12-27-2022, 12:09 AM
(12-26-2022, 11:13 AM)samhain Wrote: Yeah, it sucks.
Even youth baseball is an inhumane pressure cooker of insane parents and travel coaches that all think they're the bastard sons of Billy Martin and General Patton. I don't know how kids even enjoy that stuff anymore. Neighborhood baseball like we played really isn't a thing. The fun aspect of it is basically dead on any real organized level. It's a money machine for camps, coaches, and tournaments, all selling the idea of college scholarships and MLB careers to extremely naive parents. You could pay for your kid's college with the cumulative amount that some of these people spend on lessons and 365 day a year travel.
Even a kid that loves it can't compete if he doesn't have parents that can financially support him through lessons that run thousands over time and grind them down to the nub. The ones that can either make it or hate baseball before they hit high school.
The competitive balance in the league will kill it. 300 mil payrolls vs 50-70 mil payrolls is like the Cowboys of the 90's ripping through they league with a roster that was only limited by Jerry Jones' pocketbook. You wound up with a nation full of Cowboys bandwagoners and a bunch of other teams, mainly Buffalo, cycling though to get pounded in the Super Bowl. Then the salary cap came along, the Cowboys drifted back to league average, and other teams had a shot based more on the actual football acumen of the front office, a department in which Jerry was sorely lacking.
And what happened? The league became a juggernaut of advertising money and must-see TV on a level of no other sport in this country. Everyone thought they had a chance, because they kind of did in the grand scheme. I love seeing the NFL crush other leagues in earnings and viewing. It's the only remotely level playing field in terms of financial structure, and it rakes in cash. I want players to get paid, but the day thy get the upper hand on owners is the day the league starts to die.
I quit coaching because of insane parents. I was 22 years old, took time out of my life with no children on the team so I held no biases. Some guy wanted his kid to play third base because he played third base when he was a kid. I told him that when I tried out every kid at every position over our first three practices, so they could learn the roles of each position, his kid graded in the bottom half of every infield spot. Compared to the rest of the team, his son was a poor fielder with a weak arm and he couldn't hit very well. That guy saw none of that and after a few weeks of constant loud remarks from the stands, he totally flipped out on me in the parking lot after a game where his son was just a sub with one at bat. I went over to the food shack, called the league President and told him that I'm leaving the gear at the food shack and he can find someone else to coach the team. I really wanted to kick the guy's ass but not in front of my team. I had other problem parents making comments from the stands but that was the last straw with me and I've never been back.
I saw one of my former coaches a few years afterwards and he thought for sure that I would be in coaching after my playing days. I told him that I tried, but I'm not built to take that kind of abuse. He reflected back . . . "Yyyyyeah. Now that I think about it. You were very much more of "a pat on the back" kind of guy and not much of "a kick in the ass" kind of guy. I see your point."
Only users lose drugs.
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