Being a sports junky (no pun intended), this is one of my favorite times of the year. Second only to March Madness. Yesterday was the final game of the Little League World Series.
Baseball a sport I loved growing up. It is still my favorite sport to watch in person. Baseball is not a sport for TV. You can't see all the details on TV. I will not go into that now.
So, why do I like to watch these 11-12 yr olds. Is it their youthful enthusiasm for the game? Is it the emotions that they display on their shirt sleeves? Is it the intensity that they play with? Is it because now I spend some of my summer coaching young players in our local booster league? Etc. Or, is it just me living out my boyhood dreams? Probably all of the above.
There is such drama in the Series. I feel like I know the kids as if they are from my town. I begin to root for a certain team or maybe just a couple players. This year I was captivated by the 1st baseman from Hawaii's team. The shortest kid in the tournament this year. Wait a minute did I just say shortest player playing 1B. Anyone with any baseball knowledge knows this is not were you put your shortest kid. This kid had baseball instincts that major league players don't have. And he had facial expressions that - well lets just say made realize he was a kid.
I tell my family every year that we (I tell myself they love this also) need to plan a vacation to witness this in person. Brings back memories of my days in Lafayette, Indiana which was host to the Babe Ruth Colt World Series (15-16 yr olds). I doubt that I missed a game in my years in Lafayette.
And maybe that is the true answer as to why I watch. It brings to mind so many memories from my days as a player and my days as a coach and fan.
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