ESPN has been showing the Little League World Series lately, and with the Taiwan (Chinese Taipei) team having made it pretty deep, of course I got sucked in.
As I've mentioned many times before, I love baseball regardless. But there's definitely something more refreshing about watching these kids play the sport, compared to the major leagues. Obviously there's a gap in talent, but there's also no steroids either, at least I would hope. And something about watching those little rascals run around the field cracks me up, especially when they're chugging around wearing those huge helmets with 2 ear flaps.
More importantly, though, you can see how much the game means to the kids who are playing. Flashy plays are great and everything, but I think the excitement of sports comes more from the pure spirit of competition itself. It's a huge part of what's missing when I watch sports at the pro level, and even the college game these days.
What I appreciate most is that even though these kids care so much about winning and losing, they still show good sportsmanship (at least most of the time). When the Ohio team lost in a heartbreaker to the New England team, the tears came flowing and you could see how much it hurt. But they knew that win or lose, they did it all fair and square. Everyone shakes hands with the other team and means it when they say "good game".
In one game, I saw a kid almost get hit by a pitch, which actually bounced off the handle of the bat for a foul ball. At the pro or even high school/college level, the batter definitely would have pretended to be hit by that pitch and start running towards first. In this game, the coach came out to argue the call with the ump, but then they asked the kid whether it was a foul or hit, and he didn't even think to lie about it.
I mean, when we watch sports on TV, how often do you actually see something like that? It seems like there's a prevailing opinion in competition that "if you're not cheating, you're not trying". Even if it's not outright cheating like steroids or illegal payments in college recruiting, there's a lot of other garbage in sports that I wish we could rid ourselves of. Flopping in soccer or basketball to get fouls called. Taking questionable drops in golf. All of Peyton Manning's unnecessary theatrics before the snap in football, or his cheap little "hurry-up" play calls to force offsides.
Whatever happened to playing the game like a man? Win or lose, you hold your head up high, knowing that you played the right way. When I coach my own kids in Little League someday, I hope they compete exactly like these kids. Work hard and play to win, but always respect your opponent and respect the game. You may lose from time to time, and it's okay to cry when you do, but in the end you leave everything out on that field. Win like a champion but more importantly, lose like a champion too.
Oh well, enough of my corny spiel. Besides all of that, my favorite parts of the broadcasts is the profiles they show for each kid when they come up to bat. Some of the stuff I've seen so far is pretty amusing. The fat kid's favorite food is Chocolate. The little white kid's favorite song is "Bartender" by T-Pain. Every kid on Chinese Taipei lists his favorite subject as "Math" (credit that observation to Chras and Stork) and their favorite MLB player as Chien-Ming Wang.
A less predictable tidbit is that more than one of the Taipei kids liked Black-eyed Peas as their favorite band. Ugh. Also, some kid on the Massachusetts team listed Godfather as his favorite movie. Somehow that doesn't seem right.
Too bad I'm way too old for Little League now, but that doesn't mean I can't have my own profile...
Favorite food: Steak
Favorite TV show: Planet Earth
Favorite subject: Math
Favorite movie: Home Alone
Favorite song: "You Drive Me Crazy"
Favorite player: Ichiro Suzuki
Would Like to Meet: Jessica Alba
