There have been a lot of articles recently that suggest that high performers are made, not born. I have never agreed with this. So, I have taken a skeptical eye and reviewed the studies carefully to see what, if anything, can be drawn from them.
You'll hear a lot about "10,000 hours" in the press these days. The most famous person to bring up the number is Malcom Gladwell who discusses it in his book "Outliers". However, other researchers are coming up with the same number. Basically, the assertion is that it takes 10,000 to gain mastery at something.
Here's where I'm going to quibble a little bit. Folks who know my views on the subject know that I think that about 90% (or more) of success in life is determined at birth.
Forrest Gump may have been a multigozillionaire in the movie, but in real life, the prospects for a young person who is borderline mentally retarded are limited. They will be limited in education and opportunities for jobs. They will be limited in how they perform those jobs. All the effort in the world isn't going to take a person who is borderline mentally retarded and put them into a neurosurgery residency after med school.
Physically, I think the differences are even more stark. You can take the slowest kid in the school and put him through 10,000 hours of training and sorry, he'll still probably get absolutely annihilated by he most athletic kid in the school. It just works out that way.
Life isn't fair and the tools you're born with is one of the most unfair aspects of life.
Where I think the 10,000 hours comes in to play is when you already have the tools. For instance, Gladwell mentions the Beatles. As any Beatle freak knows, the Beatles were regarded as being a band that wasn't very good, even compared to the local bands in the Liverpool area. They went to Hamburg and became the house band at the Kieserkeller. There, they spent a few years playing 8, 10 or 12 hours a day. They got kicked out of Germany a couple of times (once for lighting a condom on fire, another time when it was found out that George Harrison was too young to legally work.) But they kept going over.
Eventually, they got so sharp that they played backup on a record by an artist named Tony Sherridan. ("Ain't She Sweet".) The record sold like hotcakes in Brian Epstein's family's furniture store (where Brian sold records in a corner.) Man (or men) met moment, and the rest is history.
Gladwell's assertion is that the Beatles weren't exceptional. They just had the benefit of putting in their 10,000 hours. Frankly, I think that's a bunch of crap. What this argument ignores is that a LOT of bands from Liverpool did house gigs in Hamburg. Only one of them became the Beatles. Other than a few die-hard Mersey-beats like me and a few of my friends, I doubt anybody today can tell you who Rory Storm or Gerry Marsden are.
They not only had the same incubation period as the Beatles, they actually were regarded as having been MUCH BETTER at the time.
What made the Beatles exceptional is that two of the best composers in Rock and Roll coincidentally joined forces in the same band. In fact, even after the band, McCartney went on to have over a dozen platinum albums without Lennon. Lennon went into quasi retirement, but charted every time he recorded and had, if memory serves, 3 or 4 platinum albums. Either career, in and of itself, would have made either artist sensationally successful.
There are other examples, and I would offer similar rebuttals to all of them. I agree that the 10,000 hour figure is informational. It may very well be axiomatic. Where I disagree is that it trumps innate talent. I believe it refines innate talent, but I don't believe for a minute that it trumps it.
Let me give an example that bears out my point. Folks who have little kids can tell you how much they develop in a single year. In feats of athleticism, one year is pretty much all it takes for one kid to be completely superior to another.
Our city holds open tryouts and tries to sponsor two travel teams for each age group. The top 12 players are selected for the "heavy travel" team. The next 12 are selected for the "light travel" team.
Before the season, my son's team, the U9 heavy ("9 and under") scrimmaged the U10 light team. This was our kids' first year of travel ball. The other team not only had the benefit of one more year of growth and physical development, they also had the benefit of having already done one year of travel baseball.
There should have been no contest, if experience were a factor. They had lots of experience and more than twice as much practice than our boys did. Our boys hadn't played a single actual game, yet. PLUS, they were a year older.
Instead, the U9s beat them rather handily. At no point during that game did it appear that the U10s were going to win.
THAT is what I mean by innate genetics. They're such a strong factor that it allowed a bunch of completely inexperienced 9 year olds to defeat a team of older, more seasoned, more practiced 10 year olds. The 10 year olds, by the way, were no slouches. They were hand-selected from a pool of kids who tried out.
Just that, to be the best, you gotta be born on the skinny part of the bell-curve.
If you're there, the 10,000 hours is what you need to function at your optimal level. However, if you're not there, my assertion is that 10,000 or a million hours of practice will never get you to perform at elite level.
Friday, April 30, 2010
The love of the game / 8 year olds burned out on baseball...
Being the dad of a little kid playing baseball can be nerve wracking sometimes. Now that Logan plays travel ball, there's a few risks involved. One of them is that he won't get to enjoy a normal childhood like everybody else. The other is that he might get too much baseball, get burned out, and decide he doesn't like it anymore.
On the "normal childhood" angle, I've got quite a few thoughts. The first is that a lot of "normal childhoods" involve huge stretches of absolute boredom. Logan is an active kid and during months between seasons where he might only have practice a couple times a week, he gets bored.
He's got other kids to play with, but kids being what they are, half the time they're playing. The other half, they're on each other's nerves. So, playing with the neighborhood kids is great... but doing it 7 days a week may not be.
If anything, I've seen him get burned out on playing with other kids in the neighborhood. Sitting at home on the couch, watching TV and saying that he just got into a disagreement. One boy in particular spends so much time with Logan that the two are like brothers. Just like real brothers in real life, sometimes they're together so much that they rub each other the wrong way and really need some time apart.
So, as far as unstructured free-play, I still think he's getting enough of that. Yeah, sometimes the baseball schedule gets pretty intense, with games and practices 4 or 5 days a week. However, that still means 2 or 3 days of just goofing off.
Second, "normal childhood" these days involves a lot of video game playing. I'm not a big fan and neither is Logan's mother. It's one thing to play video games if it's 20 degrees out or there's a huge thunderstorm. However, kids today play video games way too much. I'm actually proud that Logan has never really gotten into them much.
In a nation where obesity is at epidemic proportions, I'd rather see Logan out on a baseball field than sitting on a couch playing video games any day.
This is not to say that there isn't a tradeoff. Logan will almost certainly miss out on a few things because of his baseball schedule. So, yeah, he's going to lose something here and there, but by participating in baseball, he'll get to miss out on a lot of things that aren't necessarily good for him, too.
On balance, I think baseball is a positive experience for Logan. The more he does it, the more positive I think it is. In addition to the physical benefits, there are social benefits and self-esteem benefits as well. As an only child, he also needs chances to interact with people and understand the push-and-pull of social situations.
I did get concerned that travel baseball was just too much at this age. I just saw his team rather lethargic on Tuesday, in a loss to a team they should have beaten easily. I think a little of it was fatigue. They had just finished a gruelling tournament and over the previous 2 weeks, I think they only got about 4 days off from baseball.
It was at that point that I figured Logan might not want to play travel next year. If he wanted to play rec league, that was fine with me.
Also, I work quite a bit with Logan on various things. The team's activities were so numerous that I didn't have time to work with him on skills. Right now, he needs a lot of work at catcher and he needed a tiny bit of work on hitting.
However, I wasn't going to make him do baseball workouts with me on his nights off.
Thursday was a day-off. The coach also made it a voluntary activity to attend the Northview-Southview game on Friday. (Most of the kids on the travel team will eventually attend one of those High Schools.)
So, last night he got to go to his buddy's birthday party. (The same kid who he's like a brother with). Once he got home, though, he was sitting around bored.
He asked if I would go throw the ball with him in the front yard. Well, the answer is almost always "yes" if I can do it, but I was concerned. I said maybe he might want to take the day off and give his arm some rest. He looked genuinely dejected.
I tried to steer him towards maybe throwing a football. Still dejected. I asked if he REALLY wanted to throw a ball, because he didn't have to. He REALLY wanted to throw a baseball.
After a little throwing, he asked if we could get the catcher's gear out so he could work on playing catcher. Sure, no problem.
After that, he asked if we could go down in the basement and fire up the pitching machine. Again, no problem.
The kid just loves baseball. I asked if he wanted to go to the Northview-Southview game and emphasized that he didn't HAVE to. He didn't even hesitate. He wanted to go.
The kid just loves baseball and always has. For as long as he's been able to throw a ball, he's done it constantly. When he was a pre-schooler, he'd take a tennis ball or wiffle ball and throw it against the front door and practice catching it. Over, and over and over again. Every night. For an hour or two every session.
You can't make a person show that kind of interest. You can't manipulate them into it. It just has to be something they love.
So, as his Dad, I have to help him walk the fine line between nurturing a personal passion and not getting to where he's burned out. Honestly, this travel season has been intense so far. I think when it's over, though, he'll really miss it.
On the "normal childhood" angle, I've got quite a few thoughts. The first is that a lot of "normal childhoods" involve huge stretches of absolute boredom. Logan is an active kid and during months between seasons where he might only have practice a couple times a week, he gets bored.
He's got other kids to play with, but kids being what they are, half the time they're playing. The other half, they're on each other's nerves. So, playing with the neighborhood kids is great... but doing it 7 days a week may not be.
If anything, I've seen him get burned out on playing with other kids in the neighborhood. Sitting at home on the couch, watching TV and saying that he just got into a disagreement. One boy in particular spends so much time with Logan that the two are like brothers. Just like real brothers in real life, sometimes they're together so much that they rub each other the wrong way and really need some time apart.
So, as far as unstructured free-play, I still think he's getting enough of that. Yeah, sometimes the baseball schedule gets pretty intense, with games and practices 4 or 5 days a week. However, that still means 2 or 3 days of just goofing off.
Second, "normal childhood" these days involves a lot of video game playing. I'm not a big fan and neither is Logan's mother. It's one thing to play video games if it's 20 degrees out or there's a huge thunderstorm. However, kids today play video games way too much. I'm actually proud that Logan has never really gotten into them much.
In a nation where obesity is at epidemic proportions, I'd rather see Logan out on a baseball field than sitting on a couch playing video games any day.
This is not to say that there isn't a tradeoff. Logan will almost certainly miss out on a few things because of his baseball schedule. So, yeah, he's going to lose something here and there, but by participating in baseball, he'll get to miss out on a lot of things that aren't necessarily good for him, too.
On balance, I think baseball is a positive experience for Logan. The more he does it, the more positive I think it is. In addition to the physical benefits, there are social benefits and self-esteem benefits as well. As an only child, he also needs chances to interact with people and understand the push-and-pull of social situations.
I did get concerned that travel baseball was just too much at this age. I just saw his team rather lethargic on Tuesday, in a loss to a team they should have beaten easily. I think a little of it was fatigue. They had just finished a gruelling tournament and over the previous 2 weeks, I think they only got about 4 days off from baseball.
It was at that point that I figured Logan might not want to play travel next year. If he wanted to play rec league, that was fine with me.
Also, I work quite a bit with Logan on various things. The team's activities were so numerous that I didn't have time to work with him on skills. Right now, he needs a lot of work at catcher and he needed a tiny bit of work on hitting.
However, I wasn't going to make him do baseball workouts with me on his nights off.
Thursday was a day-off. The coach also made it a voluntary activity to attend the Northview-Southview game on Friday. (Most of the kids on the travel team will eventually attend one of those High Schools.)
So, last night he got to go to his buddy's birthday party. (The same kid who he's like a brother with). Once he got home, though, he was sitting around bored.
He asked if I would go throw the ball with him in the front yard. Well, the answer is almost always "yes" if I can do it, but I was concerned. I said maybe he might want to take the day off and give his arm some rest. He looked genuinely dejected.
I tried to steer him towards maybe throwing a football. Still dejected. I asked if he REALLY wanted to throw a ball, because he didn't have to. He REALLY wanted to throw a baseball.
After a little throwing, he asked if we could get the catcher's gear out so he could work on playing catcher. Sure, no problem.
After that, he asked if we could go down in the basement and fire up the pitching machine. Again, no problem.
The kid just loves baseball. I asked if he wanted to go to the Northview-Southview game and emphasized that he didn't HAVE to. He didn't even hesitate. He wanted to go.
The kid just loves baseball and always has. For as long as he's been able to throw a ball, he's done it constantly. When he was a pre-schooler, he'd take a tennis ball or wiffle ball and throw it against the front door and practice catching it. Over, and over and over again. Every night. For an hour or two every session.
You can't make a person show that kind of interest. You can't manipulate them into it. It just has to be something they love.
So, as his Dad, I have to help him walk the fine line between nurturing a personal passion and not getting to where he's burned out. Honestly, this travel season has been intense so far. I think when it's over, though, he'll really miss it.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Baseball Bats for 8-9 year olds
This blog post will have very limited appeal outside of a few baseball dads who really are curious what to buy. Much to the chagrin of my wallet, I'm discovering pretty much everything there is to know about baseball bats for my 8 year old son. I thought I'd try to impart my lessons learned on others who might be looking for a bat to buy.
My son was hitting pretty well with a little cheapie Easton 16.5 once, 29" bat (Easton reflex). This is what is known as a -12.5, or "drop 12.5" bat. The drop is the difference between the length, in inches, and the weight, in ounces. The bat had the standard 2 1/4" barrel.
He switched to a similar 16/29 bat (Easton Reflex) and started hitting the ball even better. Trouble is, both of those Easton aluminum bats are pretty low-end. They're fine aluminum bats, but just like technology in golf clubs, the new, higher-tech stuff really is better and will produce a noticeable difference.
He went 3 for 3 with the thing one game, but in the very next game, he caught an inside pitch close to the hands and it rattled his hands so much it hurt him quite a bit. His hands were shaking and he was in pain. The bats with more technology reduce vibration a bit. After that episode, he wasn't willing to use his 16 ounce any more.
Hitting is as mental as it is physical and once a hitter believes something, it becomes truth. In this case, he believed that using that bat on inside pitches would hurt. He had a point. He didn't want to use that bat anymore.
In our already mammoth bat collection we already had a really good Easton 29/17 that was half composite (Easton Synergy Speed) with an aluminum hitting area. He felt that it was too heavy. Based on his performance with it in a few practices, it looked like it was.
So, I went bat shopping.
At the sporting goods store, they started talking to me about big barrel bats. They had an Easton 29/19 that was the complete top of the line. It's the Speed Stealth (model BSS13XL). They told me that I could take it home and try it out so long as I didn't take it out of the plastic. Went downstairs and hit some wiffle balls with it. Ran up the pitching machine pretty fast and my son was hitting really well.
It's possible to have a heavier bat that feels lighter due to the way the weight is distributed. I thought maybe that was the case, here.
Took the pastic off, making the bat non-returnable. Took my son to some outside cages and threw him live pitch, he hit pretty well. Went to a practice, the coach threw him BP and he hit well. Then, when he faced one of the pitchers on his team, he looked like he was swinging a log.
He started showing a big looping swing, instead of the compact swing he'd been doing so well with. So, I got the bat out of his hands, immediately.
One would have thought that increasing the weight by 3 ounces over what he feels most comfortable with was a dumb move and one would be right. I guess I was hoping that all the technology, increased composite materials and different weight distribution that it might work out. Until he faced live pitch from kids throwing hard, it looked like it might.
Easton makes a youth baseball model called the Speed II XL (LSS6XL) which is a drop 12. That way, Logan could have a 29" bat that was 17 ounces. Still, an ounce heavier, but hoping the balance and technology would offset that.
Unfortunately, when it arrived, I saw that it was a standard barrel bat. He didn't like the weight, and in 3 games where he used it, he did okay, but I've seen him hit better. We'll hang on to it for next year, but the lack of a big barrel is a big deal.
What I really wanted was a big barrel in 16 ounces. I don't know if they make one, but if they do, it'd only be 26" long since the big barrels all seem to come in drop 10 at the lightest. I thought that would just be way too short compared to the 29" bat he's using, now.
I got him an Easton SV12 27/17. It's a big barrel bat, but it is both shorter and heavier than the 29/16 he hits optimally with. I was hoping the shorter barrel would make up for the slightly heavier weight.
Bottom line: right out of the box, he hits better with this bat than any other he has ever swung. I've never seen him rip so many hits deep to the outfield. The big barrel is everything it's cracked up to be.
The weight, due to the shorter length, is not an issue at all. However, the bat has two downsides. The first is that the hitting area on the bat is very, very small. The second is that being 2 inches shorter is a huge deal. He won't be able to reach anything outside the plate and will have trouble reaching down and away strikes. He'll also have to stand a couple of inches closer to the plate, making it harder to turn on inside pitches.
This sort of thing is always a series of tradeoffs. I feel like he also needs a good 29/16 for umps with a big strike zone. So, I'm going to try a Demarini Voodoo 29/16. It should arrive any day now.
I also don't like the very small sweet spot on the SV12. So, we've also got a Demarini Vexxum 27/17 on the way. Really, I'd rather have a 27/17 in the Speed Stealth (model BSS13XL), but at the moment, those bats are going for $300. Easton just did a $50 price drop on the bat, but it will take a while to shake through the system. Probably won't be able to buy at much of a discount until my son is pretty much ready for a 28/18.
Until we can get him into a big barrel 29" bat (which seems like it won't happen until he can swing a 19 ounce bat), I am afraid we'll need to keep a 29" bat with a standard barrel on hand.
So, this year, we'll have a big barrel 27/17, and a standard barrel 29/16 in the bag. I think he needs two bats in the bag.
