I am not trying to get my kid to the big leagues. I am much more worried about getting into a good college. That aside, I view baseball as one of the best ways to build a tight bond between me and my son. We go to games together, we watch games every night, and we play catch regularly. One benefit of travel ball is that we take road trips, to the Dells, Louisville, and Des Moines in the past year and spend time together. I have built a very close bond with my son because we both love baseball. Therefore, regardless with what happens, we both win.

I'll defer to folks on a lot of topics, but when it comes to baseball, it is one of my passions. Ok to disagree, but I am coming from an informed perspective.

RR wow. Well said.

Hell, the sheeple that blindly follow the NFL watch the combine & draft which have even less action. But don't seem to notice.

RPB, there are so many levels of wrong here it's almost frightening. My son's league didn't suck. Actually we've won the state tournament 3x in the last 6 years and finished 2nd twice. However, the in house games generally blew. Dennis isn't that far off from what I've seen in 3 different leagues in the last 10 years, there isn't real baseball being played in most in house little league games. To throw multiple no hitters, or lead your league in homers in an in house league isn't a big deal.

To legitimately have hope of getting better, kids now have to play travel ball. The levels of competition are night and day different. (and I'm not even talking elite level ball that starts at 9-10 years old)

Tons of sweeping, overly general statements there, RogersParkBernSTINE.

RPB, how do you know so much about this, you sure seem damn sure that you are right in all of your responses?

Grobber coming on to talk Hawkey before transition.

Just a guess. Think Im probably right though?

Doesnt sound like a kid who wants to play

He's actually pretty dead on. Figure 100/120 plays per game @ on average a generous 6 seconds per play - 600/720 seconds (10-12 minutes). And at least 12-18 of those plays are spiking the ball, punting, and touchbacks.

Hell, the sheeple that blindly follow the NFL watch the combine & draft which have even less action. But don't seem to notice.

RPB, there are so many levels of wrong here it's almost frightening. My son's league didn't suck. Actually we've won the state tournament 3x in the last 6 years and finished 2nd twice. However, the in house games generally blew. Dennis isn't that far off from what I've seen in 3 different leagues in the last 10 years, there isn't real baseball being played in most in house little league games. To throw multiple no hitters, or lead your league in homers in an in house league isn't a big deal.

To legitimately have hope of getting better, kids now have to play travel ball. The levels of competition are night and day different. (and I'm not even talking elite level ball that starts at 9-10 years old)

Sorry, I was more alluding to your travel thoughts vs. Little League or in house leagues.

To be clear RPB, my comments are based on personal experience over five years with two children. In a given year, my son played on both a travel and in house teams. As such, I have a sound basis for my opinions. However, it is quite possible that other leagues do not have those issues. In talking to parents around my office, I suspect they are very similar.

Just my opinion.

Ive seen many parents do what Panther originally described though and try and either buy or will the kid onto a travelling team.


The other thing is just a pet peeve of mine. People making their kids play sports they hate irks me personally.

The victims are the American People and the Republic itself.

Gotcha, and I would never make a kid keep playing a sport they don't like, but I am a believer in finishing what you start for that season.

Agreed. And its hard because a kid might love a sport but they're afraid to try and once they do they love it. So I get the temptation to push.

But yes, once youre on the team, you finish the year. Finishing something you dont love because you have to is a good life lesson anyway.

That story just screamed of a kid who wanted no part of it.

I'm talking about the stupid strawman that football fans watch the Super Bowl for the commercials.

And as far as the travel team my son was on, we didn't travel all over the creation. We did a lot of traveling locally and would go down to Illinois or Indiana once or twice a year, everything else was local. Last year we took the boys to Disney and played which was amazing trip for all involved. But, that was more or less a celebration of the boys since they had been playing together basically since they were 9. Also, the more parents got along for the most part very well, which makes it so much more enjoyable. I have seen teams where there are parent issues and it can make for a long summer.

Are you saying they don't? I think it's a pretty damn fair statement when you're counting all the girls (and some guys) who sit there ooohing and aaahing and giggling over the commericals and take their bathroom or snack breaks during game action as "football fans" for purposes of claiming it as the "most popular sport".

If the travel teams truly cared about making the kids better, they would have far fewer games and far more practices. Practice with good coaching is how you become better. The games are just the fun part to display what you have learned.

With all of this specialization and elite competition, is the quality of play any better at any level of baseball than, say, 50 years ago? I ask that with an open mind to the answer.

Are you saying they don't? I think it's a pretty damn fair statement when you're counting all the girls (and some guys) who sit there ooohing and aaahing and giggling over the commericals and take their bathroom or snack breaks during game action as "football fans" for purposes of claiming it as the "most popular sport".

I don't really care about the most popular sport argument. I understand the Super Bowl is more of an event than a sporting event, and many of the women enjoy the commercials more than the football. Those aren't football fans. When you talk about football and baseball, it definitely has an inferiority complex vibe to it. Who cares if more people watch football than baseball? Is that really going to affect your love of baseball? Like I said, the my sport is better than your sport stuff is really stupid, even for this board. Why are people so invested in what sports other people follow and why?

There is very little in common with "elite" level teams and in house or 80% of the glorified "travel" programs. There is no way that a regular travel team (think any team with Alsip, Palos, Plainfield, Tinley Park, Oak Forest or Homer Glen in their name) will win more than 10% of its games vs. true elite level travel teams. One level actually plays baseball, the others give the parents to come to the park, drink, hand out snacks and socialize.