[Vision2020] You Make the Call

Deacon James deaconblues42 at gmail.com
Fri Aug 11 22:27:45 PDT 2006


Chris,

I can assure that the second was correct: I was attempting (in good
nature, of course) to get your goat.

I really do enjoy coaching youth sports because I love to see young
boys strive to do their best in athletics. The best team I ever
coached was my team that didn't even make the championship, but they
excelled in doing what they were coached to do. They either did what
they were told or were beat trying; they didn't throw the fundamentals
out just because they were getting beat. I have won games and been
disappointed, and I have lost games but have had no criticisms.

When coaching youth sports, winning certainly isn't everything, but it
is part of the game. I coach boys to win games, both in the current
season and in the future, when they play in junior high and high
school. Often that means sacrificing the now for the later,
emphasizing fundamentals at the expense of winning.

That said, I still don't see a problem with intentionally walking the
best player in a championship game. That is what I would expect them
to do in that situation in junior high, high school, college, and the
majors. If it were a regular season game, then I think you have a
point. But really, I think the opposing coach is to blame (if we
really have to cast blame). Why on earth would he have his worst
player batting right after his best?

Have a great time fishing. I'm jealous. Smoke a salmon for me.

All in good fun,

Deacon

On 8/11/06, Chris Storhok <cstorhok at co.fairbanks.ak.us> wrote:
> Deacon,
>  I am glad to read you coach, good for you!
> But your next paragraph just sets me off again because you are
> absolutely wrong that kids who are not great at sports shouldn't expect
> to be competitive when they do play them.  The kids want to win, they
> want to do their best, and they burn with the passion to do so thus they
> are competitive.  Do you as a coach then use the full depth of a rule
> book to win at all costs?  Heck no!
> Your interpretation of my supposed suggestion that we should leave the
> winning to only kids who are good at sports is so off base that it only
> leaves me with two conclusions, either 1) you are ego manic who could
> give a rip about developing healthy mature adults as long as a trophy is
> placed in their hands, or 2) your are trying to goad me.
> Since you are a youth coach I can only pray that number 2 is correct,
> otherwise thank God there is no possibility that a child of mine will
> ever play for you.
>
> We will have a great weekend, my son has football and my daughter
> cheerleading in Wasilla and on the way home the family will have a great
> time filling our freezer with silver, pink, Chinook, and sockeye salmon
> all on a small tributary of the Susitna River in the shadow of Denali!
> (Mark S. make sure your wild rivers friends bring back healthy salmon
> runs to the Snake River system, great fishing is too fun!)
>
> Hope you have a good one to,
> Chris
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Deacon James [mailto:deaconblues42 at gmail.com]
> Sent: Friday, August 11, 2006 4:44 PM
> To: Chris Storhok
> Cc: Scott Dredge; Moscow Vision 2020; Joan Opyr
> Subject: Re: [Vision2020] You Make the Call
>
> Chris,
>
> I do coach youth sports, and have for the last four years.
>
> I like your style, though. Because the kids aren't any good ("The best
> kids have been snapped up by the Cal Ripken League"), they shouldn't
> be expected to be competitive. You're right; we should leave the
> winning to the kids who are good at sports.
>
> Have a good weekend,
>
> Deacon
>
> On 8/11/06, Chris Storhok <cstorhok at co.fairbanks.ak.us> wrote:
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Deacon,
> >
> >  (again sorry for the slow response, the Barracuda Spam firewall
> mistakes a lot of V2020 emails as spam, that incident few weeks ago
> fried it)
> >
> > My argument is that even if it is the championship game, it is still a
> bunch of 9 and 10 year olds and to do what Coach Farley did was rotten.
> This wasn't the world series but the Bountiful, Utah 9-10 year old PONY
> League Championships and Coach Farley broke the spirit of PONY league to
> ensure he won his championship.  I mean really, who would want to have a
> championship trophy tainted in such a manner.  Farley's knowledge of