Next year or later this year, we'll want a 28/18 big barrel and it really won't be that important to have a bat that's 1" longer in the bag. We'll be able to get down to just one bat.
A final note on big barrel bats. The drop 12s, drop 13s, etc., are usually considered youth bats. The big barrels don't seem to come any lighter than a drop 10, and are considered "senior league" bats.
My son was hitting pretty well with a little cheapie Easton 16.5 once, 29" bat (Easton reflex). This is what is known as a -12.5, or "drop 12.5" bat. The drop is the difference between the length, in inches, and the weight, in ounces. The bat had the standard 2 1/4" barrel.
He switched to a similar 16/29 bat (Easton Reflex) and started hitting the ball even better. Trouble is, both of those Easton aluminum bats are pretty low-end. They're fine aluminum bats, but just like technology in golf clubs, the new, higher-tech stuff really is better and will produce a noticeable difference.
He went 3 for 3 with the thing one game, but in the very next game, he caught an inside pitch close to the hands and it rattled his hands so much it hurt him quite a bit. His hands were shaking and he was in pain. The bats with more technology reduce vibration a bit. After that episode, he wasn't willing to use his 16 ounce any more.
Hitting is as mental as it is physical and once a hitter believes something, it becomes truth. In this case, he believed that using that bat on inside pitches would hurt. He had a point. He didn't want to use that bat anymore.
In our already mammoth bat collection we already had a really good Easton 29/17 that was half composite (Easton Synergy Speed) with an aluminum hitting area. He felt that it was too heavy. Based on his performance with it in a few practices, it looked like it was.
So, I went bat shopping.
At the sporting goods store, they started talking to me about big barrel bats. They had an Easton 29/19 that was the complete top of the line. It's the Speed Stealth (model BSS13XL). They told me that I could take it home and try it out so long as I didn't take it out of the plastic. Went downstairs and hit some wiffle balls with it. Ran up the pitching machine pretty fast and my son was hitting really well.
It's possible to have a heavier bat that feels lighter due to the way the weight is distributed. I thought maybe that was the case, here.
Took the pastic off, making the bat non-returnable. Took my son to some outside cages and threw him live pitch, he hit pretty well. Went to a practice, the coach threw him BP and he hit well. Then, when he faced one of the pitchers on his team, he looked like he was swinging a log.
He started showing a big looping swing, instead of the compact swing he'd been doing so well with. So, I got the bat out of his hands, immediately.
One would have thought that increasing the weight by 3 ounces over what he feels most comfortable with was a dumb move and one would be right. I guess I was hoping that all the technology, increased composite materials and different weight distribution that it might work out. Until he faced live pitch from kids throwing hard, it looked like it might.
Easton makes a youth baseball model called the Speed II XL (LSS6XL) which is a drop 12. That way, Logan could have a 29" bat that was 17 ounces. Still, an ounce heavier, but hoping the balance and technology would offset that.
Unfortunately, when it arrived, I saw that it was a standard barrel bat. He didn't like the weight, and in 3 games where he used it, he did okay, but I've seen him hit better. We'll hang on to it for next year, but the lack of a big barrel is a big deal.
What I really wanted was a big barrel in 16 ounces. I don't know if they make one, but if they do, it'd only be 26" long since the big barrels all seem to come in drop 10 at the lightest. I thought that would just be way too short compared to the 29" bat he's using, now.
I got him an Easton SV12 27/17. It's a big barrel bat, but it is both shorter and heavier than the 29/16 he hits optimally with. I was hoping the shorter barrel would make up for the slightly heavier weight.
Bottom line: right out of the box, he hits better with this bat than any other he has ever swung. I've never seen him rip so many hits deep to the outfield. The big barrel is everything it's cracked up to be.
The weight, due to the shorter length, is not an issue at all. However, the bat has two downsides. The first is that the hitting area on the bat is very, very small. The second is that being 2 inches shorter is a huge deal. He won't be able to reach anything outside the plate and will have trouble reaching down and away strikes. He'll also have to stand a couple of inches closer to the plate, making it harder to turn on inside pitches.
This sort of thing is always a series of tradeoffs. I feel like he also needs a good 29/16 for umps with a big strike zone. So, I'm going to try a Demarini Voodoo 29/16. It should arrive any day now.
I also don't like the very small sweet spot on the SV12. So, we've also got a Demarini Vexxum 27/17 on the way. Really, I'd rather have a 27/17 in the Speed Stealth (model BSS13XL), but at the moment, those bats are going for $300. Easton just did a $50 price drop on the bat, but it will take a while to shake through the system. Probably won't be able to buy at much of a discount until my son is pretty much ready for a 28/18.
Until we can get him into a big barrel 29" bat (which seems like it won't happen until he can swing a 19 ounce bat), I am afraid we'll need to keep a 29" bat with a standard barrel on hand.
So, this year, we'll have a big barrel 27/17, and a standard barrel 29/16 in the bag. I think he needs two bats in the bag.
Next year or later this year, we'll want a 28/18 big barrel and it really won't be that important to have a bat that's 1" longer in the bag. We'll be able to get down to just one bat.
A final note on big barrel bats. The drop 12s, drop 13s, etc., are usually considered youth bats. The big barrels don't seem to come any lighter than a drop 10, and are considered "senior league" bats.
Monday, April 26, 2010
The Money Pit II: Monier and Pittier!
The house was really making progress. Mostly, two walls were removed and a bank of ugly flourescent lights was taken out of the kitchen. (Which required installing an actual ceiling and 3 recessed light fixtures.)
The removal of the walls opens the entire house up. Totally different feeling in there.
The wallpaper has mostly been stripped. The living room, other than flooring is mostly done except for paint and trim.
It was getting to the point I could envision myself moving in.
Then, got hit by yet another project that I knew had to be done... I just was hoping it didn't have to be done RIGHT NOW.
Unfortunately, so far, pretty much every project I had hoped to hold off on has had to be done right away.
The only things holding out are the smelly fridge and the garage door opener (which sounds about like a cement mixer.) The rest of the house? All the "someday" projects have become "better do them right now" projects.
This project? Right over the living room that I am having redone is a big flat roof. The previous owners tried to make it a big open patio deck type thing but it's pretty much the worst deck in the world. It's got "torch down" roofing material. The wrought iron railings are flimsy. You wouldn't dare have a party there or even let kids be up there unsupervised.
Worst of all, it's a flat roof. I knew it was going to be a problem sooner or later. Flat roofs always are. Anybody who has ever had a flat roof can tell you: they're an absolute nightmare. They will leak, and when they do, it's absolutely impossible to say for certain where the leak is coming from.
I was lost as to what to do until it dawned on me. When the roof caused me problems, I'd wall in the entire area and make a nice 2nd story sunroom. It'd be 17' x 35', so it'd be darned big. Like everywhere else in my house, the view would be magnificent, especially towards the back of the house. With windows, it would be well-ventilated and could be used on all but the coldest and hottest days of the year.
It was a perfect solution... and now it needs to be implemented right now because this weekend's hard rains have shown that the roof does, indeed, have a leak.
Trying to stay positive about this. As far as additions go, this will be the least expensive possible addition. It doesn't need HVAC, plumbing or even electricity. One of the walls is already built. I don't need the interior to be finished at all. If the studs are showing, that's fine until I can afford to finish off the inside. Eventually, it'll have windows pretty much all the way around, but for the time being, I can install one large-ish window per wall and that will suffice until a future date when I can afford yet more windows.
Basically, one giant (600 sq. ft.) room with bare floors, exposed studs on the walls... it'll just be weathertight, which the current roof isn't.
I am feeling a bit beaten down by this thing, which is characteristic for a money pit owner. It's not even like I have a good handle on everything in the house, though at this point, about the only thing I don't have a plan or money for is flooring. Might be living on bare floors for a few years while my wallet stops bleeding. I really can't afford this project right now, but I can't afford not to do it, either.
Like so much with updating / remodelling a house, you're in for a penny, in for a pound. A lot of times, you can't work incrementally.
So, like I said, we'll be living on bare floors for a while. Also, the kitchen and all the bathrooms will need to be updated. They're all at least functional. Just not particularly appealing.
So, still several more years of projects ahead. By the time I re-do the kitchen and bath, it'll be time for the furnace and A/C to blow. Lordy, please let the furnace and A/C last that long.
Okay, that's the depressing side. On the bright side, my furniture arrived. The walls are knocked out. The lights are slowly but surely being modernized. Got a great Whirlpool Duet front-loading washer and dryer. Some of the upstairs windows have arrived. I assembled the two beds I bought. The wallpaper has been stripped. The house is much, much nicer to be in, now, even though it's sorta torn up and needs paint. I figure the painting might be pretty well done this week.
Not sure what my exact battle plan is for the 3 season room. I have a friend who is a GC in Ohio. I will probably see if he can recommend an architect to draw up a simple plan, have him pull the permits. I'll see if he'll let my guys do everything except maybe the roof. See if he'll let me buy the materials. I just left him a message. Will see how/when he gets back to me.
This just blows. However, I have visions of enjoying my comfy home with the awesome creek and woods view sometime in the near future. I just may be wearing tennis shoes with my pajamas because the first floor will probably be all bare floors.
The removal of the walls opens the entire house up. Totally different feeling in there.
The wallpaper has mostly been stripped. The living room, other than flooring is mostly done except for paint and trim.
It was getting to the point I could envision myself moving in.
Then, got hit by yet another project that I knew had to be done... I just was hoping it didn't have to be done RIGHT NOW.
Unfortunately, so far, pretty much every project I had hoped to hold off on has had to be done right away.
The only things holding out are the smelly fridge and the garage door opener (which sounds about like a cement mixer.) The rest of the house? All the "someday" projects have become "better do them right now" projects.
This project? Right over the living room that I am having redone is a big flat roof. The previous owners tried to make it a big open patio deck type thing but it's pretty much the worst deck in the world. It's got "torch down" roofing material. The wrought iron railings are flimsy. You wouldn't dare have a party there or even let kids be up there unsupervised.
Worst of all, it's a flat roof. I knew it was going to be a problem sooner or later. Flat roofs always are. Anybody who has ever had a flat roof can tell you: they're an absolute nightmare. They will leak, and when they do, it's absolutely impossible to say for certain where the leak is coming from.
I was lost as to what to do until it dawned on me. When the roof caused me problems, I'd wall in the entire area and make a nice 2nd story sunroom. It'd be 17' x 35', so it'd be darned big. Like everywhere else in my house, the view would be magnificent, especially towards the back of the house. With windows, it would be well-ventilated and could be used on all but the coldest and hottest days of the year.
It was a perfect solution... and now it needs to be implemented right now because this weekend's hard rains have shown that the roof does, indeed, have a leak.
Trying to stay positive about this. As far as additions go, this will be the least expensive possible addition. It doesn't need HVAC, plumbing or even electricity. One of the walls is already built. I don't need the interior to be finished at all. If the studs are showing, that's fine until I can afford to finish off the inside. Eventually, it'll have windows pretty much all the way around, but for the time being, I can install one large-ish window per wall and that will suffice until a future date when I can afford yet more windows.
Basically, one giant (600 sq. ft.) room with bare floors, exposed studs on the walls... it'll just be weathertight, which the current roof isn't.
I am feeling a bit beaten down by this thing, which is characteristic for a money pit owner. It's not even like I have a good handle on everything in the house, though at this point, about the only thing I don't have a plan or money for is flooring. Might be living on bare floors for a few years while my wallet stops bleeding. I really can't afford this project right now, but I can't afford not to do it, either.
Like so much with updating / remodelling a house, you're in for a penny, in for a pound. A lot of times, you can't work incrementally.
So, like I said, we'll be living on bare floors for a while. Also, the kitchen and all the bathrooms will need to be updated. They're all at least functional. Just not particularly appealing.
So, still several more years of projects ahead. By the time I re-do the kitchen and bath, it'll be time for the furnace and A/C to blow. Lordy, please let the furnace and A/C last that long.
Okay, that's the depressing side. On the bright side, my furniture arrived. The walls are knocked out. The lights are slowly but surely being modernized. Got a great Whirlpool Duet front-loading washer and dryer. Some of the upstairs windows have arrived. I assembled the two beds I bought. The wallpaper has been stripped. The house is much, much nicer to be in, now, even though it's sorta torn up and needs paint. I figure the painting might be pretty well done this week.
Not sure what my exact battle plan is for the 3 season room. I have a friend who is a GC in Ohio. I will probably see if he can recommend an architect to draw up a simple plan, have him pull the permits. I'll see if he'll let my guys do everything except maybe the roof. See if he'll let me buy the materials. I just left him a message. Will see how/when he gets back to me.
This just blows. However, I have visions of enjoying my comfy home with the awesome creek and woods view sometime in the near future. I just may be wearing tennis shoes with my pajamas because the first floor will probably be all bare floors.
Bat Drama Continues
Couple of interesting things happened this weekend.
Logan actually went down to a 16 ounce bat to start off the tournament. Trouble is, the 16 and 16.5 ounce bats we have are the worst bats we own. No technology in them. Just aluminum bats.
Logan hit a ton with the 16 ounce in practice. So, whatever. He's not a kid who swings a big, heavy bat, anyway.
First game he went 3 for 3 and had one really impressive deep shot. Second game, though, he went 0-fer and hit one inside pitch that rattled the heck out of the bat and his hands.
One of the biggest differences in bats these days is that they have composite materials and there's usually a transition between the hitting area and the handle.
I told him that with one of the other bats, he couldn't get so much handle vibration and that inside shot probably would not have hurt so much.
He went with the 17 ounce Excalibur bat the rest of the tournament.
Second day, went 1 for 2 in the first game. Not bad.
Second game, they faced the best pitching team we've seen all year. Both pitchers we faced threw well and faster than anybody we've seen all year so far.
Logan only had 2 at bats. First one went down swinging. Second one, though, he went deep into the count and fouled off 2 pitches. He tipped his 3rd strike, but it was caught.
So, I don't think a 17 ounce bat is too heavy for him. If he can catch up to those kids, he can catch up to anything.
I really would like to see him transition to a big barrel bat. My cousin's husband (hitting instructor, multi-year pro player in the minors) says they're a huge advantage and he isn't the kind of guy to blow smoke about that sort of thing.
I've already got a 19/29 (19 ounce 29") bat for him to try, but it is too heavy. Logan's swing started getting big, slow and looping.
We've got probably the best 17/29 bat on the market. The only problem is it's not a big barrel. Logan was able to catch up to the fast pitcher with it. If he'd have had a big barrel bat, one of those foul balls might have been put in play. Probably would have been pounded into the dirt or popped up but it'd be in play.
The trouble with big barrels is that if I get a 17 ounce bat, it will come in a 27 ounce length. The manufacturers, for the most part, don't make anything lighter than a drop 10. (Drop is the difference between the length in inches and the weight. So, drop ten would be 27-17.)
Now, here's where the physics comes in. It's not necessarily true that a big barrel 17/27 would be the same swing-weight as a normal barrel 17/29.
There are two key differences. One, the big barrel would create more wind resistance. Two, the shorter bat would require less torque to start the swing and thus have lower MOI (moment of inertia.)
So, it's entirely possible that a big barrel 17/27 produce a faster swing than a standard 17/29. It's also possible that it would not. There's no real way to tell.
We're amassing a ridiculous bat collection. Sometimes the local stores will let you take one home if you keep the plastic on it and only hit wiffle balls or tennis balls with it. We did that with one bat: used the pitching machine and wiffle balls to see if my son could hit it. He did fine. Took it and threw some live pitch, he did fine. Did fine through his coach's batting practice. Then, when he had to face some live pitch from kids his age, I saw signs that the bat was too heavy.
So, frankly, there's just no way to tell how your kid will do with a bat until you've seen him swing it a lot. Great if you can borrow one before parting with the money, but sometimes that's just not possible.
I do think losing 2" is not great. However, I suspect that the additional benefit of the big barrel may help. He's got a big barrel 17/27 on the way. Because of the physics I described above, he will probably swing it about as well as he swings his current 17/29 and maybe a bit faster. He may be able to handle a 18/28, which I'd feel better about in regards to length.
I still haven't found an 18/28 that I feel good about. I paid full retail for a couple of bats this year, and just can't keep that up. So, unless it's a monster screamin' deal on e-bay, I will probably hold off.
He's got a bat he hits just fine with. I'm just trying to gain him a tiny bit of extra advantage.
Logan actually went down to a 16 ounce bat to start off the tournament. Trouble is, the 16 and 16.5 ounce bats we have are the worst bats we own. No technology in them. Just aluminum bats.
Logan hit a ton with the 16 ounce in practice. So, whatever. He's not a kid who swings a big, heavy bat, anyway.
First game he went 3 for 3 and had one really impressive deep shot. Second game, though, he went 0-fer and hit one inside pitch that rattled the heck out of the bat and his hands.
One of the biggest differences in bats these days is that they have composite materials and there's usually a transition between the hitting area and the handle.
I told him that with one of the other bats, he couldn't get so much handle vibration and that inside shot probably would not have hurt so much.
He went with the 17 ounce Excalibur bat the rest of the tournament.
Second day, went 1 for 2 in the first game. Not bad.
Second game, they faced the best pitching team we've seen all year. Both pitchers we faced threw well and faster than anybody we've seen all year so far.
