Boys of Summer

Apparently, I forgot to actually post the below entry.

I was fortunate to spend this past week with some of my favorite people - My bride and our three children. We were joined part way through the week by my parents - something that just seemed to make the magical week that much more special.

My youngest son joined a new baseball team this past year and had a relatively good season. Yes, he improved. Yes, the competition was another notch up. And most important - he enjoyed the team, the coaches and himself. The team finished the season in a truly remarkable fashion.

The coaches met with the parents, pre-season, to talk about the plans for the season. Most of the time was spent talking about expectations of the players and families. The kicker on the budget side of the discussion was the planned trip to Myrtle Beach for an end-of year tournament. That tournament is the real subject of this post.

I will not bore you with all the other family details but did want to share the magic 'the Boys of Summer' provided to close out the week. The baseline for the tournament is that each team would play 5 games to 'seed' the championship and consolation rounds for the end of the week. The Cardinals started strong winning their first two games. Then, they hit the buzz-saw and dropped 3 in a row - and a couple were really tough to swallow.

The competition at the Ripken tournament was impressive. Teams from around the country and a few of them were very disciplined, talented and a joy to watch. There is a difference in play when you realize that the team in the other dugout has not only played together for a few years, but that they play year round. It shows!

The finals started on Thursday and were set up as a single elimination tournament. The Cardinals found themselves the #6 seed in the 6 team Championship bracket. This meant they had to start by playing the #3 seed, a team that only had one loss and we had grown accustomed to hearing their name throughout the week with one outstanding game after the other. The boys from Eldersburg jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first inning and never looked back. On to the second round.

The second round found the young Cardinals up against the #2 seed, a team that had just beaten them a few days ago by .... several runs. The game was one of those games for the books. The Cardinals jumped out to an early lead and were looking like they were well on their way to the Championship. However, in the 4th inning things started to change and the opposition battled back. Late in the game we surrendered the tying run and needed to hold them for a push to extra innings. The Gods of Baseball shined on our Cardinals that day and they did indeed hold for extra innings. In the top of the 7th, our boys put two on the board and shut them down 1-2-3! Cardinals win and we are headed to the finals.

A day later, the Cardinals took the field against the undefeated squad from Houston, Texas. The opposition had given up a total of 11 runs in the previous 7 games. This was going to be tough. The Cardinals started off strong, but were unable to capitalize on several different occasions when they had runners at the corners. The opposing coach was pacing and obviously getting a little nervous as his group had not seen anyone hold them this tight. In the fourth inning, the first run was scored but it wasn't for us. We managed to hold the game close but in the end - lost the final game. Hats off to all the teams, but this last group was something special.

I was/am very proud of our 11 year olds. The battled the best and held them in check. Thank you boys for bringing me back to my youth this season. Thank you coaches (Curt, Mike, Bob & Dave) for making this truly a Season to Remember.

Watching the talent

As I reported in my previous post, I enjoy watching others use their talents and abhor watching someone trying to force their way through something they have not been granted the talent to perform. In just a matter of a few days I was able to watch and then experience up close the use of individual gifts to a the ultimate. This time it was on the field of sports -specifically soccer.

Friday evening I attended the AC Milan vs. Chelsea game and felt that I was watching a canvas being painted. It has been a while since I attended a professional soccer match in person - so this evening was something special. Professional athletes are impressive when they work their craft to its highest form. Yes, watching the individual talent of Ronaldinho was fascinating. However - what I enjoyed the most was watching the collection of athletes working together up and down the field. Not only did they move the ball - but they created a piece of art on the canvas of the pitch. It truly was a thing of beauty.

The second event was more personal but still directly related to one of my favorite sports. The soccer program that I assist in is hosting a high school preparation training camp. The camp is run by one of my heroes as I was playing high school ball - Mike Stankovic . It was a great pleasure to watch Mike work with the kids and meet him as a fan of the game. I was treated to another level of joy when Mike asked me to assist him. This week I am working alongside Mike in teaching, tutoring and training a great group of kids. On the selfish side - I also have been given the opportunity to take the field with Mike and play the game we both love. Mike is wonderfull with the kids. What is more impressive is to watch his love of the game transferred to the kids. He definitely has a gift (he still has it) for the game but he has coupled that with his concern for the youth who also love the game.

Bringing joy (and a good bit of sweat) to the players is an absolute joy to watch ... and participate in.

What a feeling

I know I have been rather lazy when it comes to updating this blog. The fact of the matter is that I have not seen much in the way of positive ... anywhere that I wanted to write about. I have made a commitment to myself (and family and friends) to be more positive - so when you have nothing to say - stay quiet.