> this kid and his illness makes it that much worse, really Deacon, if you
> were coaching a Moscow Parks and Recreation baseball team (knowing the
> best kids have been snapped up by the Cal Ripken League) and were in the
> same situation you would coach like Farley did?   Do you know how your
> reputation would be torn asunder in town?  It took me years to live down
> a poor sportsmanship error I made while coaching a women's softball team
> in Moscow; I was well within the rules, the umps conceded that, the
> other coach conceded that but still the coaching decision was poor.  I
> learned my lesson.  I will challenge you Deacon to go find a sport in
> Moscow or elsewhere that you know well and then volunteer to coach.  Not
> only will it be one of the most rewarding non-family decisions you will
> make, but I know you would have a much better understanding of what I am
> talking about.
> >
> >
> >
> > Concerning Ichiro, heck it's the Major's....maybe the coach wanted to
> test his team's ability to turn the DP???
> >
> >
> >
> > BTW, a lot of coaches at the youth level mix their talent in the
> lineup, it usually prevents a sting of outs.  The risks are situations
> like this or the next hitter hitting into a DP.   The star hitter's task
> is to clear off the bases; next guy up has a clean slate and usually is
> walked since a 9-10 year old pitcher is usually rattled after a hit.
> >
> > Chris
> >
> >
> >
> >   ________________________________
>
> >
> > From: Scott Dredge [mailto:sdredge at yahoo.com]
> >  Sent: Friday, August 11, 2006 1:35 PM
> >
> >  To: Deacon James; Chris Storhok
> >
> >  Cc: Moscow Vision 2020; Joan Opyr
> >
> >  Subject: Re: [Vision2020] You Make the Call
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Deacon writes:
> >  "why is the team's worst hitter batting right after the best?"
> >
> >  Bingo.  If you want to protect the best hitter, have the 2nd best
> hitting next.  The correct management decision regardless of the follow
> up hitter would be to the walk the star hitter.
> >
> >  -Scott
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message ----
> >  From: Deacon James <deaconblues42 at gmail.com>
> >  To: Chris Storhok <cstorhok at co.fairbanks.ak.us>
> >  Cc: Moscow Vision 2020 <vision2020 at moscow.com>; Joan Opyr
> <joanopyr at moscow.com>
> >  Sent: Friday, August 11, 2006 1:43:23 PM
> >  Subject: Re: [Vision2020] You Make the Call
> >
> >  Chris,
> >
> >  My point is that it was the championship game. I think that they have
> all season to play like that and I wouldn't have a problem with it at
> all. However, when it comes to playing in the championship game, I have
> no problem with giving the slugger a free pass.
> >
> >  In March, I was listening to a Mariners spring training game and the
> opposing pitcher intentionally walked Ichiro. That, to me, is stupid,
> and it made me mad. Regular season -- fine, but not in spring training.
> The manager needs to see what his pitcher can do. I think this is a
> similar case.
> >
> >  And on a side, why is the team's worst hitter batting right after the
> best? Must have been a pinch hitter/runner...
> >
> >  Take care,
> >
> >  Deacon
> >
> >
> > On 8/11/06, Chris Storhok <cstorhok at co.fairbanks.ak.us> wrote:
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Deacon,
> >
> > (For some odd reason I did not get your email - probably stuck in the
> spam filter)
> >
> > You are so wrong it stinks, I cannot believe you have such an attitude
> toward youth sports.  First off you little insinuation that I am some
> politically correct "give the kids an ice cream cone and make them feel
> good" freak is way off base.  I am a very competitive person and I coach
> that way as well.  That being said I also realize that sportsmanship is
> the most valuable lesson you can give kids this age.    Look at the
> situation and determine the correct way to play it.  First off the great
> slugger probably only gets on board 40% of the time anyway (if he was
> better than that he would be in some competitive league anyway)  Next
> your pitcher seems to be doing all right anyway, heck he has two outs
> and only one runner on why make him feel like crap by telling him that
> he is not good enough to face the best (remember he is just as much as a
> victim of this situation as the kid who had cancer) and the only way to
> win is to pitch to the worst kid on the team.  Next, a 9-or 10 year old