Logan only had 2 at bats. First one went down swinging. Second one, though, he went deep into the count and fouled off 2 pitches. He tipped his 3rd strike, but it was caught.
So, I don't think a 17 ounce bat is too heavy for him. If he can catch up to those kids, he can catch up to anything.
I really would like to see him transition to a big barrel bat. My cousin's husband (hitting instructor, multi-year pro player in the minors) says they're a huge advantage and he isn't the kind of guy to blow smoke about that sort of thing.
I've already got a 19/29 (19 ounce 29") bat for him to try, but it is too heavy. Logan's swing started getting big, slow and looping.
We've got probably the best 17/29 bat on the market. The only problem is it's not a big barrel. Logan was able to catch up to the fast pitcher with it. If he'd have had a big barrel bat, one of those foul balls might have been put in play. Probably would have been pounded into the dirt or popped up but it'd be in play.
The trouble with big barrels is that if I get a 17 ounce bat, it will come in a 27 ounce length. The manufacturers, for the most part, don't make anything lighter than a drop 10. (Drop is the difference between the length in inches and the weight. So, drop ten would be 27-17.)
Now, here's where the physics comes in. It's not necessarily true that a big barrel 17/27 would be the same swing-weight as a normal barrel 17/29.
There are two key differences. One, the big barrel would create more wind resistance. Two, the shorter bat would require less torque to start the swing and thus have lower MOI (moment of inertia.)
So, it's entirely possible that a big barrel 17/27 produce a faster swing than a standard 17/29. It's also possible that it would not. There's no real way to tell.
We're amassing a ridiculous bat collection. Sometimes the local stores will let you take one home if you keep the plastic on it and only hit wiffle balls or tennis balls with it. We did that with one bat: used the pitching machine and wiffle balls to see if my son could hit it. He did fine. Took it and threw some live pitch, he did fine. Did fine through his coach's batting practice. Then, when he had to face some live pitch from kids his age, I saw signs that the bat was too heavy.
So, frankly, there's just no way to tell how your kid will do with a bat until you've seen him swing it a lot. Great if you can borrow one before parting with the money, but sometimes that's just not possible.
I do think losing 2" is not great. However, I suspect that the additional benefit of the big barrel may help. He's got a big barrel 17/27 on the way. Because of the physics I described above, he will probably swing it about as well as he swings his current 17/29 and maybe a bit faster. He may be able to handle a 18/28, which I'd feel better about in regards to length.
I still haven't found an 18/28 that I feel good about. I paid full retail for a couple of bats this year, and just can't keep that up. So, unless it's a monster screamin' deal on e-bay, I will probably hold off.
He's got a bat he hits just fine with. I'm just trying to gain him a tiny bit of extra advantage.
Friday, April 23, 2010
My Boy is "Streb"
Much like Neo in the Matrix, or Muhammed Ali, there's a special significance attached to names that we select for ourselves, versus the ones we are given at birth. I've been called a lot of names in my life, some of them not very complimentary. The one name that has almost always been used in a positive light is "Streb", which is, of course, an abbreviation of my last name. (It is also, coincidentally, the actual last name of some people. So is "Streby".)
My son is almost 9 years old, but he already surpasses me in some areas. He has been able to, for the past 2 years, run a mile faster than I can. He is a far better baseball player than I am.
It is the natural order of things. As I age and decline, he is continuing on his trajectory towards the height of his powers. As I must increasingly rely on maturity and perspective for my place in the world, he is approaching the zenith of his days of strength, speed and fiesty spirit.
There will be a day when I retire to a rocking chair to look back on a lifetime of whatever achievements I have managed to assemble. At that time, he will be in the prime of his life.
On Logan's baseball team, there are two Logans. It is the only name on the team for which there are two kids. Ironic given that the name Logan was chosen, among many reasons, because I detested the idea that he would have a common name shared by a handful of other kids his age.
(He can thank his mother that I didn't have my way and name him "Wolfgang" or "Tristan".)
It causes some confusion during the game because the coaches are frequently shouting out instructions. If they say "Logan, move back 3 steps", all of a sudden we've got two kids moving back. You get the idea.
I started calling him "Streb", which feels wierd to me. That's MY name, not his. He's Logan. I'm Streb. It works, though, and it will probably stick.
To me, the passing of my chosen name is significant in that it symbolizes a passing of the torch. He's the ballplayer, now. I'm just the guy on the bench with the stats book. He'll be the kid in High School, then college. As his father, I'm completely objective when I say he'll be the handsomest and most charming young man the world has ever seen. I'll be the unremarkable small business owner who writes the checks.
I know that it is the dawning of an era where he is embarking on all the dreams in the universe. Everything is open to him. His possibilities are endless.
My life? It's an awesome life, but the dreams I haven't accomplished by now have a time-limit and many of the will expire unfulfilled.
So, as I give him my name, I pass the torch. The years of your youth are a marvelous time. I enjoyed them tremendously. I accomplished more and did more and experienced more than I ever thought was possible. I envy you that you have so much adventure ahead of you.
I have 9 more years to shape you into young manhood. At least so far, it's been nothing short of an absolute joy for me. Just as quickly as the past 9 years have passed, the next 9 will fly by as well. I'll do all I can to cherish every moment, just as I've cherished every moment so far.
Go get 'em, Streb.
My son is almost 9 years old, but he already surpasses me in some areas. He has been able to, for the past 2 years, run a mile faster than I can. He is a far better baseball player than I am.
It is the natural order of things. As I age and decline, he is continuing on his trajectory towards the height of his powers. As I must increasingly rely on maturity and perspective for my place in the world, he is approaching the zenith of his days of strength, speed and fiesty spirit.
There will be a day when I retire to a rocking chair to look back on a lifetime of whatever achievements I have managed to assemble. At that time, he will be in the prime of his life.
On Logan's baseball team, there are two Logans. It is the only name on the team for which there are two kids. Ironic given that the name Logan was chosen, among many reasons, because I detested the idea that he would have a common name shared by a handful of other kids his age.
(He can thank his mother that I didn't have my way and name him "Wolfgang" or "Tristan".)
It causes some confusion during the game because the coaches are frequently shouting out instructions. If they say "Logan, move back 3 steps", all of a sudden we've got two kids moving back. You get the idea.
I started calling him "Streb", which feels wierd to me. That's MY name, not his. He's Logan. I'm Streb. It works, though, and it will probably stick.
To me, the passing of my chosen name is significant in that it symbolizes a passing of the torch. He's the ballplayer, now. I'm just the guy on the bench with the stats book. He'll be the kid in High School, then college. As his father, I'm completely objective when I say he'll be the handsomest and most charming young man the world has ever seen. I'll be the unremarkable small business owner who writes the checks.
I know that it is the dawning of an era where he is embarking on all the dreams in the universe. Everything is open to him. His possibilities are endless.
My life? It's an awesome life, but the dreams I haven't accomplished by now have a time-limit and many of the will expire unfulfilled.
So, as I give him my name, I pass the torch. The years of your youth are a marvelous time. I enjoyed them tremendously. I accomplished more and did more and experienced more than I ever thought was possible. I envy you that you have so much adventure ahead of you.
I have 9 more years to shape you into young manhood. At least so far, it's been nothing short of an absolute joy for me. Just as quickly as the past 9 years have passed, the next 9 will fly by as well. I'll do all I can to cherish every moment, just as I've cherished every moment so far.
Go get 'em, Streb.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Gender Discrimination in Youth Sports
It's a pretty commonly held view in society that youth sports is good for young girls. It gives them physical activity. It builds their self-esteem. It improves social skills.
I think, honestly, if a person mentioned removing girls from sports against their will, they'd be branded as some sort of misogynist, bent on denying young ladies the developmental benefits that participation in sports can provide.
Yet, there are plenty of people who think that sports for young boys is just one of many interests they can pursue.
Not buying it? Let's try this one on for size.
If you asked most folks whether it was more beneficial for young boys to play football, or to learn how to play piano, I think a lot of folks would say that both activities are probably equally valuable.
In fact, if a person said, "I took my son out of Lacrosse and made him enroll in piano lessons", a lot of folks would find wisdom in that course of action.
However, if you suggested that young girls shouldn't play sports, and should play piano, instead, you'd be accused of gender stereotyping and, again, of denying girls the benefits that are unique to participation in sports.
The main point here is that I think folks have it just about right when it comes to girls and sports. It's not just enough to provide ACCESS to sports for girls, but that it's probably right to encourage them to participate, to a degree. I'm not talking about forcing a girl to play a sport she doesn't want to play, but just making sure the girls are encouraged to do it if it seems fun.
We live in a nation where obesity is at epidemic proportions. That's somewhat good news because it means a lot of heart attacks and early mortality which should save us some social security money. It's bad news from and individual standpoint because it compromises quality of life.
Obesity isn't just an acceptance issue. It has actual health consequences. So, physical activity is something we should be encouraging of all our young people.
When it comes to boys, I'll even offer that sports is probably MORE important than it is for girls. Why? Because the academic environment is heavily weighted towards girls. They can get a lot of self esteem during the very long school day.
Boys, who are naturally more energetic and less likely to enjoy sitting still for extended periods of time, are already being browbeaten into acknowledging that our academic institutions regard them as little more than defective girls.
In sports, that's where boys behavior can be channelled. Their naturally more agressive and competitive natures are perfectly at home. Their desire to constantly be in motion can be channelled into something more productive.
Almost for this very reason, I think many folks see sports as a throw-away activity for boys. Because, basically, they sort of display all those traits, anyway. Time and time again, I've heard parents express the idea that sports just isn't that important... but always when referring to their sons... never their daughters.
Without sports, there really aren't that many convenient activities where young men can build their self-esteem. There aren't that many places where they can work hard towards manageable goals and feel proud of themselves.
Which is why I say that it's not enough to merely make sports available to boys. Just like with girls, I think it's right to actually ENCOURAGE them to participate.
The alternative, I fear, is another generation of kids who spend their adolescence on a couch, playing video games.
I think, honestly, if a person mentioned removing girls from sports against their will, they'd be branded as some sort of misogynist, bent on denying young ladies the developmental benefits that participation in sports can provide.
Yet, there are plenty of people who think that sports for young boys is just one of many interests they can pursue.
Not buying it? Let's try this one on for size.
If you asked most folks whether it was more beneficial for young boys to play football, or to learn how to play piano, I think a lot of folks would say that both activities are probably equally valuable.
In fact, if a person said, "I took my son out of Lacrosse and made him enroll in piano lessons", a lot of folks would find wisdom in that course of action.
However, if you suggested that young girls shouldn't play sports, and should play piano, instead, you'd be accused of gender stereotyping and, again, of denying girls the benefits that are unique to participation in sports.
The main point here is that I think folks have it just about right when it comes to girls and sports. It's not just enough to provide ACCESS to sports for girls, but that it's probably right to encourage them to participate, to a degree. I'm not talking about forcing a girl to play a sport she doesn't want to play, but just making sure the girls are encouraged to do it if it seems fun.
We live in a nation where obesity is at epidemic proportions. That's somewhat good news because it means a lot of heart attacks and early mortality which should save us some social security money. It's bad news from and individual standpoint because it compromises quality of life.
Obesity isn't just an acceptance issue. It has actual health consequences. So, physical activity is something we should be encouraging of all our young people.
When it comes to boys, I'll even offer that sports is probably MORE important than it is for girls. Why? Because the academic environment is heavily weighted towards girls. They can get a lot of self esteem during the very long school day.
Boys, who are naturally more energetic and less likely to enjoy sitting still for extended periods of time, are already being browbeaten into acknowledging that our academic institutions regard them as little more than defective girls.
In sports, that's where boys behavior can be channelled. Their naturally more agressive and competitive natures are perfectly at home. Their desire to constantly be in motion can be channelled into something more productive.
Almost for this very reason, I think many folks see sports as a throw-away activity for boys. Because, basically, they sort of display all those traits, anyway. Time and time again, I've heard parents express the idea that sports just isn't that important... but always when referring to their sons... never their daughters.
Without sports, there really aren't that many convenient activities where young men can build their self-esteem. There aren't that many places where they can work hard towards manageable goals and feel proud of themselves.
Which is why I say that it's not enough to merely make sports available to boys. Just like with girls, I think it's right to actually ENCOURAGE them to participate.
The alternative, I fear, is another generation of kids who spend their adolescence on a couch, playing video games.
"Jedi Mind Tricks" or "Quest for Excalibur"
I'm a firm believer that a mental edge helps in life and in sports. This fact was made abundantly clear in a golf game I was playing two years ago.
I'm not a very good golfer but had spent a lot of time improving my game. I registered for a tee time and got a doctor and his son in my group and we headed off as a threesome. I had golfed a lot that season, but always by myself during low-usage times on the course because I was self-conscious about my game. This was the first time I could compare myself to other actual living golfers who were golfing next to me.
The work was paying off and I was slaying these guys. It wasn't exactly the Masters, but I was getting pars and bogeys on pretty much every hole and either tying or beating these guys on every hole.
We weren't competing, per se. I just wanted to know if I was good enough to go out on a course with decent golfers without embarassing myself.
After 11 holes, we all teed up. I out-drove both of them by 15 yards. On his second shot, the son swings, hits the ball, it bounces once and goes right in the cup.
Something about that freaked me out and I didn't win another hole the entire day. I think they both actually beat me on my final score, too!
What a turnaround!!! I'm a grown man and I let something like that get in my head and my golf game went entirely out the window.
Baseball is largely mental, too. So, I have to be careful what I say to my son. For instance, right now, he's obsessed with playing catcher. Why? Because I said that pitching and catching is your best shot at the major leagues.
I am not trying to pump him up that he'll play in the major leagues. Personally, I think that's right there wth thinking you'll be elected president or knock George Clooney out as Hollywood's leading pretty boy. I also would actually rather he didn't play catcher, for a lot of reasons too diffuse and involved to go into here.
However, one off-the-cuff comment and he was hooked.
Later, when he was playing a lot of outfield, I debated whether to tell him that most of the great hitters throughout time were outfielders. Why? Because he also plays a lot of infield and I didn't want him to be disappointed when the coach put him in the infield for a few innings.
Little comments here and there have a tremendous impact on him.
I bought him a new bat the other day. It wasn't exactly the bat I wanted. It was two ounces heavier than I would have liked. However, it was balanced differently, which meant that there was some small chance that he could have handled it well. It was a big barrel composite bat and those are different enough that they should make a noticeable difference.
However, it still has to be the right bat. It's more about the swing than the bat and the world's greatest bat is no good if it hurts your swing because it's too heavy.
I don't want to monkey all that much with his hitting because he's hitting .625 and is up there with the team leaders in both average and slugging percentage. I just felt that it was time to upgrade him to a big barrel bat. The one he's been using so far is quite possibly the lowest-end bat on the market. I have nicer bats for him and I thought he'd outgrow this bat by now. Instead, he's hitting very well with it, is comfortable with it.
The comfort is probably the biggest thing. Hitting a baseball is very mental, especially against some of the better pitchers.
He hit the new bat pretty well in the basement off the pitching machine, but that's not exactly game conditions. I took him to a local park and he seemed to be hitting pretty well, but I pitch a lot slower than the pitchers in his league.
No, I'm not kidding. 9 year old pitchers throw harder than I do.
I wanted to see how he hit with the bat in practice and he hit his coaches batting practice pretty well with it, but I could have sworn he was slowing down his swing.
At the end of practice, he faced one of his team-mates with it and struck out. The strikeout doesn't bother me. But he looked like he was swinging in slow motion.
The bat is just too heavy for this year. It goes into the pile for next year or later.
Now, how do I handle this?
I'm a firm believer in hypnosis and suggestion. You can put an idea in a kid's head that will stay there for years, accidentally "hypnotizing" them. Sometimes you can do it positively.
For instance, I have always tried to catch Logan being good and comment on it. "That was very nice for you to share with Bobby", etc. The idea being that if I plant enough good ideas in his head, he'll grow up believing he's a good person who does good things.
If the only time he ever heard from me is when he's being bad, he'd form the opposite opinion: that he's a screw up who can't get things right.
You have to be careful here because as an adult you have so much power over a child, you can shade into manipulation. Some manipulation is good when, for instance, you're manipulating your child to brush their teeth and do their homework.
On the other hand, these are still human beings and although he's my son, I want him to live a life that's his, not one that's just a reflection of my wants and desires. So, for me to try and influence him, I have to know in my heart of hearts that it is truly, 100% for his benefit.
The other thing is, I will never try to influence my son with anything that isn't 100% the truth. Deception may get results, but it's ultimately dishonest.
So, what to say about the bat. The wrong comment could crush his confidence. Kids equate strength and size with ability. So, saying he was too weak to swing the bat could have been disastrous.
What I told him was this: the bat is too heavy for right now, but that's good. The team he's facing today is a tough team that the Mavs can beat. But, they're going to have fast pitchers. This means that a quick bat is very important today.
Because Logan has been swinging this heavy bat the past two days, I told him that when he goes back to his old bat (the one he hits .625 with so far) that it'll be extra quick against this team.
I told him that getting used to a heavy bat makes lighter bats faster. Sort of like warming up with a "donut" on your bat.
The goal?
