Kids' Baseball

It would be easy to think that Little League baseball is no different from those who are producing the Kids' Nation reality show. Take a bunch of minors, put them through stressful situations, and kick back and see what happens. But there is no comparison. The eleven and twelve year old ball players are constantly being supervised by adults. The coaching staff does not have free hand with their young charges. All practices and games are well attended by parents and siblings. The days of an abusive coach yelling or hitting (see the original "Bad New Bears") a player are long gone. Indeed ABC/ESPN has mikes on all the coaches so that any bad or condomning words would be picked up by the millions watching on television. Finally, the old argument against Little League is that children so young should not be subjected to failure and the subsequent tears, etc. But those tears are short lived. The bitter disappointment of not moving on in the tournament is replaced as the players leave the field and go on to their next activity. The players at Williamsport make friends with their counterparts from other parts of the United States and abroad. During the championship game, many of the players who did not make it to the final contest could be seen hanging together having a wonderful time.