That all changed yesterday. Let me first say that this is not a story about recapturing my youth, nor is it 100% about the accomplishment of two of my favorite people in the world (my two sons). No, this is bigger than that - but you must read this entire post to see it.

Late last week I receive an email - enticing me to send my two sons to baseball camp. Not just any camp - this was the Ripken - MLB experience. My wife and I offered this to our oldest son several years ago and he turned us down - just not his style. This year, our youngest jumped at the opportunity and his older brother was right behind him (still not his style but was intrigued). My wife worked out the details via phone and email and the boys were registered.

I planned to take my two baseball buddies to camp for the first day. The primary reason was to insure they were comfortable. The secondary reason was that recapturing my youth thing - live through my kids - and I would have given my left arm as a kid for the opportunity in front of them. We arrived early, my natural time, and took our time touring the campus. WOW! After wiping the drool from around my mouth after spending just 10 minutes at the Academy, I 1) wanted to sign up myself and 2) thought now was a good time to check the boys in.

Check-in could not have been more welcoming and professional. In addition to that - my guys were presented with their new Under Armour bat bags, baseball pants, home and away jerseys, belts, socks and team hats. For sake of completeness - this was a downer - as a Baltimore native having one son assigned to the New York Mets was one thing, but my oldest son was placed on the New York Yankees team (HELP!!!!!!). From here we sat down at Cal Sr.'s field to wait until the events started. The photo to the left is the view from the seats. YES - this is one of the fields for the kids under 12.

From here - things only improved. There was a parent meeting held by the G.M. for Ripken Baseball who presented the goals for the week, a little history of the program .... then the offer of juice, coffee, fruit and danishes as the program changed gears. At this point I went back to standing well behind my sons and listened as the program really started. There were a series of brief introductions which included biographies of a few past MLB'ers (Dennis Rasmussen, Bill Campbell, Kevin Bass and Al Bumbry). From there the kids were sent off to the batting cages behind Fenway Park (just one of the replica fields in Aberdeen). As they arrived at the cages - they were met by the Ripken brothers. Yes, Cal and Billy were there and they showed us all what being brothers can be like. They picked on each other, told stories of their Dad (Cal Sr.) and shared what the week would be like. More on this later.

When the talk completed I turned to head off to work - I needed to pay for this week and did not think my management would take kindly to just blowing off work for the fun of the experience. On my way out I was fortunate to share a few words with Al Bumbry - basically a thank you for a message he shared with me ( and a group of Junior Orioles) back around 1978. From there - I went to the office ... beaming and remembering baseball as a kid. It was all so innocent then.


Later in the day - I could not hold off. I headed back to the complex and made it in time to see three plays that had me beaming so much that my shirt buttons were in jeopardy of popping. The first play was one of those right place, right time kind of plays. My youngest son was playing in left/center field when he misplayed a ball and it flew over his head. He was playing at the field on the left (Fenway Park) and the ball rolled to about 20 yards from the Green Monster. He never panicked - just picked up the ball, turned, and threw a one hop strike to the catcher to throw out the runner from third .
On the field just past the Green Monster, my older son was playing. Just after the put out at home, I turned to see him come up the to the plate. Now, a little table setting is in order. The facility just completed the field portion of the Yankee Stadium replica. This is not a scaled down version - rather it is Ripken's first 90 foot diamond in Aberdeen and it is beautiful. Synthetic surface for all but the pitchers mound and home plate. Dimensioned to match the original Yankee stadium. My older son is usually a bit nervous around new people (just like his Dad I guess) and here he was the smallest and probably the youngest on the field. He steps to the plate with a runner on second and a score of 0-0. The picture to the left is his actual at bat (red helmet shows me that it is him). The pitching for the first day is done by camp instructors (college or AAA level players) and they are throwing in the mid 60's for the kids. My son was the last to bat for his team (moreso because his parents signed him up late and they built their lineups before they knew the kids) and so far ... not much offense. The oldest son jumped on the first strike and drove a line drive single up the middle. SCORING THE GO AHEAD RUN. That lead held until the second to last inning when the opposing team went ahead.

The final play to report - to be honest I didn't even know it was my son at the time. I thought it was just a remarkable play made by some 10 year olds. Bases loaded, one out. Ground ball hit to the third baseman. Cleanly fielded and threw the ball to the catcher who stepped in front of the plate, received the ball with back foot square on the plate. From there the catcher steps out one more step and throws a rocket to the first baseman. 5-2-3 double play. My son was catching! Something he has only ever done once before. Dad beams!!!

