren't any good at baseball anymore.

Knowledge: These kids don't know the game.  They don't sit around on a rainy day Saturday and watch The Game of the Week on NBC listening to Vin Scully call a game (or even better, the B crew Tony Kubek and Joe Gariogola).  Today they watch Sports Center and they know the great players and they know who gets them points on their fantasy team, but they don't understand why a guy would hit a ball to the right side to score a run versus swinging for the fence to get on TV.

Mommy Says: Kids today are very good at being told when to be somewhere, where to be, and how long they have to be there.  That's a bad recipe for baseball.  In baseball, there is no time limit and no rule on how far to lead off, or how hard to throw it. By age 11, a boy has played for 5 years -- but for the life of me today they don't know if the ball is 45 feet away from the catcher to steal home on a Passed Ball. Why is this? Their coach didn't say so.  For the life of me, if a kid is leading off way too far at 1st or 3rd, a kid won't throw down. Why is this? Their coach didn't say so. They don't do these things because they've been programmed to do exactly what authority tells them...and if they don't they get yelled at to conform.

No Instinct: A secondary flaw to the "Mommy Says" reason is kids don't play like I did, or Eric and Matt did as late as the late 1990's. People learn by doing things hands on.  Showing up for a practice and learning skills is nice and praises to the thousands of volunteer coaches in America for their time. But you'd be better served coaching kids by dropping them off at the park, hand them a tennis ball and some cheap wood bats, some cheap Target bases and then LEAVE for 2 hours. You'd return to find a kid who understood how to hit a crappy pitch the other way, a kid who knew how fast he was and how much he could get away with, and most important a kid who understands if the punk on the other team is showing you up you just deck him next time.

Other Sport Pressure: One of the biggest problems in Minnesota is the pressure to play Hockey or Basketball year round.  Kids and parents are constantly struggling to keep up in the arms race of these two important (longer season) sports.  Kids are running from baseball diamonds to hockey rinks, basketball gyms and training facilities....year round. See my blog on Youth Hockey for proof.

Choices/Toys: My 11 year old has access to Internet, he has an iPod touch, Sony Wii, Comcast On Demand, DVR, DVDs, Baseball Cards, a Swimming Pool, and every toy under the Sun. By most standards he's not considered spoiled.  Compared to my childhood, he'd be Richie Rich. On top of the toys, his parents have managed to wedge him into 500 other activities.  All of these things are all well and fine on their own, but smashed together it can be a mess.

So in summary, kids suck at baseball because we as parents over program, over indulge, and over coach them.  The sad fact is there is no easy answer -- other than the fateful crossroads that most parents face - make Johnny specialize in one sport by age 11 so that they can be good/great at something.

My Non Bucket List

Everyone has a bucket list, I'm creating a Non Bucket List of things I won't do, ever (sports related).

Some by choice, some by sheer physical impossibility, some by financial/prestige impossibility.

Choice:

1. Go to any MLB stadium and cheer for a big market team
2. Go to a PGA tour event and shout, "You the Man!"
3. Argue with an ump during a Kindergarten softball game
4. String together the next three sentences into one. Lets. Go. Red.
5. Beat my chest when my favorite MLB team wins the worst division baseball

Physical:

1. Sky Dive
2. Enter a Hot Dog eating contest
3. Play on a JCC under 6 foot basketball team
4. Run Boston Marathon
5. Pose with David Stern as #1 pick in NBA draft

Financial/Prestige:

1. Play Augusta
2. Move to Edina ;)
3. Throw out the first pitch at Twins game
4. Sit court side next to Jack at a Lakers game (ran out of choice ones)
5. Coach PeeWee football for a living

Besides your obvious loyalties and the dude who reads this that thinks he's the next Prefontaine, do you see yourself doing any of these 15?  If so, why?

Z

Barry Sanders or Deion Sanders, which one are you?

The age old question, do you jump around like a fool and celebrate because it may be your last time scoring or do you act like you've been there before?

Barry Sanders was my favorite football player. Supremely talented, exciting to watch, but most memorable was how he celebrated a TD.  He handed the ball to the referee. Deion Sanders was also supremely talented and exciting to watch.  However, his celebrations of success were epic.  Pretty sure they made rules against celebration because of "Neon" Deion.

