Little League

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

Bottom Row (L to R): Rob Kaiden, Bob Wolf, Artie Hoyt, Kennny Wolf, Stevie Rubenstein, Jimmy Diodato

MIDDLE ROW (l-r): Andrew Appell , Eve Abrams, Ellen Abrams, John Attonito, David Attonito, Eric Gladstone

TOP Row (l-r): Edward Hoyt, Anthony Fielder, Brian Boggiano, James Farrell

[Guest Edgy DC]

Dickshot did some good old-fashioned Little League butt-kicking. Seven out of 15.

Bottom Row (L to R): __________, Bob Wolf, Artie Hoyt, Kennny Wolf, __________, __________ MIDDLE ROW (l-r): __________, Eve Abrams, __________, __________, David Attonito, __________ TOP Row (l-r): Edward Hoyt, Anthony Fielder, __________, __________

Still needed:
Ellen Abrams
Andrew Appell
John Attonito
Brian Boggiano
Jimmy Diodato
James Farrell
Rob Kaiden
Stevie Rubenstein

[Willets Point]

I'm sorry but in those lavender uniforms no matter how well you did on the field, I'm sure you got your ass kicked off the field.

[Guest Edgy DC]

There weren't a whole lot of good looking unis in that league.

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

How come you weren't sitting with your dad? Kenny Wolf got to sit near his dad.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

Maybe if his dad looked like Bruce Jenner he would have.

[Guest Edgy DC]

I can give you a bio for everybody in that picture. I know them (at least who they were at that moment) better than my office-mates of five years. I could tell you the lineup that day also. I don't remember any other baseball, soccer, etc. team I played on this way.

Bob Wolf indeed was a happenin' seventies guy in the Jenner mold. Great teeth and shoulders and a cool sports car to boot. (He drove a Porsche, before we knew how lame that was.) He did commercial acting, though the only one I ever saw him in was for Vivi Jeans, playing the song-and-dance paterfamilias in a commercial pushing Vivis as the designer jean for families.

He also had a swinging baritone voice, a la Billy Dee Williams. He metioned once that he rarely watched football, and it shocked me to think that there was a warm-blooded American male who didn't waste seven hours or more every Sunday watching football.

I was almost jealous that he wasn't my dad, who looked scruffy and smokey and rumpled and slope-shouldered next to he-man Bob. But then I realized that my dad still got to pop perps for a living. And that was really cool. Bob was a really good guy, though, for all his Ken-doll perfectness.

If you have to ask why I'm chilling in the back stuffing my fat face with watermelon, you don't know me well.

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

This is a separate Little League issue. Parents who take this stuff WAY too seriously.

My friend and neighbor (who has four kids, btw) is a major Little League volunteer. Not only is she the volunteer coordinator (I don't know how she handles that job - I wouldn't last five minutes before shooting the first person who complained about not getting his bond back despite the fact that he didn't show up for his volunteer duty), but she's also in charge of the uniforms. It's a major task, especially since our kids' All Star uniforms have their names on the back, and there's only a short window of time between the time that the teams are finalized and the tournaments begin. This woman is a saint, IMO, to take on this kind of task.

So what is her thanks for this? Apparently the parents of the 10-year-old All Stars have been giving her nothing but grief. The league president thought that it would be nice to give these kids a nicer uniform this year, and the guy from the uniform shop suggested mesh jerseys, which have been popular with other leagues in the area.

Well, the 10-year-old parents are NOT happy with the uniforms. OK - that's fine. Some experiments just don't work out. But instead of dealing with this like adults and living with the shirts for the next month, these people have been complaining incessantly about the uniforms.

Come on people - get a life! In six months, is anyone on this earth going to care about these uniforms? Even if they are horrible (I don't know whether they are or aren't - I haven't seen them), it's just for a few weeks. Meanwhile, my friend and the league president are volunteers here - without them, there wouldn't be a Little League at all in this township.

Get a life people!

[soupcan]

Parents whining about the uniforms?

That's just stupid. Our kids played the season in t-shirts with the team name screen-printed across the front, sponsor and number on the back and they were tickled.

Do I like the uniforms? Not particularly, but I'm not the one wearing it so why does my opinion matter?

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

It's better to look good than to play good.....