Yes, the games were fun to watch - but I must admit that what touched me the most was back during the Ripken brothers talk. For years, I have been trying to get the message to parents and coaches alike that the game is about the kids. That we as parents, coaches, advisors, league officicals have a responsibility to do for them and not do to them. Trying to coach to much or correct a flaw that we think we see - quite honestly does more damage to a young player than just letting them be. Cal and Billy talked about a number of things that are at the core of their teaching philosophy (taken directly from their website - http://www.ripkencamps.com :

Keep it Simple
Young baseball players must crawl before they can walk and walk before they can run. Teaching that is too complicated is difficult to remember and can result in frustration.

Make it Fun
Learning doesn't have to be tedious. Drills and instruction are structured so players enjoy themselves while learning.

Celebrate the Individual
No two players are alike, so why should they be treated as if they are? Each player has his or her own comfort zones, strengths and style.

Explain Why
"Why" is a young person's favorite question. Young players have an innate need to understand the reason behind the teaching. Lessons that make sense will stick with them.

Thank you Cal. Thank you Billy. Not only are you passing on the wisdom of your father, but you serve as ambassadors for interacting with youth in general. While I understand you have a business you are running - you do so from the heart and from the belief that we are all part of something much bigger than ourselves.

Let down by government ... again .

It has taken me some time to get back and put my thoughts on the record. This is not due to my lack of interest or lack of passion on what is on my mind. I have been trying ... trying very hard ... to not post a negative comment regarding our President and the Congress. I still have nothing more positive to say since my last blog - so I will not comment (for now) on what is happening.

Instead, I want to express my deep disappointment with a local matter. As my friends know - I have been volunteering for several years with a local baseball program. This started when my oldest son wanted to play baseball. I started as many parents do - as an assistant coach. My role as assistant lasted until the 2nd week of the season and the head coach stopped showing up. I took over the role of 'Coach' with a passion and to this day - I love that job. The next year I was even more involved - Head Coach from the start and volunteering for anything else that was needed. The following year - I was running the program (for the 4-6 year old age group).
Over the next several years I continued to coach and took on more roles. I was the commissioner for multiple age groups - coaching multiple teams (some that I did not have child participating). I truly love coaching youth sports! The administrative side was a role that I did ... because it needed to be done. I believe we made the programs better by stressing sportsmanship, parental involvement and insuring every child had equal opportunity to share in America's past time. The programs grew every year, other programs around ours were shrinking - this had nothing to do with recruiting.. Word of mouth spreads quicker than any marketing campaign could.
There are a few dedicated individuals that I became very close friends with and it was through their (along with some of mine) efforts, ideas and commitment to the youth of the area , that the program flourished. Those few dedicated people ran and continue to run the program - not because they want to be the only ones behind the program but because no one else will. The local Park and Recreation council are supposed to support the program as it is a county operated organization along with a county run program. Instead, the Rec council is the biggest challenge to running the program. From field allocations (baseball is the largest spring sport but are last to get fields) to conflicts with other area events (baseball always gets bumped) - the Rec council seems to represent everyone in opposition to the program.
For the last several years I , and others on the board, have talked about moving away from paper registrations (where we hand type all the information into a large spreadsheet) to electronic. The Rec Council had been saying they were planning something for all sports programs but nothing ever materialized. So, last year ( June 2008), we decided to execute on our own plans. We looked at a number of options and decided on a solution. We officially opened electronic registrations (along with secure team web sites, team and organization calenders ...) in August of 2008.
This year has gone reasonably well - over 800 registrants. Teams are forming, communication to parents is up and we have reduced a good bit of the administrative overhead of previous years. This last point has allowed those who previously spent their evenings typing data into spreadsheets to more proactively plan for events for the kids. Remember the kids - they are who the program are for (not the administrators, not the coaches, not the Rec Council).

So, Why am I upset? I sat through a Rec Council meeting where the presented (or the vendor presented) what the new registration system would look like from this point forward. While I applaud their efforts and the fact that they have actually done something to help the programs - they appear to have done this for different reasons. In short - the Rec Council has taken ownership of the data and who has access to it. Why do I care? For starters - we, the volunteers, still are responsible for everything else - to include collection of fees. Secondly - a few years ago when we were asking for more fields - we were told to report the demographics of our program. Why? They wanted to limit which zip codes were eligible to register for a program using 'their' fields. In addition - instead of offering the programs (Judo, softball, theatre, baseball, basketball, football, soccer ...) the service - they have mandated the use of 'their' system. How do they do this? They have reported that will not approve budgets for any program who does not subscribe to the new system.

Here it is - the government is stepping in to an area that is already running well and taking over the specific area that does not need assistance. Instead of augmenting in areas that the current organization (or company) needs assistance with - they are taking over the piece that already functions well and by their own insertion will cause a breakdown in the effectiveness of the entirety. Let down by government .... again!