1. To keep him from feeling bad about using the old bat. Didn't want to make him feel like he failed to swing the new bat.
2. To make him believe that using the old bat wasn't just a test he didn't pass (that he wasn't capable enough with the old bat), but was, instead, a training process that would give him an extra advantage today. This, by the way, is all probably 100% true. Just that it wasn't quite that premeditated.
3. To get him to where he feels good about returning to his old bat.
I think it worked. Logan was so impressed by the logic that he asked if he could do all his pre-game warmup with the new bat to keep up the "heavy bat" effect. I told him he needed to use his old bat today to re-establish his timing. He'll have an imperceptibly quicker swing, but he needs to return to some familiarity.
So, what's the point of the whole Jedi mind trick if the swing is only imperceptibly quicker? Twofold.
The first is that he needs to return to a lighter bat today. The heavier one won't work and I can't find an appropriate one in the right weight in time for the game. That's reality. It's a limitation and we'll have to work with it, but I want him to feel good about it.
The second is that he will actually face some faster pitchers today, I believe. If he THINKS he's a little quicker with the bat, he's that much less likely to feel intimidated.
One of the biggest advantages a pitcher can have over a batter is if he can make the batter feel intimidated.
The bottom line: they don't have any of the specific bat I want for Logan anywhere locally and the major outlets are on 6 week backorder. I found one the other day and ordered it, but it won't be here in time for the game tonight and probably not in time for the tournament this weekend.
Let's hope the suggestion works and he believes he's got the quickest bat on the planet, and it shows in his at-bats tonight. We face a tough team and need all the hits we can get.
I'm not a very good golfer but had spent a lot of time improving my game. I registered for a tee time and got a doctor and his son in my group and we headed off as a threesome. I had golfed a lot that season, but always by myself during low-usage times on the course because I was self-conscious about my game. This was the first time I could compare myself to other actual living golfers who were golfing next to me.
The work was paying off and I was slaying these guys. It wasn't exactly the Masters, but I was getting pars and bogeys on pretty much every hole and either tying or beating these guys on every hole.
We weren't competing, per se. I just wanted to know if I was good enough to go out on a course with decent golfers without embarassing myself.
After 11 holes, we all teed up. I out-drove both of them by 15 yards. On his second shot, the son swings, hits the ball, it bounces once and goes right in the cup.
Something about that freaked me out and I didn't win another hole the entire day. I think they both actually beat me on my final score, too!
What a turnaround!!! I'm a grown man and I let something like that get in my head and my golf game went entirely out the window.
Baseball is largely mental, too. So, I have to be careful what I say to my son. For instance, right now, he's obsessed with playing catcher. Why? Because I said that pitching and catching is your best shot at the major leagues.
I am not trying to pump him up that he'll play in the major leagues. Personally, I think that's right there wth thinking you'll be elected president or knock George Clooney out as Hollywood's leading pretty boy. I also would actually rather he didn't play catcher, for a lot of reasons too diffuse and involved to go into here.
However, one off-the-cuff comment and he was hooked.
Later, when he was playing a lot of outfield, I debated whether to tell him that most of the great hitters throughout time were outfielders. Why? Because he also plays a lot of infield and I didn't want him to be disappointed when the coach put him in the infield for a few innings.
Little comments here and there have a tremendous impact on him.
I bought him a new bat the other day. It wasn't exactly the bat I wanted. It was two ounces heavier than I would have liked. However, it was balanced differently, which meant that there was some small chance that he could have handled it well. It was a big barrel composite bat and those are different enough that they should make a noticeable difference.
However, it still has to be the right bat. It's more about the swing than the bat and the world's greatest bat is no good if it hurts your swing because it's too heavy.
I don't want to monkey all that much with his hitting because he's hitting .625 and is up there with the team leaders in both average and slugging percentage. I just felt that it was time to upgrade him to a big barrel bat. The one he's been using so far is quite possibly the lowest-end bat on the market. I have nicer bats for him and I thought he'd outgrow this bat by now. Instead, he's hitting very well with it, is comfortable with it.
The comfort is probably the biggest thing. Hitting a baseball is very mental, especially against some of the better pitchers.
He hit the new bat pretty well in the basement off the pitching machine, but that's not exactly game conditions. I took him to a local park and he seemed to be hitting pretty well, but I pitch a lot slower than the pitchers in his league.
No, I'm not kidding. 9 year old pitchers throw harder than I do.
I wanted to see how he hit with the bat in practice and he hit his coaches batting practice pretty well with it, but I could have sworn he was slowing down his swing.
At the end of practice, he faced one of his team-mates with it and struck out. The strikeout doesn't bother me. But he looked like he was swinging in slow motion.
The bat is just too heavy for this year. It goes into the pile for next year or later.
Now, how do I handle this?
I'm a firm believer in hypnosis and suggestion. You can put an idea in a kid's head that will stay there for years, accidentally "hypnotizing" them. Sometimes you can do it positively.
For instance, I have always tried to catch Logan being good and comment on it. "That was very nice for you to share with Bobby", etc. The idea being that if I plant enough good ideas in his head, he'll grow up believing he's a good person who does good things.
If the only time he ever heard from me is when he's being bad, he'd form the opposite opinion: that he's a screw up who can't get things right.
You have to be careful here because as an adult you have so much power over a child, you can shade into manipulation. Some manipulation is good when, for instance, you're manipulating your child to brush their teeth and do their homework.
On the other hand, these are still human beings and although he's my son, I want him to live a life that's his, not one that's just a reflection of my wants and desires. So, for me to try and influence him, I have to know in my heart of hearts that it is truly, 100% for his benefit.
The other thing is, I will never try to influence my son with anything that isn't 100% the truth. Deception may get results, but it's ultimately dishonest.
So, what to say about the bat. The wrong comment could crush his confidence. Kids equate strength and size with ability. So, saying he was too weak to swing the bat could have been disastrous.
What I told him was this: the bat is too heavy for right now, but that's good. The team he's facing today is a tough team that the Mavs can beat. But, they're going to have fast pitchers. This means that a quick bat is very important today.
Because Logan has been swinging this heavy bat the past two days, I told him that when he goes back to his old bat (the one he hits .625 with so far) that it'll be extra quick against this team.
I told him that getting used to a heavy bat makes lighter bats faster. Sort of like warming up with a "donut" on your bat.
The goal?
1. To keep him from feeling bad about using the old bat. Didn't want to make him feel like he failed to swing the new bat.
2. To make him believe that using the old bat wasn't just a test he didn't pass (that he wasn't capable enough with the old bat), but was, instead, a training process that would give him an extra advantage today. This, by the way, is all probably 100% true. Just that it wasn't quite that premeditated.
3. To get him to where he feels good about returning to his old bat.
I think it worked. Logan was so impressed by the logic that he asked if he could do all his pre-game warmup with the new bat to keep up the "heavy bat" effect. I told him he needed to use his old bat today to re-establish his timing. He'll have an imperceptibly quicker swing, but he needs to return to some familiarity.
So, what's the point of the whole Jedi mind trick if the swing is only imperceptibly quicker? Twofold.
The first is that he needs to return to a lighter bat today. The heavier one won't work and I can't find an appropriate one in the right weight in time for the game. That's reality. It's a limitation and we'll have to work with it, but I want him to feel good about it.
The second is that he will actually face some faster pitchers today, I believe. If he THINKS he's a little quicker with the bat, he's that much less likely to feel intimidated.
One of the biggest advantages a pitcher can have over a batter is if he can make the batter feel intimidated.
The bottom line: they don't have any of the specific bat I want for Logan anywhere locally and the major outlets are on 6 week backorder. I found one the other day and ordered it, but it won't be here in time for the game tonight and probably not in time for the tournament this weekend.
Let's hope the suggestion works and he believes he's got the quickest bat on the planet, and it shows in his at-bats tonight. We face a tough team and need all the hits we can get.
The Case Against Travel Teams
This is going to be a strange post given that my son plays on a travel team, where I also assist the coach. (I'm the team's commissioner, which means I take care of stuff like stats, bench-coaching, arranging hotels, etc.)
There was no such thing as travel teams for kids when I was a kid. Okay, I'm sure in some parts of the world, they existed, but in an industrial midwestern town like Akron, deep in recurring recessions, you just didn't hear of it.
Everybody played Little League. If you were really good, you made the city's All-Star team. When you got to Junior High and High School, you played for the school. Yes, there were some other oddities like Senior League, but for the most part, that was the trajectory.
In the last 30 years, something has changed a bit. More talented kids no longer played in recreational leagues or Little League. They were selected to play for travel teams.
The reasons they played is the same reason my son plays for a travel team. The coaching is typically (though not always) a notch above. The schedule is a bit more intense. Our travel team is scheduled to play over 50 games this season if you include all our likely tournament games. Everything is a notch above what you might expect in the rec league.
In the case of my son's team, the equipment is better, the fields are better, the competition is better, the coaching is better, the parents are more involved, the team-mates are better. An extra note on the coaching: our coach is astounding. I wish Logan could play for him all through High School.
So, if you have a son like mine who has been obsessed with baseball, football and basketball since he was young, you want him to have this opportunity if he wants it.
The tryout and selection process was pretty rigorous, too. 2 days of tryouts on 4 fields where the kids moved from one assessment to another. They were measured on everything from fielding ability to hitting to their running speed.
I honestly couldn't tell if Logan made the team or not based on what I saw. I found out later, that they were also holding tryouts for the 10 year olds, too.
So, I was ready to give a pep talk if he wasn't selected. The only thing I thought might be hard for him is if some of his closer friends were selected and he wasn't. In the end, the worry was unfounded. He was chosen for the Heavy travel team, which is basically the best kids at the tryout, who will play a heavier schedule.
Our city sponsors this program and it is run by the coaches for the two local High Schools. We are fortunate enough to live in a city that has the resources to sponsor a second travel team, the Light team, which plays in the same league, but has a lighter travel schedule and plays fewer games, overall.
This is awesome for the kids who make the two teams. They get better everything. They will clearly develop their skills faster, and probably better overall.
So, what's not to like? Our rec leagues just lost 22 of their better players. I won't say they lost their 22 best players. The reality is that some kids who could have made the travel teams just didn't try out for whatever reason.
Reasons you might not have your kid try out are many, but one of the main ones I can think of is finances. The cost is $500 out of pocket. This, by the way, is a pittance compared to the money our rec district puts out in terms of paying for equipment, tournament fees, two indoor practice facilities for the off-season, uniforms, etc. However, it's a heck of an expense for most folks, and when combined with the cost of hotels, equipment, additional uniform items, etc., it's a lot of money for anybody.
Another reason? Travel. It's great and easy if you have the time. If you work shifts and you're a single parent, you might simply not be able to take off to Columbus for 3 days for a tournament.
Still, clearly, the 22 players on the travel teams represent most of the better players in the league.
So, travel ball just decimated the rec leagues. Just as the travel kids will develop faster and more completely, the rec league kids are probably going to develop a bit slower and less completely. They won't be playing against the best.
There are some great coaches in the rec league, but the better players tend to have dads who were better players, or at least some of the more involved fathers. (In my case, athleticism was certainly not a factor. But involvement was.)
Which means that some of the rec league players are not going to have exposure to a handful of role models who might have made an impact in their playing days, but more importantly in their lives.
What to do? Personally, if Logan decides he'd rather play rec, I don't have a problem with that. I'll make it clear to him that the decision has consequences, but that it's all the same to me. I'm not quite so worried about his development. I'm just thinking that this has been a lot of fun for him, and if he doesn't travel, he won't have as much fun.
There may even come a time when I am deployed overseas and Logan won't be able to travel if his mom is working shifts at the hospital.
The other side? If he plays rec, frankly, he'll be the big bad stud of his team, which is fun, too. On the travel team, he's pretty normal for a player. In rec, he'd be back to the situation he was in last year where he was basically the best infielder on the team and the best hitter. I will probably never forget the day he went 4 for 4 with two home runs, including a walk-off grand-slam. I know he hasn't. That's not going to happen in travel ball. The level of competition is simply too good.
So, again, back to travel teams in general. In our city, there are two travel teams sponsored by the rec. There's also a third team that was simply organized by some Dads. That's the thing with travel teams. You can organize one yourself if you want.
I don't know why the kids on that 3rd team didn't want to play for the rec's travel teams, and I can't really theorize. Having seen them play, at least a few could have made the Mavericks program. Bottom line: for whatever reason, they don't want to play for the Mavericks.
(By the way, Logan tried out for that team and was not selected... no big deal, we beat them in the season opener. Haha!)
In this part of the country, we're a little behind other parts of the country in travel mania, though the presence of that 3rd team shows that it's coming.
So, what's the mania? I am certain that sometime in the future, there will be kids who didn't make the Mavericks and didn't make the other travel team, and who then start up a 4th travel team in our city. Then a 5th, then a 6th.
Once there's enough travel teams, the petty sports Dads make the situation worse. I wish I could say I was above all that stuff, but we get emotionally involved in our kids.
Dads will leave a travel team mid-season because another travel team told the kid he could play first-base. Or they'll leave a travel team because of a disagreement with a coach.
So, some of the benefit of playing travel ball is mitigated by the fact that kids are now hopping around, teams are getting jumbled around, there's lack of continuity, kids are learning a little pettiness in there with all the baseball and teamwork.
Then, what just happened to the rec league? Eventually, it gets to the point where instead of paying $50 to play rec league for an entire season, if you want your kid to play baseball, your only choice is to budget $3,000 for a travel season.
Basically, the travel leagues replace the rec leagues. Instead of travel ball being something only for a few select players, it becomes something that everybody does.
This is already happening in a lot of parts of the country, by the way.
Worse yet, travel sports are starting to replace High School sports in a lot of parts of the country, too! It's only just starting and is more common in some sports than others, but let me give an example.
Let's say your son is the best hockey player in town and you want him to get a scholarship. He plays with a lot of other talented kids who get a lot of assists. Your son gets a lot of goals.
Now, let's say that instead of playing for the High School team, some of those team-mates are tired of not-being the leading scorer on the team. They leave the High School team and go play for a travel team where they are the leading scorer.
Now, as far as I'm concerned, everybody loses. The talent pool is diluted and the leading scorer has a weaker supporting cast. Those guys who left the High School team to play for a travel team are not facing the same level of competition. So, even if they do get that college scholarship, they won't be as competitive as they would have been.
Right now, in schools that have competitive teams, the kids still play for the High School. But what if your star player attends a high school with few or no other good players? Fewer assists, fewer scores. Now, the best player on the team leaves the team to play travel and work with a better supporting cast.
Eventually, this becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Kids leave school teams to play travel because they think travel is their best chance. Travel becomes their best chance because kids have left the school teams to staff the travel teams.
I think our town got the formula just about right. They sponsor one Heavy travel team for the best kids at the tryout. Then, they sponsor a light travel team to develop the next best kids. The presence of a 3rd team in our city is not positive, in my opinion. Nothing against that team or their kids. The team is very good and has a lot of talented players on it.
The negative aspect is that some of the kids from these 3 travel teams could be enriching the rec league. Kids develop at different ages and some of the kids who weren't ready for travel this year will be superstars in years to come. Unfortunately, the quality of rec league play will probably diminish considerably this year because of the absence of some of the better players.
Which may lead their parents to try and establish even MORE travel teams. What if your kid BARELY didn't make the cutoff for the light team? Heck, that's a good ballplayer. Why not get together with some Dads of kids who also didn't make the cutoff and start yet another travel team?
What if you can afford a little money, but not the thousands involved in a heavy travel team? Why not start yet another travel team that doesn't travel to tournaments? Maybe instead of doing five tournaments, like my son's team, schedule one tournament at the end of the season. So, you could start yet another travel team.
Then, there's conflicts of personality. What if your kid is on a team with other parents you can't stand? What if you don't like the coach? You think he's a good coach, but you think he's shorting your son because your son always played shortstop but this coach has him at 3rd base? You could start yet another travel team.
What if you just want your kid to be a star? To play on a team that's good, but not too good, so they can lead the team in batting average and start at shortstop and pitcher every game? You could start yet another travel team. (In this case, what usually happens is that the player bounces around from travel team to travel team, and virtually never finds what they're looking for.)
The other category? I don't mean to be crass, but some kids just aren't that good. I worried all through the off-season that maybe some kids who weren't selected for the heavy team got gypped. What if the kids on the heavy team weren't that much better? What if they were just lucky on the day of the tryouts.
Now that the season has started, it's obvious that the kids on the more select teams really were better than the ones who were on the slightly less selective teams. A lot of the cities around here are set up like ours, with two travel teams. It's blatantly obvious which ones were the more selective and which ones weren't.
The difference between the best and worst players on the really selective teams is huge. The talent starts dropping off dramatically after that. So, yeah, there's a lot of kids out there who are really good ballplayers, but who simply are not as good as their parents think they are. I say this with much self-consciousness because I'm a parent like all the others and the one thing I absolutely cannot be objective about is my feelings for my son.
However, a lot of those parents will seek out or try to form travel teams for their kids. They will try to lure a handful of stars from other teams.
Things turn into a big mess in a hurry.
The net result? The rec leagues become even less fun, with fewer and fewer kids in them. The sport of baseball continues to transform from America's pastime, played in sandlots by anybody with a beat-up glove and his grandpa's old baseball bat to one played by kids with $200 gloves, $400 bats, with indoor practice facilities and road and home uniforms.