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

Mini Knight's 8-year-old All Stars team is in a tournament. Last week they won their first game by forfeit (against a team that also forfeited a game today, and lost another game in between). On Thursday they won a game by the Mercy Rule, and today they lost a game by the Mercy Rule. So tomorrow is a Big Game for his team - if they win, they advance to the elimination round.

I don't think they have any expectation of winning the whole thing - the team that clobbered them today is one of the favorites to win the tournament. But it would be nice if they could win a couple of games before this tournament ends.

Otherwise, a new tournament starts next weekend....

[Theoldmole]

Mercy Mercy Mercy.

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

MK's team recovered from an early 3-0 deficit for a convincing 8-3 win. MK took a ball to the back ribs while at the plate, but he recovered from that and came around to score the tying run. He's a little tank <g>

Now onto the elimination style playoffs, starting Tuesday!

[soupcan]

We had a sandlot pickup game on Sunday morning. There were about 10 kids so we did a dads (and mom) against the kids.

We let the boys pitch but since the lot of them have never pitched (they are 8 and they'll all pitch, catch and stea bases next season) I was the catcher.

I am bruised something awful today. While batting against these imps they twice plunked me, while catching the little freaks I two balls off my ankles.

Still and all a fun time.

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

Wow - MK's team scored two runs in the bottom of the 6th to win their quarterfinal game 4-3! MK had an RBI in the second inning. The other team's three runs came on sacrifices and walks - it was actually a no hitter.

So they play again tomorrow. MK is actually scheduled to pitch two innings, against a much tougher opponent. Eek!

[Guest cooby]

Scarlet, what time is today's game?

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

6:00 pm, weather permitting.

Which means that, in order for me to see the game, I'll have to drop La Diva off for her Bye Bye Birdie rehearsal over an hour early, since she's supposed to be there 7:00-10:00. Ugh.

[Guest cooby]

She'll have a license soon...

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

A year and a half is not soon.

[Guest cooby]

I thought she would be sixteen this fall?
My, you are strict!

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

Hey - I'd let her drive tomorrow if it was up to me.

She can't get her permit until she's 16. Then the lessons start. Even if she gets her license in short order, she has to have it for a full year before she's allowed to drive on her own.

Such are the rules of the suburban hell in which I live.

[Guest cooby]

Praise the lord, you are getting her lessons!

I swear when we were in NJ last week, our common thought was that it takes very little to gain a drivers license in NJ. Also, turn signals do not seem to be required.

PA is much less strict than that, six months with a permit (50 hours minimum practice with a 21 year old or over in attendance) and you're golden, though you are not allowed to drive past midnight alone.


Anyway, the reason I asked in the first place is, if I am able to access our PC this evening, I will be available for email moral support...

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

They are required to have a set number of driving lessons in order to get their licenses.

And thanks. I'll have the Sidekick with me. And, unlike last night, I don't think my friend will be free to come down to watch the game with me.

[soupcan]

Ahem.

Little League.

Driver's Ed would be in another forum thankyouverymuch.

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

Tough. Schlepping one's other children to other events and racing back to the field is part of the Little League experience in these parts.

[Guest cooby]

Eh, we safely delivered it back to LL when I offered moral support.

Lets see some Sunday sandlot pictures.

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

Argh - I tried to post a photo of the kid, but it didn't work :(

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

All good things must come to an end, including MK's team's participation in this tournament. It was a tough game against a very good opponent, and the fact that the mercy rule didn't kick in until the bottom of the 5th with 2 outs was something of a moral victory.

MK did pitch an inning (for the first time in this tournament), and got knocked around a bit (although a little help from the defense would have lessened the damage a bit). He's a perfectionist at the best of times, and tonight was not the best of times. But I'm proud of him anyway (albeit worried that the kid is going to give himself an ulcer over Little League - with everything else in life he rolls with the punches, but he expects nothing less than perfection from himself while he's playing, and when he's less than perfect he's very hard on himself).

Thanks cooby for your company and moral support during the game - I really appreciated that!

Onto the next tournament, which starts this weekend....

[Guest Edgy DC]

Whoah.

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

Disgusting to think that there are people like this insensitive ass coaching children. That idiot should never be allowed to coach or teach kids again.