Here we go again.  Another example of how liberals hurt our kids.

My daughter and I have played, coached and officiated sports for many years.  We love working with kids and we see the positive effects of organized sports on their growth and development. Coaching is fun and rewarding.  But it’s not easy these days.

A while back I wrote about coaching my grandson’s first baseball season.  Here’s a recap:  First inning of the first game of the season.   The batter hits a ground ball to our pitcher, who makes the catch and easily throws him out at first.  Instead of returning the batter to the dugout, the coach holds him on first base.  “Hey!” several people yelled. “That batter was out!”  But the coach kept him on first base, saying, “We don’t put kids out in this league.  Everybody gets to run the bases.”  There are no umpires for the 5 -year old beginners league, so the coaches are in charge.

None of our coaches saw anything like that in the rules we had received before the season, but being new to the league, and not wanting to make a scene in front of the kids, we didn’t put up a fight.  Over the rest of the game, only one of our players actually got put out, and we returned him to the bench, but the nine batters our team put out still ran the bases.  No score was kept.  The game was weird, and our players, who were being taught to play by the rules and are naturally competitive, were confused and upset.  Why are we trying to put players out when they still get to run and score?

We called the league manager to express our concern about trying to teach baseball with no rules.  His reply was, “We just want the kids to feel successful and have fun.  Besides, five-year olds never put anybody out anyway,” which sent my daughter/coach into orbit!  So we had all the parents call the league manager, and they let him know what they thought of his “no winners and losers” version of baseball.  He relented, and for the rest of the season an out was an out, the kids learned how to play by the rules, and everybody had fun.

Fast forward to my grandson’s first basketball game, almost two years later.

Again, our players had been taught the rules and were expected to abide by them.  First game of the season, our team gets the ball, dribbles to their basket, and my boy made the first basket of the season.  Yay!  The other team throws the ball in, and their guard dribbles and stops.  Dribbles and stops.  Again. And again. And again.  After 13 double-dribbles he tucked the ball like a running back, ran all the way across the court, and took his shot.

Our coaches asked the referee why he didn’t call double-dribble or travelling.  “Oh, we don’t have any infractions in this league.  We just want them to have fun.”

Attempts by the coaches to get rules enforced in that game, and the next, were unsuccessful.  It wasn’t long before the players who had been taught how to play by the rules abandoned them.  I was appalled when I saw my grandson start double-dribbling and travelling like the other kids.  Why should he play by the rules when nobody else has to?  He’s not dumb! To make matters worse, it wasn’t long before the kids figured out that fouls weren’t called, and the game became a bloody free-for-all.  My kid has a beauty of a shiner.

I know they mean well, but liberals should be kept away from impressionable children.  Kids need structure.  They want to know the rules.  They grow by experiencing the rewards of hard work, the thrill of fair competition, and the joy of winning.  Building character includes losing with dignity, and learning from one’s mistakes.

One thing I know about children:  nothing hurts them more than being treated unfairly.  And nothing is more unfair than letting some kids break the rules while others abide by them.  The same holds true for adults, but it’s larger than life for children.  What happens if you give one sibling candy, but not the other?

This is not just about sports and kids.  It’s about life, and it’s about the moral decay we see all around us.   Some are expected to work while others don’t.  Some follow the laws while others flaunt them – or political leaders decide to not enforce them.  Some put their shopping carts in the rack at Costco.  Others just leave them in the parking lot, for somebody else to take care of.

And it seems like the people who complain loudest about being treated unfairly are the ones who don’t respect the rules.  The liberals.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ on the Right Side

When I fight authority, authority always wins
When I fight authority, authority always wins!
I been doing it, since I was a young kid and
I’ve come out grinnin’.
I fight authority, authority always wins!

John Cougar Mellencamp – the Authority Song

Take a minute to enjoy a young John Cougar Mellencamp – kid had some moves!