> slugger in Pony League probably can't hit most of the time past your
> infielders anyway so position them to field the hit and throw him out at
> first; have you outfielders in at the range this kid hits most of his
> fly balls to (they would know that depth by now) and field the fly or
> hit (followed by a throw to first (that play works well in Pony
> league)).  If the slugger happens to get a hold of a long shot oh well
> game over.....but your odds are really low that will happen.  The
> slugger would have been nervous as well (thus lowering his chances of a
> clean hit).  This is not the majors, minors, high school league,
> competitive leagues, or adult league, this is a 9-10 year old kids
> league.   The kids would have enjoyed the game no matter what the
> outcome was if it was played with good sportsmanship, sure the Yankees
> would have griped if the Sox's won but life would have gone on.  Bob
> Farley missed one of those golden opportunities that the kids dream
> about, striking out the best and winning the championship.  Instead the
> poor pitcher won his game by striking out the cancer kid, where is the
> glory in that?????  (Damn, wouldn't it have been nice if the cancer
> survivor had hit the game winner... there is always next year)
> >
> > Chris
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >   ________________________________
>
> >
> > From: Tom Hansen [mailto:thansen at moscow.com]
> >  Sent: Friday, August 11, 2006 12:06 PM
> >  To: 'Deacon James'; Chris Storhok
> >  Cc: 'Joan Opyr'; 'Moscow Vision 2020'
> >  Subject: RE: [Vision2020] You Make the Call
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > I would have pitched to the slugger as well.
> >
> >
> >
> > After all, the entire concept behind youth (especially 10- and 11-year
> olds) baseball is enjoyment and learning.  If they make new friends
> along the way, the better.
> >
> >
> >
> > Teaching kids that life is all about winning corrupts the children and
> potentially dims what would otherwise be a bright future for a
> community.
> >
> >
> >
> > Save the concepts, such as "Losing is not an option" and "Winning
> isn't everything.  It is the only thing," for Babe Ruth League and high
> school.  The formative years are just that, formative.  It is more
> important to see that person next to you as a neighbor, not a competitor
> in the game of "One Upmanship".
> >
> >
> >
> > Growing up is a one-time deal.  The "games" will always be there.
> >
> >
> >
> > Tom Hansen
> >
> > Moscow , Idaho
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > "Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of
> arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to
> skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, a drink in the other, body
> thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming 'WOO HOO. What a
> ride!'"
> >
> >   ________________________________
>
> >
> > From: Deacon James [mailto:deaconblues42 at gmail.com]
> >  Sent: Friday, August 11, 2006 12:53 PM
> >  To: Chris Storhok
> >  Cc: Tom Hansen; Joan Opyr; Moscow Vision 2020
> >  Subject: Re: [Vision2020] You Make the Call
> >
> >
> >
> > Chris,
> >
> >  What's the point of having a championship game, then? Why not just
> slap all the kids on the back at the end of the season and buy them a
> pile of ice cream cones? That way, no one's a loser, the coach doesn't
> have to be perceived as a jerk, and, hey, ice cream cones all around.
> It's a win-win-win situation, don't you think?
> >
> >  Deacon
> >
> >
> > On 8/11/06, Chris Storhok <cstorhok at co.fairbanks.ak.us> wrote:
> >
> > Tom,
> >  This is an easy one A) Pitch to the slugger. Period...
> >
> >  One of the great joys about being a youth sports coach is working
> with
> >  the kids and watching them mature before your eyes.  These coaches
> are
> >  playing with kids and there is nothing worse than watching coaches
> >  manipulate the kids or the rules for a simple win.  These are 9 and
> 10
> >  year olds for goodness sake, not high school age kids trying for
> college
> >  scholarships.  A vast majority of the kids out there will drop out of
> >  organized baseball (and other sports) within the next few years of
> their
> >  lives.  PONY league was established nationwide with the goal of
> putting
> >  fun back into the game.  This kind of crap happens in Little League
> all
> >  the time and is why Little League is losing players ever year.  We