Some good players will simply be priced out of the game. The best players will come less and less from the United States, where sports is increasingly reserved for the wealthy, and will increasingly come from places like Central America where talent and a love for the game are the primary factors in who plays.
Like I said, I think our city has it just about right, with travel opportunties for a handful of kids, but keeping the rec league vibrant and available for the rest of the kids. Once the kids reach High School or Middle School, where they can play for their school, the city doesn't sponsor travel teams anymore.
The other viable alternative is to have an all-star team that plays an extended season at the end of the rec season.
Some of these additional travel teams have none of the things that Logan gets with his travel team. A lot of them have poor coaching, poor facilities, and the parents are, frankly, a big bunch of idiotic jerks.
A proliferation of travel teams is just bad all the way around, in my opinion.
If it came down to that, or nothing, I'd pick nothing. I'd hit Logan line drives in the back yard until he could get with a team with a decent coach.
In the mean time, although my son plays travel, I hope travel teams don't continue to displace rec league ball. Travel is a whole other universe, and I constantly try to evaluate if the committment in terms of time and energy are appropriate for my son. Because of his desire, love for the game, and natural abilities, I believe in his case that they are.
Travel isn't for everybody, though. We shouldn't have a system where we act like it is.
(On a personal note, I have never and will never push my son to play baseball. Of all the major sports, baseball and soccer were the two that I was least interested in, and showed the least talent in as a child. I displayed precious little talent at football and basketball, anyway. If I had my druthers and were of an inclination to force my son to do something, I'd be sitting him at a piano and smacking his hand with a ruler periodically. Trouble is, from the moment this kid could hold a ball, he would throw it agains things and catch it. From the moment he knew what baseball was, he played it nearly every day. Usually by swinging a toy bat and running around "bases" he set up in the living room. Nobody showed him how to do any of this. It was a love he was simply born with. I don't believe in forcing kids to do things they don't like. With sports, they're supposed to be fun, and if kids aren't enjoying them, I would never force them to play. If Logan ever got to where he wanted to quit a sport, he would be allowed. He'd be expected to finish out the season. Like anything a little kid says, I'd want to know why and make sure it's what they really want, but nobody in our house is forced towards any extracurricular activity.)
There was no such thing as travel teams for kids when I was a kid. Okay, I'm sure in some parts of the world, they existed, but in an industrial midwestern town like Akron, deep in recurring recessions, you just didn't hear of it.
Everybody played Little League. If you were really good, you made the city's All-Star team. When you got to Junior High and High School, you played for the school. Yes, there were some other oddities like Senior League, but for the most part, that was the trajectory.
In the last 30 years, something has changed a bit. More talented kids no longer played in recreational leagues or Little League. They were selected to play for travel teams.
The reasons they played is the same reason my son plays for a travel team. The coaching is typically (though not always) a notch above. The schedule is a bit more intense. Our travel team is scheduled to play over 50 games this season if you include all our likely tournament games. Everything is a notch above what you might expect in the rec league.
In the case of my son's team, the equipment is better, the fields are better, the competition is better, the coaching is better, the parents are more involved, the team-mates are better. An extra note on the coaching: our coach is astounding. I wish Logan could play for him all through High School.
So, if you have a son like mine who has been obsessed with baseball, football and basketball since he was young, you want him to have this opportunity if he wants it.
The tryout and selection process was pretty rigorous, too. 2 days of tryouts on 4 fields where the kids moved from one assessment to another. They were measured on everything from fielding ability to hitting to their running speed.
I honestly couldn't tell if Logan made the team or not based on what I saw. I found out later, that they were also holding tryouts for the 10 year olds, too.
So, I was ready to give a pep talk if he wasn't selected. The only thing I thought might be hard for him is if some of his closer friends were selected and he wasn't. In the end, the worry was unfounded. He was chosen for the Heavy travel team, which is basically the best kids at the tryout, who will play a heavier schedule.
Our city sponsors this program and it is run by the coaches for the two local High Schools. We are fortunate enough to live in a city that has the resources to sponsor a second travel team, the Light team, which plays in the same league, but has a lighter travel schedule and plays fewer games, overall.
This is awesome for the kids who make the two teams. They get better everything. They will clearly develop their skills faster, and probably better overall.
So, what's not to like? Our rec leagues just lost 22 of their better players. I won't say they lost their 22 best players. The reality is that some kids who could have made the travel teams just didn't try out for whatever reason.
Reasons you might not have your kid try out are many, but one of the main ones I can think of is finances. The cost is $500 out of pocket. This, by the way, is a pittance compared to the money our rec district puts out in terms of paying for equipment, tournament fees, two indoor practice facilities for the off-season, uniforms, etc. However, it's a heck of an expense for most folks, and when combined with the cost of hotels, equipment, additional uniform items, etc., it's a lot of money for anybody.
Another reason? Travel. It's great and easy if you have the time. If you work shifts and you're a single parent, you might simply not be able to take off to Columbus for 3 days for a tournament.
Still, clearly, the 22 players on the travel teams represent most of the better players in the league.
So, travel ball just decimated the rec leagues. Just as the travel kids will develop faster and more completely, the rec league kids are probably going to develop a bit slower and less completely. They won't be playing against the best.
There are some great coaches in the rec league, but the better players tend to have dads who were better players, or at least some of the more involved fathers. (In my case, athleticism was certainly not a factor. But involvement was.)
Which means that some of the rec league players are not going to have exposure to a handful of role models who might have made an impact in their playing days, but more importantly in their lives.
What to do? Personally, if Logan decides he'd rather play rec, I don't have a problem with that. I'll make it clear to him that the decision has consequences, but that it's all the same to me. I'm not quite so worried about his development. I'm just thinking that this has been a lot of fun for him, and if he doesn't travel, he won't have as much fun.
There may even come a time when I am deployed overseas and Logan won't be able to travel if his mom is working shifts at the hospital.
The other side? If he plays rec, frankly, he'll be the big bad stud of his team, which is fun, too. On the travel team, he's pretty normal for a player. In rec, he'd be back to the situation he was in last year where he was basically the best infielder on the team and the best hitter. I will probably never forget the day he went 4 for 4 with two home runs, including a walk-off grand-slam. I know he hasn't. That's not going to happen in travel ball. The level of competition is simply too good.
So, again, back to travel teams in general. In our city, there are two travel teams sponsored by the rec. There's also a third team that was simply organized by some Dads. That's the thing with travel teams. You can organize one yourself if you want.
I don't know why the kids on that 3rd team didn't want to play for the rec's travel teams, and I can't really theorize. Having seen them play, at least a few could have made the Mavericks program. Bottom line: for whatever reason, they don't want to play for the Mavericks.
(By the way, Logan tried out for that team and was not selected... no big deal, we beat them in the season opener. Haha!)
In this part of the country, we're a little behind other parts of the country in travel mania, though the presence of that 3rd team shows that it's coming.
So, what's the mania? I am certain that sometime in the future, there will be kids who didn't make the Mavericks and didn't make the other travel team, and who then start up a 4th travel team in our city. Then a 5th, then a 6th.
Once there's enough travel teams, the petty sports Dads make the situation worse. I wish I could say I was above all that stuff, but we get emotionally involved in our kids.
Dads will leave a travel team mid-season because another travel team told the kid he could play first-base. Or they'll leave a travel team because of a disagreement with a coach.
So, some of the benefit of playing travel ball is mitigated by the fact that kids are now hopping around, teams are getting jumbled around, there's lack of continuity, kids are learning a little pettiness in there with all the baseball and teamwork.
Then, what just happened to the rec league? Eventually, it gets to the point where instead of paying $50 to play rec league for an entire season, if you want your kid to play baseball, your only choice is to budget $3,000 for a travel season.
Basically, the travel leagues replace the rec leagues. Instead of travel ball being something only for a few select players, it becomes something that everybody does.
This is already happening in a lot of parts of the country, by the way.
Worse yet, travel sports are starting to replace High School sports in a lot of parts of the country, too! It's only just starting and is more common in some sports than others, but let me give an example.
Let's say your son is the best hockey player in town and you want him to get a scholarship. He plays with a lot of other talented kids who get a lot of assists. Your son gets a lot of goals.
Now, let's say that instead of playing for the High School team, some of those team-mates are tired of not-being the leading scorer on the team. They leave the High School team and go play for a travel team where they are the leading scorer.
Now, as far as I'm concerned, everybody loses. The talent pool is diluted and the leading scorer has a weaker supporting cast. Those guys who left the High School team to play for a travel team are not facing the same level of competition. So, even if they do get that college scholarship, they won't be as competitive as they would have been.
Right now, in schools that have competitive teams, the kids still play for the High School. But what if your star player attends a high school with few or no other good players? Fewer assists, fewer scores. Now, the best player on the team leaves the team to play travel and work with a better supporting cast.
Eventually, this becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Kids leave school teams to play travel because they think travel is their best chance. Travel becomes their best chance because kids have left the school teams to staff the travel teams.
I think our town got the formula just about right. They sponsor one Heavy travel team for the best kids at the tryout. Then, they sponsor a light travel team to develop the next best kids. The presence of a 3rd team in our city is not positive, in my opinion. Nothing against that team or their kids. The team is very good and has a lot of talented players on it.
The negative aspect is that some of the kids from these 3 travel teams could be enriching the rec league. Kids develop at different ages and some of the kids who weren't ready for travel this year will be superstars in years to come. Unfortunately, the quality of rec league play will probably diminish considerably this year because of the absence of some of the better players.
Which may lead their parents to try and establish even MORE travel teams. What if your kid BARELY didn't make the cutoff for the light team? Heck, that's a good ballplayer. Why not get together with some Dads of kids who also didn't make the cutoff and start yet another travel team?
What if you can afford a little money, but not the thousands involved in a heavy travel team? Why not start yet another travel team that doesn't travel to tournaments? Maybe instead of doing five tournaments, like my son's team, schedule one tournament at the end of the season. So, you could start yet another travel team.
Then, there's conflicts of personality. What if your kid is on a team with other parents you can't stand? What if you don't like the coach? You think he's a good coach, but you think he's shorting your son because your son always played shortstop but this coach has him at 3rd base? You could start yet another travel team.
What if you just want your kid to be a star? To play on a team that's good, but not too good, so they can lead the team in batting average and start at shortstop and pitcher every game? You could start yet another travel team. (In this case, what usually happens is that the player bounces around from travel team to travel team, and virtually never finds what they're looking for.)
The other category? I don't mean to be crass, but some kids just aren't that good. I worried all through the off-season that maybe some kids who weren't selected for the heavy team got gypped. What if the kids on the heavy team weren't that much better? What if they were just lucky on the day of the tryouts.
Now that the season has started, it's obvious that the kids on the more select teams really were better than the ones who were on the slightly less selective teams. A lot of the cities around here are set up like ours, with two travel teams. It's blatantly obvious which ones were the more selective and which ones weren't.
The difference between the best and worst players on the really selective teams is huge. The talent starts dropping off dramatically after that. So, yeah, there's a lot of kids out there who are really good ballplayers, but who simply are not as good as their parents think they are. I say this with much self-consciousness because I'm a parent like all the others and the one thing I absolutely cannot be objective about is my feelings for my son.
However, a lot of those parents will seek out or try to form travel teams for their kids. They will try to lure a handful of stars from other teams.
Things turn into a big mess in a hurry.
The net result? The rec leagues become even less fun, with fewer and fewer kids in them. The sport of baseball continues to transform from America's pastime, played in sandlots by anybody with a beat-up glove and his grandpa's old baseball bat to one played by kids with $200 gloves, $400 bats, with indoor practice facilities and road and home uniforms.
Some good players will simply be priced out of the game. The best players will come less and less from the United States, where sports is increasingly reserved for the wealthy, and will increasingly come from places like Central America where talent and a love for the game are the primary factors in who plays.
Like I said, I think our city has it just about right, with travel opportunties for a handful of kids, but keeping the rec league vibrant and available for the rest of the kids. Once the kids reach High School or Middle School, where they can play for their school, the city doesn't sponsor travel teams anymore.
The other viable alternative is to have an all-star team that plays an extended season at the end of the rec season.
Some of these additional travel teams have none of the things that Logan gets with his travel team. A lot of them have poor coaching, poor facilities, and the parents are, frankly, a big bunch of idiotic jerks.
A proliferation of travel teams is just bad all the way around, in my opinion.
If it came down to that, or nothing, I'd pick nothing. I'd hit Logan line drives in the back yard until he could get with a team with a decent coach.
In the mean time, although my son plays travel, I hope travel teams don't continue to displace rec league ball. Travel is a whole other universe, and I constantly try to evaluate if the committment in terms of time and energy are appropriate for my son. Because of his desire, love for the game, and natural abilities, I believe in his case that they are.
Travel isn't for everybody, though. We shouldn't have a system where we act like it is.
(On a personal note, I have never and will never push my son to play baseball. Of all the major sports, baseball and soccer were the two that I was least interested in, and showed the least talent in as a child. I displayed precious little talent at football and basketball, anyway. If I had my druthers and were of an inclination to force my son to do something, I'd be sitting him at a piano and smacking his hand with a ruler periodically. Trouble is, from the moment this kid could hold a ball, he would throw it agains things and catch it. From the moment he knew what baseball was, he played it nearly every day. Usually by swinging a toy bat and running around "bases" he set up in the living room. Nobody showed him how to do any of this. It was a love he was simply born with. I don't believe in forcing kids to do things they don't like. With sports, they're supposed to be fun, and if kids aren't enjoying them, I would never force them to play. If Logan ever got to where he wanted to quit a sport, he would be allowed. He'd be expected to finish out the season. Like anything a little kid says, I'd want to know why and make sure it's what they really want, but nobody in our house is forced towards any extracurricular activity.)
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
A Little Baseball Story
When Logan was in the first grade they did their first year of coach-pitch baseball. It's a big adjustment from tee-ball because they have to actually hit a ball that's thrown to the plate, versus hitting it off of a tee.
At that age, in a recreational league, there are a lot of rules, both written and unwritten, that are there to try and make the game enjoyable for everybody. For instance, pretty much everybody on the team will get equal playing time, equal number of at-bats, and will get to play a little bit of every position they're capable of playing.
Scores aren't supposed to be kept (but they are, by both overzealous parents and by kids who are developing their competitive streak a bit early.)
Logan's team had a little boy who appeared to have some sort of developmental issues. His coordination was poor and his interactions with the other kids were a bit less than what you might expect of a child his age.
Based on my limited interaction with him, that's all I could tell you. Was he autistic? Was he simply poorly coordinated and so shy he didn't talk to other kids? I'm not a psychologist, but if I had to guess, he had something on the autistic spectrum going on.
Let's call him David. (Not his real name.)
My son, Logan, believes that someday he could be a major leaguer. The way he plays so far, heck, if the next 10 years are exceptionally kind to him, maybe he will. It's not a realistic dream, but as far as I'm concerned, 8 years old is the perfect time to have unrealistic dreams.
So, during his rec league years, he would say, "Maybe someday, I could play in the Major Leagues" Or "Maybe Sam could be in the major leagues". Or, "Maybe Jaxon could be in the major leagues."
For all I know, all three of them could play professional baseball someday. They were, and are, all very talented kids. So, I can say with sincerity, "You never know. It could happen."
David? Bless him, but most of the time, he acted like he didn't want to be there at all. His mother brought him to all the games and practices. I never saw a father. Who knows what their family situation is like.
It could be a test of patience sometimes. It wasn't even so much that he had difficulty doing things. It's that the coach and the volunteer Dads sometimes had difficulty even getting David to perform simple tasks. Clearly, we're not trained in special ed, and the only motivational tool we have with any of the kids is begging.
"Okay, Joey. Throw the ball, buddy. Throw it over to Mikey at second base. Now would be a good time. Just give it a throw... any time now... maybe over to Mikey at second base. No, look over the other way. Second base is that one over there... What say we make a biggo throw right now! Just... give it a throw... show us how strong you are dude..."
And that's an interaction you would have with one of your better players.
With David, it was a bit worse. He had more than the typical spaciness and distractedness of the other 6 and 7 year olds. He had much less of the coordination that very few of them displayed to begin with.
One day, I brought my pitching machine to practice. Kids love gadgets and machines. Any kid can tell you that it's more fun to hit a ball thrown by a machine than it is to hit a ball thrown by a person. We had to chase kids away who wandered over from the local playground because they wanted to hit from the machine. Literally, 10 year olds were walking up, picking up a bat and going up to the plate saying they wanted to hit "just one".
So, the kids on our team were jazzed about getting to use the machine.
I'm a firm believer in the "you can have icing, but you have to eat the cake, too" school of thought. If you've got something a kid really, really wants to do, you can always use it, as a parent or a coach, to get them to do something they really, really should do, but wouldn't, otherwise.
So, before they could hit off the machine, I put them through a drill where the swing is broken down in 6 basic steps.
All the kids did the drill perfectly, then we had them hit 10 balls off the pitching machine.
Well... almost all the kids did the drill perfectly. David really... well... what he did wasn't even a remote approximation of the drill. There's only so much you can do during the course of the practice. I didn't want David to feel singled out, so I just acted as though he did the drill just like everybody else and put him on the pitching machine.