Even the most casual sports' fans would know the difference between the two.  And most, if asked, would say they are most like Barry.  Barry is what everyone aspires to be (talented, classy, and very humble).  Deion on the other hand, was a punk.  In case your memory has faded, watch what he did to Tim McGarver during a post game celebration for proof (Click Here).  He took his amazing gift and flaunted it...flaunting to the point whereby most couldn't stand him and they couldn't wait until he was out of the limelight.

Okay....I'm not breaking new ground here on Barry versus Deion.  But my point is simple, we can all spot a great guy pretty quickly and we definitely know a punk in a hurry. But for all the times we help a little old lady across the street, we probably have done a TD dance in a meaningless intramural football game, or worn a jersey that says, "Excuse Me" on the back (i.e. me).

So, next time you see someone celebrate victory, a TD, or a goal and you don't like it.  Here are some things to remember:

1. Think about all of your victory celebrations and success... chances are good your opponent saw Deion in you not Barry.

2. Appreciate it.  That athlete or team worked their tail/s off, congratulations.

3. If you don't like it or can't possibly appreciate it, stop 'em next time and quit your whining (i.e. work harder).

4. The sports' God's always get even on guys like Deion (or Tiger).

5. Finally, if you act like a clown, you'll be remembered as a clown.

Thank you Barry Sanders for your great example.

MN High School Hockey Tournament -2011 Edition

As Minnesotans we suffer through hard winters, for several reasons 4 million people seem to stick around.  One of those reasons for me is this thing called the State Hockey Tournament.  As a youth, my Mom would let me come home from school early to watch the games starting in Kindergarten all the way through high school. From my earliest memories as a child, this tournament has always been very special to a lot of people in this state.  Neal Broten, former Gopher Hockey star, Hobey Baker winner, NHL Great, 1980 Olympian, and Stanley Cup winner once said winning the State Tournament would have been more exciting than winning the Olympics (his best finish was 3rd).

To put things in perspective on Saturday night 40 High School kids from Minnesota outdrew every pro and college team in the world (SRO 19,000 fans).  And this has been going on for decades here.  The tournament always draws over 100,000 people and the games are always very exciting.

The section tournaments to get to state are sometimes even more exciting with a ton of geographic rivals facing off in the section finals for a shot at the tournament.  Of the 16 section finals, 5 were decided in overtime (Lakeville North, Duluth East, Eden Prairie, White Bear Lake, and Breck all advanced in miraculous fashion) and 7 were decided by 1 goal.

My personal highlights this year:

* Edina losing (actually didn't see it).

*  My nephew David scoring the game winning goal in overtime in both the Section Semifinal game and Section Final to send his team Breck to the Big Dance.  Couldn't have happened to a nicer kid.

* Watching a great kid like AJ Reid win a state championship and then win the Herb Brooks Award for being a credit to his school, peers, and community.  I'll bet his dad is proud.

* My nephew David during his player introductions on TV, greets my son Jake with a "Happy Birthday Jake, " to which my cell phone goes bonkers!!!

*5 championship round games decided in OT, including all 3 for Duluth East and both Title games.

*My nephew David places #2 on the All Hockey Hair team.....check this video out, it is hilarious.  Yeah, he's kind of a big deal.

One more highlight....this one borders on odd:

At the conclusion of each medal ceremony, the High School League hands out the Herb Brooks Award (see above). For the Girls winner, Herb Brooks' daughter presents the award and for the boys his son presents the award.  To set the scene, I'm watching the girl's final and Herbie's daughter comes out to present and she's wearing a very revealing red sweater.  To which my wife Debi says, "what is SHE wearing?" Two weeks later, Herbie's son shows up to the AA award ceremony in a black leather jacket he must have stolen from one of the Pet Shop Boys...to which I replied, "what is HE wearing?"

I can only conclude that Herbie had those two doing pushups, stairs and "Herbies" their whole life.  This is their way of getting back at him, while he sits up in Hockey Heaven.

Congratulations to St. Thomas and Eden Prairie.  By all accounts this EP team won a PeeWee State Championship, 2 Bantam State Championships and 2 state Championships.  An amazing run.

SunMart Arena

My son's hockey team had the pleasure of traveling to the Fargo Flyers International hockey tournament in Fargo, ND this past weekend.  It was North American youth hockey at it's finest.

