I always feel like the weekends fly by...Saturdays not so much, but Sundays always seem to get right past me...It's just unreal how the time goes by when you're not having to grind through the work week...I've been feeling pretty negative lately...I mean look at some of my lat few posts...There was THIS about a stupid "Unfair" PSA...Fucking assholes! Then I had THIS ranting and raving about idiots being offended by comedy...But then there was Penn State, Jerry Sandusky, and Joe Pateron to really keep my blood boiling HERE...Yeah, the PSU crew has been really good at keeping my blood pressure up since November...
So even though my Monday Moaning post normally is filled with more negativity, I'm going to try and be a bit more positive this week...I figured I hammered out enough anger the last couple weeks...Let's start with this bit I saw on "The New York Rangers Blog"...They got a tip from Julie Robenhymer at HockeyBuzz about young, talented, star winger, Chris Kreider after he had played in a charity game...
"After the game, the players posed for a team picture and then headed towards the locker rooms to shower and change....except for one. Chris Kreider saw a kid along the boards waving a pen at him. He skated over and went up and down that side of the rink signing everything handed to him...Forty-five minutes later he made his way back to the bench where a few volunteers were waiting for a picture. At this point, all of the other players had showered, changed and left the rink and while the ice was being resurfaced behind him, Kreider continued to sign autographs and take pictures with anyone and everyone who wanted one as a new line formed near the entrance to the bench."
It's really great to see a young guy these days, that actually gets it...It's been awhile since I've seen a story like that.
-As many of you may know, I coached the Little Beeze's Tee-Ball team the last two Summers...This year he moved up to Coach Pitch, and yes, I'm coaching again...The coaches aren't actually pitching...The rec has high school kids that work there, do the pitching, catching and umping...
Early on my team was looking rough...The boy throws and hits well...The last couple weeks he has been just ripping line-drives past people...But he was always doing a home run trot, no matter how the ball was hit...We fixed that...There is another kid with a great baseball IQ, that his dad drilled into him...He was suppose to help coach, but he flaked out...He never showed for practices, and shows for half the games, and rides his kid...His kid then tends to yell at other kids on the team if they boot one, or don't make "the right" play...One game I had enough, and told him, "Be quiet, you made 3 errors today...You yell at anyone again, you won't play the rest of the rest of the season on my team!"
You see, this is a league that doesn't keep score...It's about kids having fun, learning the basics, getting outside, and playing with others...I've excepted that, and embraced it...So fuck that kid being an asshole, because his dad's an asshole...(Yeah, just got a bit negative)
We have an 8 year old boy who crushes the ball, and is pretty good in the field...And a 9 year old girl who is awesome at it all...She'll be on her way to a softball scholarship...Then there is a 7 year old boy with no attention span at all, and is often leaving the field to pee, or get a drink...When he's on the field, he's playing in the dirt...So he has found a lot of time in the outfield...His older sister started out afraid of catching the ball, and having trouble hitting...She's gotten better in the field, and is ripping into the ball now...
Then there is our little peanut...She's a tiny 7 year old...The smallest bat we have, are too big for her...She should have been in Tee-Ball, but they put her here...She's never played before...She's been held back a bit by her home life...Her mother with a disability,and two younger kids, plus bouncing between mom's house and dad's house...I'll be honest, I've worked more with her, then any of the other kids...That may sound bad, but she learned how to throw, at our first practice...She's always smiling, and positive...A couple weeks ago, she fielded a ball in the infield, and made the throw to first...The runner was safe, but I was thrilled, and so were the people in the stands...
Hitting has been tough...The league rules say, after 4 swings they use the tee...But at the beginning of the year, all the coaches agreed to screw that, give them 5 and then it's a strike out...This is about learning, and we want the kids to learn to hit off the pitch, and that failing is part of the game, and it's okay...There are a couple kids that coaches have used the tee for, that were really struggling...
Peanut had gotten a few hits that were weak...really weak grounders...The kids pitching were trying their best to hit the bat with the pitch...She never cries, or gets down about it...She feels good when she gets a foul ball...And the parents and others watching in the stands have been great...Everyone, including from the other teams, are rooting for her...When she's made contact, they go wild...And the kids pitching and catching, often say one more...Everyone is pulling for our peanut...
Lately, it seems like she is a bit frustrated...Our game on the 3rd was rained out, even though it rained in the morning, and the fields were fine...Oh, and they neglected to call the coaches...I ended up running a practice with kids from my team and 3 other teams...One was tee ball team...And that coach had a tee with him...Peanut was batting and after about 15 pitches, she asked if she could try the tee...I said sure...She ripped it...She hit a few more times off the tee, and you could see the excitement and confidence it gave her...Afterwards she asked if she could use a tee in the games...I said, "How about we still try the pitches, and if you don't get it after a few, then we'll use the tee?" She said okay, with a big smile on her face...
This past week she needed the tee, but that's okay...She got 3 hits in each game...And her confidence is growing...She wants to play 3rd base this week...Tuesday I'm going to put her there...And the kid with the asshole dad is going in the outfield...She's got a much better attitude, and hasn't made nearly as many errors!
This week is our last week of the season...I've heard other coaches who don't want to be there, and can't wait for it to be over...Me, I'm going to miss it...And I'll be excited for next year...Oh, and during that practice we had...My oldest decided to join us...She's never played, and she did great...She wants to play next year...I may be coaching two teams!
That's it for now....Have a week...
Later, The Beeze.
