All-Star Drama

After weeks of practice, Chris' baseball team has finally started playing in the All-Star Tournament. We lost our first game yesterday, and are scheduled to play again tomorrow at 1pm.

There are certain things about this team that I am getting really tired of. There is one family whose son is on the team that I am getting sick of. All they say is that he's the best player in the league (I don't agree), so he should be playing every minute of every game.

SIDEBAR: In some aspects I understand this way of thinking. I think that Chris is the best player on his team. But I'm his mother and therefore am not the most objective person to ask.

All this family does is complain. There was even an incident at the field and a fist-fight almost broke out between his players older brother and one of the coaches. I didn't witness this event, so I don't really know what happened, but I HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS!!!! This kids family is very loud, so when they get upset everyone hears about it. Of course, I shouldn't judge because I can be pretty loud myself. What these people don't understand is that the rest of the team hears about it too. This attitude is bringing down not only the fans of this team, but the team itself. So much of the energy has turned negative, even Chris has commented about it.

My experience with Chris makes me believe that kids get so much pressure from their parents when it comes to sports. Unfortunately, I have put pressure on Chris when I was doing what I thought was in his best interest. He gets so down on himself when he makes errors or didn't get "the big hit". He's told me before that "...I should be getting the big hits and making the big plays, Mom." This makes me feel bad. All I've really wanted from him is to go out and have fun, make friends, and improve. Parents can really ruin sports for a kid. When Greg was president of the league he got calls from parents whose kids were in T-Ball complaining about playing time or what position their kid was playing.

All parents get too caught up in this stuff, but some parents really cross the line. All I can say is that I'm really tired of this situation. If you really think that your son is the best player on the team, then why is he on the bench? Everyone else is wrong and your right? I'm getting to the point that I want to tell these parents that if you don't like it, take him off the team. Because I sure am sick of hearing about it.

All of that being said, I don't feel like I'm perfect in any of this. I've been known to make a complete ass of myself at a ballgame or two, but I guess we're all learning. I'm trying to get better with all of this. I have made it a point to be as positive as I can with these kids, especially with Chris.

Chris has made so much improvement on this team. He's always been a bit of a Drama King when it comes to injuries. He always thinks he's dying. In fact, he pulled himself out of a game a week ago because he "hurt" his arm. Really, he just scraped his arm. He got called out in front of the entire team by Roger. When Chris told me that I was pretty upset, I admit, but just talked to Chris about the situation. Yesterday, he got hit by a pitch. Greg and I just looked at each other, hoping that he learned something. He just trotted down to first base, you could tell that it hurt but he just kept on playing. I really hope that this is a lesson that sticks. This is just one thing that has improved with Roger and Johnnie as his coaches.

Another thing that I've noticed is that he worships Roger and Johnnie. If I hear one more time "...well Mom, Roger and Johnnie said..." I think I'll go nuts. Honestly, if they told him it would improve his game to run down Main Street naked, I think he'd consider it!!! And more than anything, his confidence has improved so much. He's having so much fun, and he's learning so much!

Well, that's about all I've got to say on that subject for right now. I just hope that there's a more positive atmosphere around this team. I'm going to do my part to make that happen.

Thanks Roger, Johnnie, Don, Popi, and Travis for all your time and effort you've spent with this team. You've made a difference with my son.