> first
> >  started playing PONY League the year we moved to Fairbanks.  That was
> >  also the first year of PONY League here because parents were sick and
> >  tired of Little League and the competitive pressures on each and
> every
> >  team.  The PONY League organization does have a competitive league
> for
> >  kids that draw out the better talent and leave the recreation teams
> >  pretty equal.  Here in Fairbanks, the PONY League has brought back to
> >  the game hundreds of players who had left the game.  Last year the
> >  Senior League (13-14 year olds) had only 4 teams, this year they were
> up
> >  to 11 teams.  Granted most of these players were not good, but they
> had
> >  a good time and learned a lot about baseball and life.  I can clearly
> >  see that the Yankees coaches in Utah have forgotten the spirit of
> >  recreation PONY League, if he wanted to coach that way he should be
> in
> >  Little League or a competitive team with the PONY organization.  What
> a
> >  jerk, I know I would have been giving him a hard time as well.  (At
> >  least the poor kid who struck out to end the game sounds like he will
> be
> >  back, good for him)
> >
> >  Chris
> >
> >
> >
> >  -----Original Message-----
> >  From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com
> >  [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com] On Behalf Of Tom Hansen
> >  Sent: Friday, August 11, 2006 10:55 AM
> >  To: Joan Opyr; 'Moscow Vision 2020'
> >  Subject: [Vision2020] You Make the Call
> >
> >  >From this week's "Life of Reilly" column by Rick Reilly of the
> Sports
> >  Illustrated -
> >
> >  Once you have completed reading the article, please respond to the
> >  one-question survey I have posted at the end.
> >
> >  ---------------------------------------------------------
> >
> >  You make the call
> >  Is it good baseball strategy or a weak attempt to win?
> >  By Rick Reilly
> >
> >  This actually happened. Your job is to decide whether it should have.
> >
> >  In a nine- and 10-year-old PONY league championship game in
> Bountiful,
> >  Utah,
> >  the Yankees lead the Red Sox by one run. The Sox are up in the bottom
> of
> >  the
> >  last inning, two outs, a runner on third. At the plate is the Sox'
> best
> >  hitter, a kid named Jordan. On deck is the Sox' worst hitter, a kid
> >  named
> >  Romney. He's a scrawny cancer survivor who has to take human growth
> >  hormone
> >  and has a shunt in his brain.
> >
> >  So, you're the coach: Do you intentionally walk the star hitter so
> you
> >  can
> >  face the kid who can barely swing?
> >
> >  Wait! Before you answer.... This is a league where everybody gets to
> >  bat,
> >  there's a four-runs-per-inning max, and no stealing until the ball
> >  crosses
> >  the plate. On the other hand, the stands are packed and it is the
> title
> >  game.
> >
> >  So ... do you pitch to the star or do you lay it all on the kid who's
> >  been
> >  through hell already?
> >
> >  Yanks coach Bob Farley decided to walk the star.
> >
> >  Parents booed. The umpire, Mike Wright, thought to himself, Low-ball
> >  move.
> >  In the stands, Romney's eight-year-old sister cried. "They're picking
> on
> >  Romney!" she said. Romney struck out. The Yanks celebrated. The Sox
> >  moaned.
> >  The two coaching staffs nearly brawled.
> >
> >  And Romney? He sobbed himself to sleep that night.
> >
> >  "It made me sick," says Romney's dad, Marlo Oaks. "It's going after
> the
> >  weakest chick in the flock."
> >
> >  Farley and his assistant coach, Shaun Farr, who recommended the walk,
> >  say
> >  they didn't know Romney was a cancer survivor. "And even if I had,"
> >  insists
> >  Farr, "I'd have done the same thing. It's just good baseball
> strategy."
> >
> >  Romney's mom, Elaine, thinks Farr knew. "Romney's cancer was in the
> >  paper
> >  when he met with President Bush," she says. That was thanks to the
> >  Make-A-Wish people. "And [Farr] coached Romney in basketball. I tell
> all
> >  his
> >  coaches about his condition."
> >
> >  She has to. Because of his radiation treatments, Romney's body may
> not
> >  produce enough of a stress-responding hormone if he is seriously
> >  injured, so
> >  he has to quickly get a cortisone shot or it could be
> life-threatening.
> >  That's why he wears a helmet even in centerfield. Farr didn't notice?
> >
> >  The sports editor for the local Davis Clipper, Ben De Voe, ripped the