Over a thousand kids from all over the place playing their guts out for 4 straight days.  On top of the hockey, the kids come equipped with their team pins to exchange at face-off and to trade in between games. On top of the trading the kids enjoy time with their teammates and make new friends from other teams.

Upon arrival home Sunday night, my son Jake says to me, "Dad, I just wish life were like FARGO all the time..." Don't we both young man, don't we both.

As we winded between rinks and games all weekend we happened across one of the most unique rinks I've ever seen. In all my years of hockey I've seen hundreds of rinks. You've seen one, you've seen 'em all. Some are cold (Minnehaha), some are new (Dakota), and some are oozing with tradition (Braemar and Wakota).  Some I love (Richfield), some I hate (Bloomington 2), and some are filled with childhood memories (Parade and Augsburg).  But for the most part, every hockey rink has 4 similarities: ice that is resurfaced by a zamboni, chilled by underground refrigeration, enclosed by fiberglass boards and plexiglass, and the rink size is usually 200' X 80'.

On Saturday afternoon, my life forever changed when I stepped into SunMart Arena.  I knew this rink was special even before we got there -- as we approached the rink somewhere deep in the bowels of the Fargo warehouse district, Jake said to me, "where are you taking us dad?" As if to say, rinks aren't made out of single level warehouses.

After parking 5 blocks from the arena, I finally arrived.  As I stepped into this old warehouse, I'm not sure if my first memory will be the smell (imagine outhouse combined with diesel fuel) or the sight of a hockey game played in the dark -- almost as if I was at a back alley dog fight, sans the rif-raf. The lighting and smell were just the beginning.  The single sided stands held possibly 125 people comfortably, the rest of the patrons were asked to stand wherever you could find a view. The opposite side of the rink broke all rules of decor....no plexiglass, just some more white fiberglass and an occasional local business sponsorship (I was surprised to find there wasn't a local manure salesmen sponsoring the rink).  Not to mention, the rink was 160' X 70' making the neutral zone about the size of a walk-in closet.

I had the pleasure of walking into the rink when it was jam packed (a local team was playing a hated team from the Cities)...which made it seem like I had just walked onto the movie set of Hoosiers. The passion, the excitement and the energy was remarkable. Editor's Note: The team from the Cities won 12-0....sending the local faithful to their cars parked 4 Blocks or less after the second period.

The clincher for me to write this blog had to be my visit to the bathroom....a scary proposition.  Before I entered the abiss....it was difficult to decipher Male/Female because whichever 6 year old they let paint the door and the frame decided to paint over the Male/Female sign.  Upon arrival to the Men's room I found possibly the worst smell known to man (combine 77 years of non flushed urine with a dash of odor of a minty urinal puck)...you know the kind of smell that forced me to hold it.

As I put the finishing touches on this blog....I'm still not sure if I loved this place or hated it.  So I asked Jake if he liked it, to which he replied, "it was awesome -- I just wouldn't want to play there everyday."  True that brother, it was the microcosm of our visit last weekend to Fargo -- an awesome experience, but not a place I'd want to live everyday.

Congratulations to the Edina Squirt A team for their impressive run through the tournament (outscoring their opponents some 59-2).  Editors Note: Jake does not play for Edina.

It's Tubby Time

For those that were screaming for Tubby Smith's ouster on Thursday night, this is a "calm down people" Sports Blog.

First and foremost, I was as angry as a fan can get after the Illinois game, but I came to realize that Tubby Smith is a giant upgrade from Clem Haskin.  Haskin was greats for the Gopher and Dan Monson was great too - for my season ticket move from the baseline to center court.

But here is why Tubby is the best Gophers' coach (by far) in my short 40 years as a fan.

Good recruiter...he can identify talent (some high profile, some under the radar) and get them to come here and play.  In 2 years, he closed off the borders and made Minnesota his home base for recruiting.

Good practice coach.....Tubby is very good at building a team of 7-9 guys that will get after you, get after rebounds..and as a rule his players get better after 4 years in the program.  Right now, pretty sure Rodney Williams and Ralph Sampson are breaking this rule....hence his frustration.

Good man...he tells his kids the truth, he helps his kids graduate, he holds kids to higher standards than the NCAA will, and he won't be in trouble with them ever.  I'm not saying he's perfect, he just strikes me as a no bull type of guy.