David... well... let's just say he didn't really swing a bat in the conventional sense of swinging a bat. He moved the bat, but not always in the right direction and never in a manner that could have hit anything but himself.
So, he watched 4 of his pitches go by. His mother encouraged him, "Swing the bat, David!". David swung and a ball (the yellow no-sting balls), hit him in the hand. He collapsed like he had been hit by a truck. Didn't cry, made no facial expression, but was clearly distraught.
I asked if he wanted to keep going, and he nodded. He finished the drill by standing 7 feet away from home plate just to make sure that he didn't get hit again. Though, we did make some progress, because as he was standing 7 feet away, he was at least swinging the bat every now and then.
That's an indication of the type of challenges that David faced. This was pretty much what it was like trying to work with him.
So, we go on to the very last game of the season. David was up to bat, and for some reason, he stuck his bat straight out in front of him. Sort of the way you might hold a light saber if you were in ready position. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if that was exactly what he was thinking.
He actually hit the ball! Well... the ball hit his bat, actually. It went nearly 3 feet!!!
In rec league ball for little kids, any contact with the bat is pretty much guaranteed to get you on base because the odds of the opposing team having somebody who can field and throw the ball AND having somebody who can catch it and either apply a tag or put their foot on the base approaches zero.
DAVID HAD A HIT!!! He got to first base. It was the second happiest I ever saw a kid. He jumped up and down. Didn't utter a word, but had a smile on his face for the first time since the season began!
Then, later in the game, realizing that the light saber trick worked the last time, he did it again! ANOTHER BASE HIT!
This time, the rest of the kids hit him around and he got to cross home plate. I've seen World Series on-field celebrations that were subdued in comparison to David's joy at coming home. The entire bench emptied out and the entire team ran onto the field cheering for David.
Little kids really see something special about stepping on home plate. One of the beautiful things about baseball is that it is the only game where home is the most significant place on the field. Home plate is even shaped like a little house. Kids love, love, love to go home.
When they can't, sometimes they get dejected. Logan plays for a local travel team, now, and if he gets stranded during a quick scrimmage at the end of practice, he'll talk about it for 3 days afterwards. "I didn't get to go home."
Young kids know the object is to get home, and it's probably more special to them than to players of any other age or level. Regardless of the score or situation, nothing pumps them up like running home.
So, David capped off his season by doing the coolest thing he could imagine doing on a baseball diamond. He got to do the ultimate achievement. He got to go home.
THAT was the happiest I've ever seen a kid.
I think everybody was happy for David. These days, coaches get at least a little respect and gratitude for the time they put in. Personally, I always have a special place in my heart for the parents of kids who are struggling with sports.
It probably has roots in thinking back to all those times my grandmother used to haul me to baseball practice or games, where my batting average probably only required 2, and not 3 significant digits. The only things more intimate with the bench than my butt were the nails that held the thing together.
A parent of a kid like David probably has a lot of challenges. If folks think the coaches' patience was tested, I can only imagine the patience of a parent of a child with special needs.
At the same time, they pay their money to have their kid play ball just like everybody else. If she was a single parent, she had more challenges than most of the parents on the team just in finding the time to take her boy to and from practices and games.
Why does she do it? Because she wants her boy to get the experience, get a little bit of physical activity, build a little self esteem, interact with other kids his age. Mostly, though, she probably does it because she wants her boy to have fun.
That's the main reason any of us are doing it. Or, if it isn't, we should probably re-evaluate our priorities.
David had more than fun that day. It was genuine elation.
Starting on the drive home that day, and for about the next two months, every few days, Logan would bring up David's two great at bats, and we would talk about how awesome it was that he had two big hits and got to cross home plate.
Every time, at the end of us discussing the story, Logan would add, "And maybe David could play in the Major Leagues."
I would respond the same way I always did. "You never know. Could happen."
At that age, in a recreational league, there are a lot of rules, both written and unwritten, that are there to try and make the game enjoyable for everybody. For instance, pretty much everybody on the team will get equal playing time, equal number of at-bats, and will get to play a little bit of every position they're capable of playing.
Scores aren't supposed to be kept (but they are, by both overzealous parents and by kids who are developing their competitive streak a bit early.)
Logan's team had a little boy who appeared to have some sort of developmental issues. His coordination was poor and his interactions with the other kids were a bit less than what you might expect of a child his age.
Based on my limited interaction with him, that's all I could tell you. Was he autistic? Was he simply poorly coordinated and so shy he didn't talk to other kids? I'm not a psychologist, but if I had to guess, he had something on the autistic spectrum going on.
Let's call him David. (Not his real name.)
My son, Logan, believes that someday he could be a major leaguer. The way he plays so far, heck, if the next 10 years are exceptionally kind to him, maybe he will. It's not a realistic dream, but as far as I'm concerned, 8 years old is the perfect time to have unrealistic dreams.
So, during his rec league years, he would say, "Maybe someday, I could play in the Major Leagues" Or "Maybe Sam could be in the major leagues". Or, "Maybe Jaxon could be in the major leagues."
For all I know, all three of them could play professional baseball someday. They were, and are, all very talented kids. So, I can say with sincerity, "You never know. It could happen."
David? Bless him, but most of the time, he acted like he didn't want to be there at all. His mother brought him to all the games and practices. I never saw a father. Who knows what their family situation is like.
It could be a test of patience sometimes. It wasn't even so much that he had difficulty doing things. It's that the coach and the volunteer Dads sometimes had difficulty even getting David to perform simple tasks. Clearly, we're not trained in special ed, and the only motivational tool we have with any of the kids is begging.
"Okay, Joey. Throw the ball, buddy. Throw it over to Mikey at second base. Now would be a good time. Just give it a throw... any time now... maybe over to Mikey at second base. No, look over the other way. Second base is that one over there... What say we make a biggo throw right now! Just... give it a throw... show us how strong you are dude..."
And that's an interaction you would have with one of your better players.
With David, it was a bit worse. He had more than the typical spaciness and distractedness of the other 6 and 7 year olds. He had much less of the coordination that very few of them displayed to begin with.
One day, I brought my pitching machine to practice. Kids love gadgets and machines. Any kid can tell you that it's more fun to hit a ball thrown by a machine than it is to hit a ball thrown by a person. We had to chase kids away who wandered over from the local playground because they wanted to hit from the machine. Literally, 10 year olds were walking up, picking up a bat and going up to the plate saying they wanted to hit "just one".
So, the kids on our team were jazzed about getting to use the machine.
I'm a firm believer in the "you can have icing, but you have to eat the cake, too" school of thought. If you've got something a kid really, really wants to do, you can always use it, as a parent or a coach, to get them to do something they really, really should do, but wouldn't, otherwise.
So, before they could hit off the machine, I put them through a drill where the swing is broken down in 6 basic steps.
All the kids did the drill perfectly, then we had them hit 10 balls off the pitching machine.
Well... almost all the kids did the drill perfectly. David really... well... what he did wasn't even a remote approximation of the drill. There's only so much you can do during the course of the practice. I didn't want David to feel singled out, so I just acted as though he did the drill just like everybody else and put him on the pitching machine.
David... well... let's just say he didn't really swing a bat in the conventional sense of swinging a bat. He moved the bat, but not always in the right direction and never in a manner that could have hit anything but himself.
So, he watched 4 of his pitches go by. His mother encouraged him, "Swing the bat, David!". David swung and a ball (the yellow no-sting balls), hit him in the hand. He collapsed like he had been hit by a truck. Didn't cry, made no facial expression, but was clearly distraught.
I asked if he wanted to keep going, and he nodded. He finished the drill by standing 7 feet away from home plate just to make sure that he didn't get hit again. Though, we did make some progress, because as he was standing 7 feet away, he was at least swinging the bat every now and then.
That's an indication of the type of challenges that David faced. This was pretty much what it was like trying to work with him.
So, we go on to the very last game of the season. David was up to bat, and for some reason, he stuck his bat straight out in front of him. Sort of the way you might hold a light saber if you were in ready position. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if that was exactly what he was thinking.
He actually hit the ball! Well... the ball hit his bat, actually. It went nearly 3 feet!!!
In rec league ball for little kids, any contact with the bat is pretty much guaranteed to get you on base because the odds of the opposing team having somebody who can field and throw the ball AND having somebody who can catch it and either apply a tag or put their foot on the base approaches zero.
DAVID HAD A HIT!!! He got to first base. It was the second happiest I ever saw a kid. He jumped up and down. Didn't utter a word, but had a smile on his face for the first time since the season began!
Then, later in the game, realizing that the light saber trick worked the last time, he did it again! ANOTHER BASE HIT!
This time, the rest of the kids hit him around and he got to cross home plate. I've seen World Series on-field celebrations that were subdued in comparison to David's joy at coming home. The entire bench emptied out and the entire team ran onto the field cheering for David.
Little kids really see something special about stepping on home plate. One of the beautiful things about baseball is that it is the only game where home is the most significant place on the field. Home plate is even shaped like a little house. Kids love, love, love to go home.
When they can't, sometimes they get dejected. Logan plays for a local travel team, now, and if he gets stranded during a quick scrimmage at the end of practice, he'll talk about it for 3 days afterwards. "I didn't get to go home."
Young kids know the object is to get home, and it's probably more special to them than to players of any other age or level. Regardless of the score or situation, nothing pumps them up like running home.
So, David capped off his season by doing the coolest thing he could imagine doing on a baseball diamond. He got to do the ultimate achievement. He got to go home.
THAT was the happiest I've ever seen a kid.
I think everybody was happy for David. These days, coaches get at least a little respect and gratitude for the time they put in. Personally, I always have a special place in my heart for the parents of kids who are struggling with sports.
It probably has roots in thinking back to all those times my grandmother used to haul me to baseball practice or games, where my batting average probably only required 2, and not 3 significant digits. The only things more intimate with the bench than my butt were the nails that held the thing together.
A parent of a kid like David probably has a lot of challenges. If folks think the coaches' patience was tested, I can only imagine the patience of a parent of a child with special needs.
At the same time, they pay their money to have their kid play ball just like everybody else. If she was a single parent, she had more challenges than most of the parents on the team just in finding the time to take her boy to and from practices and games.
Why does she do it? Because she wants her boy to get the experience, get a little bit of physical activity, build a little self esteem, interact with other kids his age. Mostly, though, she probably does it because she wants her boy to have fun.
That's the main reason any of us are doing it. Or, if it isn't, we should probably re-evaluate our priorities.
David had more than fun that day. It was genuine elation.
Starting on the drive home that day, and for about the next two months, every few days, Logan would bring up David's two great at bats, and we would talk about how awesome it was that he had two big hits and got to cross home plate.
Every time, at the end of us discussing the story, Logan would add, "And maybe David could play in the Major Leagues."
I would respond the same way I always did. "You never know. Could happen."
Friday, April 16, 2010
The Furious Baseball Midgets Meet their Match and Then Some!
Our U9 Mavericks played the Springfield Jr. Blue Devils and wow, what a game. I have to say that the best team on that day won. The Jr. Devils beat us 11-7
The coach called a last minute practice the day before last night's game. This is also one of the more intense weeks this season. The kids are playing games every other day.
So, that means that the kids were on their 3rd straight day of baseball. They're also still in school. They looked a little listless during the game, and I think it's because they were a little worn out. They're only 9 years old, after all.
Based on scanning records and some informal scouting reports (parents who have seen the games), I think we just played two of our toughest opponents in our first two games.
The kids have some easier opponents coming up. Getting a few more Ws should really improve their spirits.
We play Springfield again before the season ends. We can beat them, but last night was their night.
The coach called a last minute practice the day before last night's game. This is also one of the more intense weeks this season. The kids are playing games every other day.
So, that means that the kids were on their 3rd straight day of baseball. They're also still in school. They looked a little listless during the game, and I think it's because they were a little worn out. They're only 9 years old, after all.
Based on scanning records and some informal scouting reports (parents who have seen the games), I think we just played two of our toughest opponents in our first two games.
The kids have some easier opponents coming up. Getting a few more Ws should really improve their spirits.
We play Springfield again before the season ends. We can beat them, but last night was their night.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Ferocious Baseball Midgets!!!
Logan's team finally started their season. It was a great opener against one of the tougher teams in the league. Logan's team, the Mavericks, won 20-11.
They scrimmaged (and beat) a bunch of 10 year olds the other day, and all I could think was, "Look at these kids. Those 10 year olds are all much bigger. They've had a year more to develop, and this bunch of 9 year olds is beating them pretty handily."
To me, our team looked like a bunch of ferocious baseball midgets. Little kids who can't necessarily be trusted to cross the street by themselves (depending on the street), and who can barely haul their bat bags around, but who hit, throw and field like demons.
I'm glad the season started. This team had literally been practicing for the past 8 months. We had a few scrimmages at the end, but 8 months is a long time for 9 year olds to work on drills. Our indoor facilities were awesome, but they were still indoor facilities that weren't the same as having an entire field to play games on.
I think Logan was starting to show some fatigue from the constant diet of baseball. So, I'm hoping he gets re-energized now that the team is playing. He has only had 1 month off from baseball since starting rec league a year ago.
For the first time since Logan was born, I have started thinking that if Logan got to where he didn't want to do this, I don't think it'd be that bad for him to play rec ball for a year or two if he wanted to.
I do think the level of coaching and facilities at this level is amazing. He can't possibly get a better preparation and training.
However, I am also seeing that no amount of coaching and prep makes up for raw talent. If I had to put a number on it, I'd say that 90%+ of what we're seeing on the field is the result of the kid's innate talent.
So, I'll leave it up to him. Prior to seeing all these teams, I would have said I'd rather he play travel ball. Now, I'm not so sure. I guess if your priority is to try and get your kid a scholarship or get him to pro ball, you want the most rigorous prep you can find. For me? I don't care if Logan ever does either of those things. If it's important to him, then he should go for it. If not, then I think his chances of making his High School team aren't that different.
Right now, though, this is just a blast. The kids are amazing and I'm really looking forward to this season.
They scrimmaged (and beat) a bunch of 10 year olds the other day, and all I could think was, "Look at these kids. Those 10 year olds are all much bigger. They've had a year more to develop, and this bunch of 9 year olds is beating them pretty handily."
To me, our team looked like a bunch of ferocious baseball midgets. Little kids who can't necessarily be trusted to cross the street by themselves (depending on the street), and who can barely haul their bat bags around, but who hit, throw and field like demons.
I'm glad the season started. This team had literally been practicing for the past 8 months. We had a few scrimmages at the end, but 8 months is a long time for 9 year olds to work on drills. Our indoor facilities were awesome, but they were still indoor facilities that weren't the same as having an entire field to play games on.
I think Logan was starting to show some fatigue from the constant diet of baseball. So, I'm hoping he gets re-energized now that the team is playing. He has only had 1 month off from baseball since starting rec league a year ago.
For the first time since Logan was born, I have started thinking that if Logan got to where he didn't want to do this, I don't think it'd be that bad for him to play rec ball for a year or two if he wanted to.
I do think the level of coaching and facilities at this level is amazing. He can't possibly get a better preparation and training.
However, I am also seeing that no amount of coaching and prep makes up for raw talent. If I had to put a number on it, I'd say that 90%+ of what we're seeing on the field is the result of the kid's innate talent.
So, I'll leave it up to him. Prior to seeing all these teams, I would have said I'd rather he play travel ball. Now, I'm not so sure. I guess if your priority is to try and get your kid a scholarship or get him to pro ball, you want the most rigorous prep you can find. For me? I don't care if Logan ever does either of those things. If it's important to him, then he should go for it. If not, then I think his chances of making his High School team aren't that different.
Right now, though, this is just a blast. The kids are amazing and I'm really looking forward to this season.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
The Days of My Life... or one day, anyway...
Progress on the house was discernable, but less than I would have thought. That's good, though. It should mean that the guys had a lot of actual revenue-producing work to do, rather than just working in my house because there wasn't anything better to do.
I'll get the lowdown on Monday.
Still no idea when the Sam's Club furniture will arrive. I am hoping it comes according to what they posted on their web-site: 5 weeks after I ordered it. That would put it at my house right around Labor Day weekend.
I still need a new washer and dryer. I'll hold on as long as I can on that one. Worst-case, I'll have to take laundry baskets to work and use the washer and dryers there. It's ridiculous. I own 2 sets of washers and dryers, but don't have a set in my own house. Sort of like how I own 8 different vehicles, but never drive 7 of them.
Not sure if this is a good sign or not, but Sam's Club took the item off their web-site shortly after I ordered it. I hope this won't mean some sort of delay or somesuch. I should just relax. This is a typical thing that I obsess about that I can't do anything about. In the vast majority of cases, things work out just fine.
In a few weeks, the new windows will arrive, which will be nice. The upstairs windows, for some reason, are in poor repair. The house is very, very well situated to take advantage of cross-ventilation and shade. So, I think I may be able to keep my A/C bills minimal this Summer.
All the more important since my A/C unit isn't working right now and probably won't be up and running until I contact an HVAC guy to figure out what I did to screw up my thermostat.
Although I may not be able to afford new flooring for the living room, and that means I'll be living on bare floors for a while, I will probably move in once the windows are in, the HVAC is fixed and the furniture arrives.
