Little league Champs

[Crack Wilson]

 

Chicago's Jackie Robinson West, USA Little League Champs.

 

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2014/08/jackie-robinson-west-wrigley-field-reaction

[UMFan83]

No one posted about this and JRW was doing just fine. Then you go ahead and create a thread on it and they are about to lose. This is on you.

[bukie]

They've been stripped of their title and must forfeit all their wins because they weren't using players from their district. It was a running joke throughout the year the past few years in the area anyway, but it's a shame for the kids.

[Deeg]

Cheating in f*ing Little League. We see it over and over, but it never fails to disgust (or surprise) me.

[UMFan83]

Feel bad for the kids. They didn't do anything wrong and now they have to live with it. Meanwhile the people that cheated got to profit off of them.

[Brian707]

Feel bad for the kids. They didn't do anything wrong and now they have to live with it. Meanwhile the people that cheated got to profit off of them.

 

 

This, and I would add ESPN.

[treebird]

the kids still got to be famous and destroy everyone and have the most fun in the world. i also don't think there's going to be any major stigma down the road either ("i'm sorry, we didn't realize you were on that cheating baseball team when you were 12, we're going to have to revoke your medical license now").

 

i think it's a fair trade-off for the kids.

[OleMissCub]

god knows teams like Japan and Chinese-Tapei aren't cheating. Some of the kids they roll out look like they are 15.

[SouthSideRyan]

It was my hometown that ratted them out, bitter that they lost 43-2.

[OleMissCub]

It was my hometown that ratted them out, bitter that they lost 43-2.

 

No run rule?

[Guest]

That was in 4 innings.

[ConstableRabbit]

Not that they are to blame, but I have a hard time believing that bunch of 11 to 13 year olds from the burbs had no idea that they weren't supposed to be playing on a city team. They're not the responsible party but they're also not stupid.

[dcvalpo]

This press conference is a disgrace.

[ConstableRabbit]

Did those behind this cheating scheme even get anything other than notoriety from the win? Were they paid out? Did they get better jobs?

 

The whole thing seems really stupid.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Holy crap is this thing bringing out a lot of stupid flying from all directions. A pox on all of them.

[apete6]

Did those behind this cheating scheme even get anything other than notoriety from the win? Were they paid out? Did they get better jobs?

 

The whole thing seems really stupid.

 

Yes. Several hundred thousand dollars were donated to the JRW program. I'm pretty damn sure it's not going to all be spent on new batting cages and uniforms.

[treebird]

petition to change thread title to little league chumps

[bukie]

It was my hometown that ratted them out, bitter that they lost 43-2.

Wait, Evergreen Park did this? Okay now I feel bad for JRW. EPs league was the worst to deal with in the district.

[ConstableRabbit]

Did those behind this cheating scheme even get anything other than notoriety from the win? Were they paid out? Did they get better jobs?

 

The whole thing seems really stupid.

 

Yes. Several hundred thousand dollars were donated to the JRW program. I'm pretty damn sure it's not going to all be spent on new batting cages and uniforms.

Sure, but I'd imagine the donors had stipulations around their donations, right? People were donating money to pay the coaches? I'm not sure what kind of oversight is involved with little league, but irrespective of any cheating that would feel... illegal.

[Deeg]

god knows teams like Japan and Chinese-Tapei aren't cheating. Some of the kids they roll out look like they are 15.

 

Nope. Not in the case of the Japanese, anyway. There's no country in the world with more thorough, accurate and verifiable record-keeping than Japan - it's an obsession. Also - you may not have noticed, but the average Japanese kid in the LLWS weighs about 90 pounds. Sure you get the occasional outlier but you have to remember, this is a regional all-star team, and Japan has well over 100 million people.

[Guest]

 

Nope. Not in the case of the Japanese, anyway. There's no country in the world with more thorough, accurate and verifiable record-keeping than Japan - it's an obsession.

 

Germany laughs at Japan's record keeping ability.

 

Edit: Anyway, all these teams cheat in small ways and not so small ways, I'd say the JRW team cheated in a medium size way. It's the way of the world of youth sports.

[Sammy Sofa]

These kids still [expletive] rule; who gives a [expletive] about stupid little league rules.

[Deeg]

These kids still [expletive] rule; who gives a [expletive] about stupid little league rules.

 

I don't even know where to begin with that one.

[Sammys Boombox]

Andrew McCutchen wrote this. There is a lot of good stuff in this article and it's all true.

 

http://www.theplayerstribune.com/left-out/

 

Now it’s a sport that increasingly freezes out kids whose parents don’t have the income to finance the travel baseball circuit.

...

That’s the challenge for families today. It’s not about the $100 bat. It’s about the $100-a-night motel room and the $30 gas money and the $300 tournament fee.

...

When people talk about the Jackie Robinson West team and blame the adults who took in kids from outside the boundaries that the Little League organization set, remember that those adults may be saviors to those kids. They’re the ones buying them shoes when they need it or an extra protein drink after the game.

...

People talk about the big, guaranteed money in baseball, and I certainly feel blessed that I am where I am now. But people don’t look at it through the eyes of a 17-year-old kid. You’re looking at maybe five years of minor league ball, and then you could be tendered, non-tendered, they can re-sign you for a year. You might be making anywhere from 10 to 50 grand in the minors. If you’re lucky enough to get a bonus, you can live well off that money if you spread it out. But just remember, there’s up to 40 rounds in the draft. Most guys are struggling.

...

After three years in the majors, you finally get to arbitration. Basically, by the sixth year in the big leagues, you get your first big contract — if you make it that far. Imagine explaining this confusing process to a 17-year-old kid whose family is just trying to put food on the table. “So you wanna play baseball now?”

[bhogg]

He's full of crap. I've coached for 20 years. I've bought more than my fair share of shoes, bats, uniforms, and entry fees for kids that couldn't afford to play.

 

And I miraculously managed to do it without breaking the rules of the organization we were playing.