> >  Yankees' decision. "Hopefully these coaches enjoy the trophy on their
> >  mantle," De Voe wrote, "right next to their dunce caps."
> >
> >  Well, that turned Bountiful into Rancorful. The town was split --
> with
> >  some
> >  people calling for De Voe's firing and describing Farr and Farley as
> >  "great
> >  men," while others called the coaches "pathetic human beings." They
> >  "should
> >  be tarred and feathered," one man wrote to De Voe. Blogs and letters
> >  pages
> >  howled. A state house candidate called it "shameful."
> >
> >  What the Yankees' coaches did was within the rules. But is it right
> to
> >  put
> >  winning over compassion? For that matter, does a kid who yearns to be
> >  treated like everybody else want compassion?
> >
> >  "What about the boy who is dyslexic -- should he get special
> treatment?"
> >  Blaine and Kris Smith wrote to the Clipper. "The boy who wears
> glasses
> >  --
> >  should he never be struck out? ... NO! They should all play by the
> rules
> >  of
> >  the game."
> >
> >  The Yankees' coaches insisted that the Sox coach would've done the
> same
> >  thing. "Not only wouldn't I have," says Sox coach Keith Gulbransen,
> "I
> >  didn't. When their best hitter came up, I pitched to him. I
> especially
> >  wouldn't have done it to Romney."
> >
> >  Farr thinks the Sox coach is a hypocrite. He points out that all
> coaches
> >  put
> >  their worst fielder in right field and try to steal on the weakest
> >  catchers.
> >  "Isn't that strategy?" he asks. "Isn't that trying to win? Do we let
> the
> >  kid
> >  feel like he's a winner by having the whole league play easy on him?
> >  This
> >  isn't the Special Olympics. He's not retarded."
> >
> >  Me? I think what the Yanks did stinks. Strategy is fine against major
> >  leaguers, but not against a little kid with a tube in his head. Just
> >  good
> >  baseball strategy? This isn't the pros. This is: Everybody bats,
> >  one-hour
> >  games. That means it's about fun. Period.
> >
> >  What the Yankees' coaches did was make it about them, not the kids.
> It
> >  became their medal to pin on their pecs and show off at their
> barbecues.
> >  And
> >  if a fragile kid got stomped on the way, well, that's baseball. We
> see
> >  it
> >  all over the country -- the over-caffeinated coach who watches too
> much
> >  SportsCenter and needs to win far more than the kids, who will forget
> >  about
> >  it two Dove bars later.
> >
> >  By the way, the next morning, Romney woke up and decided to do
> something
> >  about what happened to him.
> >
> >  "I'm going to work on my batting," he told his dad. "Then maybe
> someday
> >  I'll
> >  be the one they walk."
> >
> >  ---------------------------------------------------------
> >
> >  Simple Survey:
> >
> >  Would you -
> >
> >  A)  Pitch to the slugger (Jordan)
> >
> >  B)  Walk the slugger
> >
> >  Thanks,
> >
> >  Tom Hansen
> >  Moscow, Idaho
> >
> >  "Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of
> >  arriving
> >  safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid
> in
> >  sideways, chocolate in one hand, a drink in the other, body
> thoroughly
> >  used
> >  up, totally worn out and screaming 'WOO HOO. What a ride!'"
> >
> >
> >
> >  =======================================================
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> >  serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
> >                 http://www.fsr.net
> >            mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
> >  =======================================================
> >
> >  =======================================================
> >  List services made available by First Step Internet,
> >  serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
> >                 http://www.fsr.net
> >            mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
> >  =======================================================
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > =======================================================
> >  List services made available by First Step Internet,
> >  serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
> >                 http://www.fsr.net
> >            mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
> >  =======================================================
> >
> >
> >
>



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