Repeat: by all historical accounts he won't be in trouble with the NCAA, kids won't be in trouble with the law (and stay in the program) and they will win a lot more than they lose. Will he bring us to the promise land of college hoops?  Probably not.  Has he made the Gophers relevant and much better than even Haskin ever dids? Yes.

So if you read this garbage yesterday by Jim Souhan and you started to second guess Tubby's prowess as a coach, consider this:

Tubby lost the best point guard in the Big Ten to injury and kicked his second best Guard off the team.  On top of that, lost a promising big man to injury in December.  Leaving him on the island of misfit toys:

Rodney Williams (aka the gun that shoots jelly) - if dunks counted for 10 points he'd lead our team in scoring.

RS III (aka the boat that sinks)- he plays with the same emotion as the Mona Lisa

Colton Iverson (aka the cowboy who rides an ostrich)- we could use him on the gridiron or ice, but he just lacks consistentcy

When and if Al Nolen returns, this is the 2nd best team in the Big Ten.  Hopefully they will return to the B10 title game this year and prove it...and prove to the naysayers that Tubby is a great fit for Minnesota.

Oh and Souhan, before you choose Tubby for your weekly bloodbath, please look at the facts:

-Sold out arena

-3 straight NCAA appearances (first time ever for MN)

-Top recruiting classes

-Tough love for players

-Respectability to school and Big Ten

And most important a better product than we've ever had here at the U. Comparing Kentucky basketball's expectations to Minnesota is like comparing Yankees and Twins (did I just say that?).

Z

Who wants it more at your house?

Note: Youth Hockey in Minnesota is a disease and the author has some of the classic symptoms (dry mouth at the sight of a youth game, nausea at the thought of missing a game, chronic irritable bowel syndrome during a practice or game).

Was at the rink this week and ran into an old sage of a youth hockey coach.  This guy has successfully coached in the same system for 20+ years and still enjoys it.  If I weren't so wordy, that might be a good blog post in and of itself.  While he and I see eye-to-eye on a ton of topics...he and I are two totally different beasts.  He is a non-parent volunteer...I'm a hockey dad.

For the record, non-parent volunteers can see the landscape a lot clearer than any hockey dad...no matter how smart the hockey dad thinks he is, he usually only sees things through the lens of his child/children.

So while talking over the many issues related to youth hockey (and youth sports for that matter), the old sage said the magic words (almost like an knife right through my heart), "You know Z, a parent can't want success on the ice more than their kid....it just can't happen, no matter how hard you try."

Me? Wanting my kids success more than they do. No way, that's not me.  I deny that all day long...as does just about every parent.

As I prepared for this blog (prep = culling through the refrigerator looking for that lost piece of chocolate cake), I discovered there are 3 types of hockey dads.

1. That Guy - you know the guy who stuffs his kid into every possible sheet of ice, all star team, camp, etc and talks about it 365/24/7...and isn't one bit shy about telling you how great his kid is, what AAA team they play for, etc.....heck some of the That Guys wear the AAA jacket of their kid's team and they don't coach the team...but they are just bursting with pride that Johnny/Jenny plays for these teams.

2. I Don't Care Guy - the guy who does just about the same stuff as "That Guy"-- lotsa hockey, lotsa training, and lotsa talk.  The difference between "I Don't Care Guy" and "That Guy" is his kid probably isn't that good (yet)....so he uses the always famous line, "I don't care how good Johnny/Jenny is, just as long as they are having fun...."

3. No Clue Guy - Here is the guy who never played, he's never engaged in the "how good a kid" is conversation...generally doesn't hang out with the other dads...and as a rule their kids aren't that good or their kid doesn't really care how good he is at age 10.

Numbers 1 and 3 add up to about 10 percent of hockey parents...which puts most parents in the "I Don't Care" category (me included).

So as of today and maybe tomorrow...I vow to be more like #3: when I act like I don't care, I will mean it...when the "how good a kid is" conversation appears, I will run faster than Lumpy Rutherford did to a Buffet Line and most important, I'm gonna drop the act that I don't care.  I do care if my kid is a good hockey play.  Okay I said it.

But from now on...I will remember that the sport is still my son and daughters and I can't want it more than them and be happy.