I have also figured out what I'm going to do with the flat-roof over the garage. Right now, it's a sort of patio-deck, but flat roofs are a nightmare and should be avoided at all costs. I've decided I'm going to put a sunroom over there when I have the time and money. The idea really appeals to me the more I think about it. It'd be a place where Logan could have sleepovers that were quasi campovers. It'd be a great way to enjoy the outdoors and the view during mildly inclement weather. (Which, during most parts of the year, is the best we can hope for.)
Business appears to be stabilizing. Things are still tough, but we seem to be navigating the rough waters. Not much more to say about that. I feel like I'm rebuilding the company from where it was 3 years ago. Not too tragic, really, but not ideal. We'll get through this.
Really, I'm looking forward to our admin returning to work from her maternity leave. I'm guessing that at this rate, she won't be back until the first part of June. It really sorta sucks for me since it ties me to the office most of the time. Of all the places for me to be working, that's probably the place that makes the least sense.
In baseball news, tomorrow is a scrimmage. The U9 Heavy team (Logan is on it) will scrimmage the U10 Light team. Near as I can figure, this will be a very, very close match. It's pretty much like the very best players at age 9 and letting them play the 2nd best players at age 10.
You'd think the age difference would be insurmountable, but the talent pool makes up for the age gap.
The season starts in earnest on Tuesday. These boys have worked really hard to get to this point, with practices starting last August and continuing to today. I just realized that these kids get only one month a year off from baseball. The season isn't that long: April thru July. Three months, basically. But 8 months of preparation for that season.
Other than that, I will be submitting my transfer request to get into that Fort Worth defense contracting unit, and out of the Defense Finance and Accounting Service unit in Cleveland. I'm really looking forward to getting back in touch with my Texas friends.
The Navy is putting on a huge push to get people through at least their first level of DAWIA certification. I suppose there are ways I could go totally gonzo and try to knock it out in a few months. However, I think I'm going to go slow and steady on this one. There's a one-month in-residence course I need to take to complete the certification and I'd rather take that sometime after Logan's baseball season is over.
That's also a guaranteed trip over these days. Apparently one of the few things more rare than Reserve Navy Supply Officers are ones with defense contracting certifications. Out of my graduating class, everybody with a certification had orders for Centcom (generally Iraq or Afghanistan).
Nobody else in the class had orders that I know of.
In other news, my long overdue and delayed promotion should come through either in April or May. It got held up due to a bureaucratic snafu. Because it'll be back-dated, then I should get a pretty big check to make up for the difference in pay grade for the time the promotion was delayed.
I just enrolled in the 3rd of 5 distance learning courses I need for my certification. After that, I need to take the residence course and that'll complete the training portion of the certification. My business education takes care of the education portion. The only remaining part is a year of contracting experience. Not sure how that one will go, but worst-case, I'll get the year in Centcom.
It is sort of funny to think that my career in the Navy is pretty much right what a person in their mid 20s, not their mid 40s would be doing right about now.
Also, interestingly, this is probably the only career-path in the reserves I can follow that has actual civilian employment potential.
If I were to go all the way to DAWIA Level III certification, that would qualify me for GS-14 positions. The pay is good, and it's a government paycheck.
Of course, unless something happens, I don't intend to move away from Sylvania. The closest jobs would probably be doing contracting for the Air Force in Dayton.
Still, that's one of the reasons I took this "swimlane" in the Supply Corps. It's got direct civilian employment potential should something go wrong with my business.
Among the many, many things I considered as potential career choices, being an officer in the military would pop up now and then. Obviously, my life took a different path, but I still wonder what things would have been like had I gone one way instead of the other.
That's the hardest part of life for me. So many awesome things to do, but you can only live one life.
Ultimately, my job as a father is paramount, and I'm giving that everything I can.
After that, running a business, trying to provide for the financial security of my family is probably my second highest priority.
Third, service to my country is something that is a big part of my life.
All in all, I can't complain. You can't do everything you want, but at least so far, I'm getting to hit the most important things.
I'll get the lowdown on Monday.
Still no idea when the Sam's Club furniture will arrive. I am hoping it comes according to what they posted on their web-site: 5 weeks after I ordered it. That would put it at my house right around Labor Day weekend.
I still need a new washer and dryer. I'll hold on as long as I can on that one. Worst-case, I'll have to take laundry baskets to work and use the washer and dryers there. It's ridiculous. I own 2 sets of washers and dryers, but don't have a set in my own house. Sort of like how I own 8 different vehicles, but never drive 7 of them.
Not sure if this is a good sign or not, but Sam's Club took the item off their web-site shortly after I ordered it. I hope this won't mean some sort of delay or somesuch. I should just relax. This is a typical thing that I obsess about that I can't do anything about. In the vast majority of cases, things work out just fine.
In a few weeks, the new windows will arrive, which will be nice. The upstairs windows, for some reason, are in poor repair. The house is very, very well situated to take advantage of cross-ventilation and shade. So, I think I may be able to keep my A/C bills minimal this Summer.
All the more important since my A/C unit isn't working right now and probably won't be up and running until I contact an HVAC guy to figure out what I did to screw up my thermostat.
Although I may not be able to afford new flooring for the living room, and that means I'll be living on bare floors for a while, I will probably move in once the windows are in, the HVAC is fixed and the furniture arrives.
I have also figured out what I'm going to do with the flat-roof over the garage. Right now, it's a sort of patio-deck, but flat roofs are a nightmare and should be avoided at all costs. I've decided I'm going to put a sunroom over there when I have the time and money. The idea really appeals to me the more I think about it. It'd be a place where Logan could have sleepovers that were quasi campovers. It'd be a great way to enjoy the outdoors and the view during mildly inclement weather. (Which, during most parts of the year, is the best we can hope for.)
Business appears to be stabilizing. Things are still tough, but we seem to be navigating the rough waters. Not much more to say about that. I feel like I'm rebuilding the company from where it was 3 years ago. Not too tragic, really, but not ideal. We'll get through this.
Really, I'm looking forward to our admin returning to work from her maternity leave. I'm guessing that at this rate, she won't be back until the first part of June. It really sorta sucks for me since it ties me to the office most of the time. Of all the places for me to be working, that's probably the place that makes the least sense.
In baseball news, tomorrow is a scrimmage. The U9 Heavy team (Logan is on it) will scrimmage the U10 Light team. Near as I can figure, this will be a very, very close match. It's pretty much like the very best players at age 9 and letting them play the 2nd best players at age 10.
You'd think the age difference would be insurmountable, but the talent pool makes up for the age gap.
The season starts in earnest on Tuesday. These boys have worked really hard to get to this point, with practices starting last August and continuing to today. I just realized that these kids get only one month a year off from baseball. The season isn't that long: April thru July. Three months, basically. But 8 months of preparation for that season.
Other than that, I will be submitting my transfer request to get into that Fort Worth defense contracting unit, and out of the Defense Finance and Accounting Service unit in Cleveland. I'm really looking forward to getting back in touch with my Texas friends.
The Navy is putting on a huge push to get people through at least their first level of DAWIA certification. I suppose there are ways I could go totally gonzo and try to knock it out in a few months. However, I think I'm going to go slow and steady on this one. There's a one-month in-residence course I need to take to complete the certification and I'd rather take that sometime after Logan's baseball season is over.
That's also a guaranteed trip over these days. Apparently one of the few things more rare than Reserve Navy Supply Officers are ones with defense contracting certifications. Out of my graduating class, everybody with a certification had orders for Centcom (generally Iraq or Afghanistan).
Nobody else in the class had orders that I know of.
In other news, my long overdue and delayed promotion should come through either in April or May. It got held up due to a bureaucratic snafu. Because it'll be back-dated, then I should get a pretty big check to make up for the difference in pay grade for the time the promotion was delayed.
I just enrolled in the 3rd of 5 distance learning courses I need for my certification. After that, I need to take the residence course and that'll complete the training portion of the certification. My business education takes care of the education portion. The only remaining part is a year of contracting experience. Not sure how that one will go, but worst-case, I'll get the year in Centcom.
It is sort of funny to think that my career in the Navy is pretty much right what a person in their mid 20s, not their mid 40s would be doing right about now.
Also, interestingly, this is probably the only career-path in the reserves I can follow that has actual civilian employment potential.
If I were to go all the way to DAWIA Level III certification, that would qualify me for GS-14 positions. The pay is good, and it's a government paycheck.
Of course, unless something happens, I don't intend to move away from Sylvania. The closest jobs would probably be doing contracting for the Air Force in Dayton.
Still, that's one of the reasons I took this "swimlane" in the Supply Corps. It's got direct civilian employment potential should something go wrong with my business.
Among the many, many things I considered as potential career choices, being an officer in the military would pop up now and then. Obviously, my life took a different path, but I still wonder what things would have been like had I gone one way instead of the other.
That's the hardest part of life for me. So many awesome things to do, but you can only live one life.
Ultimately, my job as a father is paramount, and I'm giving that everything I can.
After that, running a business, trying to provide for the financial security of my family is probably my second highest priority.
Third, service to my country is something that is a big part of my life.
All in all, I can't complain. You can't do everything you want, but at least so far, I'm getting to hit the most important things.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Squeezing Just a Little Too Hard
Had some difficulty with our water heater recently. I tried to see if it was something obvious, but couldn't find anything. Ultimately, I had to call our HVAC guy. He sold the heater to us and installed it.
He's never been cheap, but that's something I can live with. He's been reasonably priced, and his work is excellent. He's a one-man show and as a small businessperson, I can relate to his situation.
He ended up poking around the water heater for a little while, then discovering a loose connection that fixed the problem.
After a while, he sent the bill. It was a total of $177. That seemed a bit high to me.
The two things that stood out were that his labor rate was $99 an hour.
On top of that, he charged a $30 "trip charge".
I'm familiar with trip charges in our industry because we can charge them, too. Generally, we don't, because we don't feel that the customer should pay for us simply to drive to their house. We do have minimum service charges, but we don't make the customer pay for drive time.
We deal with all sorts of skilled trades and so far, the trip charge is the exception, not the rule.
The only time we try to use a trip charge is when the customer is wasting our time, called us out for no apparent reason, and the work we performed wasn't enough to cover the cost of gas and labor for the trip there and back.
So, I really resented the trip charge. I've never wasted this guy's time. In the past, I've bought an air conditioning unit and a water heater from him. I've paid him for every trip he's ever made to my house.
The trip charge was a sort of slap in the face to me. A way of saying, "Well... geez, if you want me to drive to your house, you damned well better pay for it."
Given that I clearly have never wasted this guy's time in the past, I was offended.
Now comes the question of his rate. In the past, I never even noticed the rate he was charging me. The bills seemed fair for the amount of work performed. Apparently, he just raised his rates to $99.
I called to ask him if this was correct and he verified that it is. He said he hadn't raised his rates in the past 4 years and decided to raise them just recently.
I don't mean to sound unsympathetic, but in all honesty, labor rates should have remained constant for about the past decade. Inflation has been pretty low. However, my HVAC guy has put in two rate increases in that time frame. Add the fact that negative wage pressure has kept most people's wages, even in nominal terms, relatively flat, and that's a heck of a ballsy thing to do: increase your rate by 12% at a time when the economy is cratered.
I am the first to admit that a trained, licensed, bonded and insured HVAC guy is a skilled person who should make more money than your average bear.
But at $99 an hour? That's a little steep. The other HVAC contractors I use bill $45 or so for their base labor rate. Granted, this guy is good, but is he twice as good? I doubt it.
I do have other HVAC work that needs to be done on the house I just bought. In the past, it wouldn't even be a consideration: I'd have hired this guy. Now though? He's put this game in play. I will be considering other providers and may find somebody else I'm more inclined to use.
This is a delicate balance for a small businessperson. When times are tough, you still need to pay bills and make money. Squeezing your best customers is seldom a good way to go about things, though.
I've always maintained that your best customers should pay your lowest rate. This is something you should manage actively.
If you manage it passively, you will end up giving discounts and additional attention to your WORST customers. The ones who gripe about everything. The ones who make you fix things that have nothing to do with your work. The ones who are angry and don't want to pay the bill.
Those customers, frankly, I've always made a point to charge for everything. Every minute, every trip charge, all at 100% cost. I don't want to keep them. I want them to look for somebody else.
The good customers? They get discounts, they get freebies. I want a long-term business relationship with them.
My HVAC guy? I hope he didn't think I was a good customer, because he has probably lost the long-term relationship he had with me.
He's never been cheap, but that's something I can live with. He's been reasonably priced, and his work is excellent. He's a one-man show and as a small businessperson, I can relate to his situation.
He ended up poking around the water heater for a little while, then discovering a loose connection that fixed the problem.
After a while, he sent the bill. It was a total of $177. That seemed a bit high to me.
The two things that stood out were that his labor rate was $99 an hour.
On top of that, he charged a $30 "trip charge".
I'm familiar with trip charges in our industry because we can charge them, too. Generally, we don't, because we don't feel that the customer should pay for us simply to drive to their house. We do have minimum service charges, but we don't make the customer pay for drive time.
We deal with all sorts of skilled trades and so far, the trip charge is the exception, not the rule.
The only time we try to use a trip charge is when the customer is wasting our time, called us out for no apparent reason, and the work we performed wasn't enough to cover the cost of gas and labor for the trip there and back.
So, I really resented the trip charge. I've never wasted this guy's time. In the past, I've bought an air conditioning unit and a water heater from him. I've paid him for every trip he's ever made to my house.
The trip charge was a sort of slap in the face to me. A way of saying, "Well... geez, if you want me to drive to your house, you damned well better pay for it."
Given that I clearly have never wasted this guy's time in the past, I was offended.
Now comes the question of his rate. In the past, I never even noticed the rate he was charging me. The bills seemed fair for the amount of work performed. Apparently, he just raised his rates to $99.
I called to ask him if this was correct and he verified that it is. He said he hadn't raised his rates in the past 4 years and decided to raise them just recently.
I don't mean to sound unsympathetic, but in all honesty, labor rates should have remained constant for about the past decade. Inflation has been pretty low. However, my HVAC guy has put in two rate increases in that time frame. Add the fact that negative wage pressure has kept most people's wages, even in nominal terms, relatively flat, and that's a heck of a ballsy thing to do: increase your rate by 12% at a time when the economy is cratered.
I am the first to admit that a trained, licensed, bonded and insured HVAC guy is a skilled person who should make more money than your average bear.
But at $99 an hour? That's a little steep. The other HVAC contractors I use bill $45 or so for their base labor rate. Granted, this guy is good, but is he twice as good? I doubt it.
I do have other HVAC work that needs to be done on the house I just bought. In the past, it wouldn't even be a consideration: I'd have hired this guy. Now though? He's put this game in play. I will be considering other providers and may find somebody else I'm more inclined to use.
This is a delicate balance for a small businessperson. When times are tough, you still need to pay bills and make money. Squeezing your best customers is seldom a good way to go about things, though.
I've always maintained that your best customers should pay your lowest rate. This is something you should manage actively.
If you manage it passively, you will end up giving discounts and additional attention to your WORST customers. The ones who gripe about everything. The ones who make you fix things that have nothing to do with your work. The ones who are angry and don't want to pay the bill.
Those customers, frankly, I've always made a point to charge for everything. Every minute, every trip charge, all at 100% cost. I don't want to keep them. I want them to look for somebody else.
The good customers? They get discounts, they get freebies. I want a long-term business relationship with them.
My HVAC guy? I hope he didn't think I was a good customer, because he has probably lost the long-term relationship he had with me.
Overbearing, Boorish Baseball Dad Post
Starting a few weeks before opening day, Logan's team had a lot of scrimmages. The coach and a few parents have shown concern that it looks like the team is still rough around the edges.
I can see what they're talking about, but for the most part, that's what the scrimmages are for. The season doesn't start for another week, and for the most part, all the other teams will be in the same boat.
It doesn't take much observation to realize that natural talent is the biggest factor in sports. No amount of work, effort, dedication, is going to overcome a lack of basic natural tools. (I know this from firsthand experience. 99% of an athlete's success is determined at the moment of conception, in my opinion. It's honing the remaining 1% that determines how far most athletes will go.)
Last night, we scrimmaged the other Sylvania U9 Mavericks team. The way things went, the best 12 players from the tryouts are on Logan's team. They are the "heavy" team (because our travel schedule is heavy with out of town tournaments and more games played) or the "blue" team (blue uniforms).
They played the "light" team, or the "black" team last night.
I was curious to see the level of play for the other team. After all, the two teams comprise the top 2 dozen players from a tryout of between 150 and 200 kids. I'm proud that Logan made the heavy team, but probably would have been just as happy had he made the light team.
The light team was motivated, which is to be expected. Kids are competitive, even at this age, and I figured the kids on that other team would really, really want to show that they were every bit as good as the kids selected for Heavy.
We arrived, and because of spring break, we were shorthanded. We had just 7 players.
As our players rolled in one after the other and we wondered if we would have enough to even have a meaningful scrimmage, their team was already there, looking sharp, listening to coach's directions and running through drills.
Almost any observer would have thought that they were better disciplined and simply wanted it more.
I went over to a batting cage to warm up Logan. He struggled for a little bit, then started crushing the ball. I am astounded at his progress at bat in the off-season. Last year, he had a perfectly flat swing. Better than an uppercut swing, but not quite what you want to see. This year, he has a gorgeous, major league swing. Probably the only thing he needs to work on is getting a little harder hip-turn on the ball, but other than that, his swing is a beautiful thing to behold.
When we returned, our kids lined up to warm up throwing, then line up for fielding drills. These kids have always been talented, but the off-season work and another 3/4-year of growth has produced a dramatic difference.
(We had indoor facilities to practice in all off-season and practiced twice a week.)
They were fluid and crisp in fielding line drives and their throws were remarkable. Logan has gotten to the point where, at age 8, he plays baseball better than I ever did, and probably ever could.
I glanced over at the other team and saw that they were doing the same drill, but had more difficulty fielding cleanly and making the throw.
A few of the other dads and I expressed relief that our kids were actually better. Not so much because we wanted them to be superior, but to validate that our kids belonged on the Blue team. Nobody wants to see a situation where their kid was selected, but didn't truly deserve his spot.
I think each of us had a worst-nightmare of seeing the black team and thinking, "Oh my... there's half a dozen kids on that team that should have beaten my kid for a spot on blue/heavy."
I also think that it's awesome that the rec district is sponsoring two teams, not just one. For one thing, Sylvania has two High Schools. So, they should be trying to cultivate two capable teams. For another, kids develop at different ages and breakout at different ages. So, some of the kids who are currently playing heavy might drop off and some who are playing light may move up over time.
The more participation, the better. Every one of the kids selected for Mavericks baseball should be very, very proud.
During the scrimmage, our team's skills really came through. Our pitching was faster and more accurate. Fly balls were handled routinely. The team made good plays on line drives. It wasn't perfect, but it was very, very good.
This is the 4th team we've scrimmaged, and against 3 of them our team was so far ahead of the other team, it was difficult to make a comparison.
In fact, I found myself thinking, "Wow, we should really be doing a lot better against this other team."
Really, that was the wrong emphasis. I should have been happy that our team was demonstrably better.
The only team we weren't clearly better than was the Maverick's U10 Heavy. Frankly, we held our own. They were clearly the better team, but it's not like we didn't belong on the same field. And one year, at this age, is a huge, huge advantage.
In an interesting note, we played an entire team that's playing in the U9 league, but whose players all qualify to play U8. (U9 means "under 9" and U8 means "under 8"). Our team was clearly better, but again, those kids were competing. I was thinking, "Wow... we're really not all that good... those kids are 8 years old."
It wasn't until later that I remembered that Logan and 3 other kids on his team (out of 11 players) also could qualify for U8 if they wanted to. So, it's not like everybody on our team was a lot older.
The format of these scrimmages makes it hard to tell how well/poorly the teams are doing, too. Basically, every inning, both teams bat their entire lineup. So, at the end of an "inning", we might score 6 runs, and the other team might score 1 run. However, we might have gotten, say, 8 outs during that inning where they may have only gotten 2.
So, when it seems like our kids should be doing better, the reality is that during a real game, they won't be out there facing 11 batters if they get 3 outs on the first 4. At this age, their attention tends to wander later in the inning after they've been out there for, say, 5 outs.
We scrimmage 2 more times before next Tuesday's opener. I fear that the opener will be one of our tougher games.
It is against an independent Sylvania team, the Copperheads. They played together last year. So, they've established a chemistry that our kids won't have until they've played a few games together.
To boot, Logan and a few members of the U9 Heavy tried out for the Copperheads and were not selected. A couple apparently were offered spots on the Copperheads, but chose to play Mavericks because that's where their friends play.
They're a Sylvania Team, but I don't know much about them. The kids don't go to Logan's elementary school that I know of, but Sylvania and Sylvania Township is about 65,000. So, there's a lot of folks I don't know. I think they also allow players from some of the more rural areas west of town to play.
I think our team can compete against anybody, but it would have been nice to play the Copperheads later in the season after we'd played together a little while.
Ultimately, though, I think we'll do fine. The suspense is half the fun, anyway.
I can see what they're talking about, but for the most part, that's what the scrimmages are for. The season doesn't start for another week, and for the most part, all the other teams will be in the same boat.
It doesn't take much observation to realize that natural talent is the biggest factor in sports. No amount of work, effort, dedication, is going to overcome a lack of basic natural tools. (I know this from firsthand experience. 99% of an athlete's success is determined at the moment of conception, in my opinion. It's honing the remaining 1% that determines how far most athletes will go.)
Last night, we scrimmaged the other Sylvania U9 Mavericks team. The way things went, the best 12 players from the tryouts are on Logan's team. They are the "heavy" team (because our travel schedule is heavy with out of town tournaments and more games played) or the "blue" team (blue uniforms).
They played the "light" team, or the "black" team last night.
I was curious to see the level of play for the other team. After all, the two teams comprise the top 2 dozen players from a tryout of between 150 and 200 kids. I'm proud that Logan made the heavy team, but probably would have been just as happy had he made the light team.
The light team was motivated, which is to be expected. Kids are competitive, even at this age, and I figured the kids on that other team would really, really want to show that they were every bit as good as the kids selected for Heavy.
We arrived, and because of spring break, we were shorthanded. We had just 7 players.
As our players rolled in one after the other and we wondered if we would have enough to even have a meaningful scrimmage, their team was already there, looking sharp, listening to coach's directions and running through drills.
Almost any observer would have thought that they were better disciplined and simply wanted it more.
I went over to a batting cage to warm up Logan. He struggled for a little bit, then started crushing the ball. I am astounded at his progress at bat in the off-season. Last year, he had a perfectly flat swing. Better than an uppercut swing, but not quite what you want to see. This year, he has a gorgeous, major league swing. Probably the only thing he needs to work on is getting a little harder hip-turn on the ball, but other than that, his swing is a beautiful thing to behold.
When we returned, our kids lined up to warm up throwing, then line up for fielding drills. These kids have always been talented, but the off-season work and another 3/4-year of growth has produced a dramatic difference.
(We had indoor facilities to practice in all off-season and practiced twice a week.)
They were fluid and crisp in fielding line drives and their throws were remarkable. Logan has gotten to the point where, at age 8, he plays baseball better than I ever did, and probably ever could.
I glanced over at the other team and saw that they were doing the same drill, but had more difficulty fielding cleanly and making the throw.
A few of the other dads and I expressed relief that our kids were actually better. Not so much because we wanted them to be superior, but to validate that our kids belonged on the Blue team. Nobody wants to see a situation where their kid was selected, but didn't truly deserve his spot.
I think each of us had a worst-nightmare of seeing the black team and thinking, "Oh my... there's half a dozen kids on that team that should have beaten my kid for a spot on blue/heavy."
I also think that it's awesome that the rec district is sponsoring two teams, not just one. For one thing, Sylvania has two High Schools. So, they should be trying to cultivate two capable teams. For another, kids develop at different ages and breakout at different ages. So, some of the kids who are currently playing heavy might drop off and some who are playing light may move up over time.
The more participation, the better. Every one of the kids selected for Mavericks baseball should be very, very proud.
During the scrimmage, our team's skills really came through. Our pitching was faster and more accurate. Fly balls were handled routinely. The team made good plays on line drives. It wasn't perfect, but it was very, very good.
This is the 4th team we've scrimmaged, and against 3 of them our team was so far ahead of the other team, it was difficult to make a comparison.
In fact, I found myself thinking, "Wow, we should really be doing a lot better against this other team."
Really, that was the wrong emphasis. I should have been happy that our team was demonstrably better.
The only team we weren't clearly better than was the Maverick's U10 Heavy. Frankly, we held our own. They were clearly the better team, but it's not like we didn't belong on the same field. And one year, at this age, is a huge, huge advantage.
In an interesting note, we played an entire team that's playing in the U9 league, but whose players all qualify to play U8. (U9 means "under 9" and U8 means "under 8"). Our team was clearly better, but again, those kids were competing. I was thinking, "Wow... we're really not all that good... those kids are 8 years old."
It wasn't until later that I remembered that Logan and 3 other kids on his team (out of 11 players) also could qualify for U8 if they wanted to. So, it's not like everybody on our team was a lot older.
The format of these scrimmages makes it hard to tell how well/poorly the teams are doing, too. Basically, every inning, both teams bat their entire lineup. So, at the end of an "inning", we might score 6 runs, and the other team might score 1 run. However, we might have gotten, say, 8 outs during that inning where they may have only gotten 2.
So, when it seems like our kids should be doing better, the reality is that during a real game, they won't be out there facing 11 batters if they get 3 outs on the first 4. At this age, their attention tends to wander later in the inning after they've been out there for, say, 5 outs.
We scrimmage 2 more times before next Tuesday's opener. I fear that the opener will be one of our tougher games.
It is against an independent Sylvania team, the Copperheads. They played together last year. So, they've established a chemistry that our kids won't have until they've played a few games together.
To boot, Logan and a few members of the U9 Heavy tried out for the Copperheads and were not selected. A couple apparently were offered spots on the Copperheads, but chose to play Mavericks because that's where their friends play.
They're a Sylvania Team, but I don't know much about them. The kids don't go to Logan's elementary school that I know of, but Sylvania and Sylvania Township is about 65,000. So, there's a lot of folks I don't know. I think they also allow players from some of the more rural areas west of town to play.
I think our team can compete against anybody, but it would have been nice to play the Copperheads later in the season after we'd played together a little while.
Ultimately, though, I think we'll do fine. The suspense is half the fun, anyway.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
This and That on Easter Day...
Well, I was hoping for some gigantic appliance sales in today's paper, but so far, no dice. We don't get the major blowout sales here that I see in some larger markets. That goes for cars, major appliances, whatever.
I have a plan to get a dishwasher (a cheap one, but essentially brand-new) into the house, but still need to figure out how to get a washer and dryer in there. After that, I just need to cross my fingers and pray for the health of the fridge. I figure it'll go bad one of these days, but in the mean time, the ice-maker works and the thing is still functional. If I can get a couple years out of the thing, that'll be a big help.
I am ready to submit my transfer paperwork for that Contracting unit in Fort Worth. I'm looking forward to it. I'll have to pay my own travel to and from there, and rent a car, but the Navy will pay for my lodging while I'm down there. The upside is that some of my very best friends live down there. So, it'll give me a chance to see them somewhat regularly.
They'll also allow me to double up on drills so I don't always have to fly down there every month, necessarily. That'll save me some airfare and let me work around schedule conflicts, etc.
I also really need to get a new car. I drive about 3,000 miles a month. (Don't ask me how.) My current ride gets maybe 17 MPG. Getting a 30 MPG car would save me enough money in a month to take care of the car payment and insurance. It would also put less wear and tear on my gigantic highway dinosaur. Plus, if I can't get good airfare and have to make the huge drive to Texas, I'll really be glad to be driving something that's a gas sipper versus a guzzler.
I'll still probably use the dinosaur whenever, for instance, I have a long road trip with Logan. But otherwise, I'll use the little economy car.
Right now, I'm thinking a Honda Civic.
Travel baseball is proving to be every bit the committment that I thought it would be. The regular season hasn't started just yet, but the team is doing unofficial scrimmages about once every 2 days.
I have had to learn to keep a scorebook, and although it was rough at first, I think I have it figured out, now. It's amazing how much information you can keep in those little tiny squares.
I also am doing much of the team's administrative stuff, paying the umpires (the rec. gives me a check and I pay the ump every game), managing the team's equipment (the team has 4 team batting helmets and a set of catcher's gear.) I also arrange for hotels, etc.
Basically, I'm the team's den mother. I was relieved the other day to see one of the mothers with a massive SLR with gigantic lens. So, I don't have to be the team's photographer.
Being a photographer for events would be fun, I think, but at a certain point, it really starts to interfere with your enjoyment of events. Half the time I took a camera to a social event, I knew that doing so caused me to miss out on half the social event. You can take video or pictures at a sporting event, but that's all you can do. So, with keeping the scorebook, there's no way I could get pix, too.
This is going to be pretty intense. Season starts mid-April and ends mid-July. The team will play over 50 games. It's well worth it, though. I can see from the scrimmages that we have one of the more talented teams. Stands to reason because of the tryout process to get on the team.
The guys still haven't attained machine-like efficiency, but they're just now learning to play together. And other than the two main catchers on the team (Logan and another kid named Bailey), the kids don't really have positions, per se.
I am amazed at Logan's progress at catcher. Bailey is a stud at catcher and his family has an older brother who catches and his father catches. Logan started off so far behind Bailey, that I was afraid he'd really feel bad. Now, he is getting to where he's really closed the gap.
I wasn't that excited about Logan playing catcher, but he really enjoys it and he's getting good at it. Logan and Bailey will get most of the work, but there's 3 other kids in there, too. On defense, I think catcher is, by far, the most physically demanding position, not to mention wearing a ton of equipment in the middle of Summer. So, it's important that these kids get breaks. Otherwise, they'd be exhausted in the course of a normal tournament.
I'm starting to see a strategy that could have me living in my new house pretty soon. Had a bit of an unwelcome development. The windows upstairs are in bad repair. I could probably live with them, but I think I could replace them all with vinyl clad windows relatively inexpensively. Home Depot has a line where each window would be probably $120-150 each. That's still a major chunk of change, but the house is well-shaded and I could probably get by without A/C for most of the year if I could get good enough air circulation throughout the house.
I just have to get it to where it's liveable and take on the remaining tasks one at a time.
And that's all there is on this amazingly beautiful Easter Sunday.
I have a plan to get a dishwasher (a cheap one, but essentially brand-new) into the house, but still need to figure out how to get a washer and dryer in there. After that, I just need to cross my fingers and pray for the health of the fridge. I figure it'll go bad one of these days, but in the mean time, the ice-maker works and the thing is still functional. If I can get a couple years out of the thing, that'll be a big help.
I am ready to submit my transfer paperwork for that Contracting unit in Fort Worth. I'm looking forward to it. I'll have to pay my own travel to and from there, and rent a car, but the Navy will pay for my lodging while I'm down there. The upside is that some of my very best friends live down there. So, it'll give me a chance to see them somewhat regularly.
They'll also allow me to double up on drills so I don't always have to fly down there every month, necessarily. That'll save me some airfare and let me work around schedule conflicts, etc.
I also really need to get a new car. I drive about 3,000 miles a month. (Don't ask me how.) My current ride gets maybe 17 MPG. Getting a 30 MPG car would save me enough money in a month to take care of the car payment and insurance. It would also put less wear and tear on my gigantic highway dinosaur. Plus, if I can't get good airfare and have to make the huge drive to Texas, I'll really be glad to be driving something that's a gas sipper versus a guzzler.
I'll still probably use the dinosaur whenever, for instance, I have a long road trip with Logan. But otherwise, I'll use the little economy car.
Right now, I'm thinking a Honda Civic.
Travel baseball is proving to be every bit the committment that I thought it would be. The regular season hasn't started just yet, but the team is doing unofficial scrimmages about once every 2 days.
I have had to learn to keep a scorebook, and although it was rough at first, I think I have it figured out, now. It's amazing how much information you can keep in those little tiny squares.
I also am doing much of the team's administrative stuff, paying the umpires (the rec. gives me a check and I pay the ump every game), managing the team's equipment (the team has 4 team batting helmets and a set of catcher's gear.) I also arrange for hotels, etc.
Basically, I'm the team's den mother. I was relieved the other day to see one of the mothers with a massive SLR with gigantic lens. So, I don't have to be the team's photographer.
Being a photographer for events would be fun, I think, but at a certain point, it really starts to interfere with your enjoyment of events. Half the time I took a camera to a social event, I knew that doing so caused me to miss out on half the social event. You can take video or pictures at a sporting event, but that's all you can do. So, with keeping the scorebook, there's no way I could get pix, too.
This is going to be pretty intense. Season starts mid-April and ends mid-July. The team will play over 50 games. It's well worth it, though. I can see from the scrimmages that we have one of the more talented teams. Stands to reason because of the tryout process to get on the team.
The guys still haven't attained machine-like efficiency, but they're just now learning to play together. And other than the two main catchers on the team (Logan and another kid named Bailey), the kids don't really have positions, per se.
I am amazed at Logan's progress at catcher. Bailey is a stud at catcher and his family has an older brother who catches and his father catches. Logan started off so far behind Bailey, that I was afraid he'd really feel bad. Now, he is getting to where he's really closed the gap.
I wasn't that excited about Logan playing catcher, but he really enjoys it and he's getting good at it. Logan and Bailey will get most of the work, but there's 3 other kids in there, too. On defense, I think catcher is, by far, the most physically demanding position, not to mention wearing a ton of equipment in the middle of Summer. So, it's important that these kids get breaks. Otherwise, they'd be exhausted in the course of a normal tournament.
I'm starting to see a strategy that could have me living in my new house pretty soon. Had a bit of an unwelcome development. The windows upstairs are in bad repair. I could probably live with them, but I think I could replace them all with vinyl clad windows relatively inexpensively. Home Depot has a line where each window would be probably $120-150 each. That's still a major chunk of change, but the house is well-shaded and I could probably get by without A/C for most of the year if I could get good enough air circulation throughout the house.
I just have to get it to where it's liveable and take on the remaining tasks one at a time.
And that's all there is on this amazingly beautiful Easter Sunday.
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