Sunday, April 18, 2010

Youth Baseball: Rooting Against Your Own Team

Game 20 and 21

On Saturday day / night, Nic's team had a 13 to 5 win over a team from Michigan and 15 to 5 over a team from Central Ohio. These pool play wins qualified Nic's team for the #2 seed in the Sunday single elimination tournament. The top 8 teams from pool play would compete for the tournament championship.

On Sunday, Nic's team ended up being matched up with the Michigan team they beat 13 to 5 the night before. Nic went 3 for 4 with 3 RBIs and 3 runs scored and his team won 16 to 6 to advance to the semi-finals. Nic's confidence was rising.

The semi-final game was against another team from our city. The opponent is a long time rival and the two teams usually play closely contested games. It would not be the case today. Nic's team scored 2 quick runs in the first inning (Nic walked and scored in the first) and the team scored another in the 2nd, but that would be all Nic's team could muster.  The other team could not be stopped. Games like this are long for both pitchers and catchers. This was an especially long day for my son who was catching.

In the bottom of the 3rd inning, Nic was waiting at home for a play at the plate. He took his helmet off and threw it clear of the play as many catchers do. He realized that the ball from right field was sailing long. He ran back and jumped for the ball. He caught the ball and landed right on his catcher's helmet. He lost his balance and fell into a pole on the corner of the backstop. He ended up bruising his ribs. The coach took him out of the game.

The mercy rule of 15 runs after 4 innings was in effect. We had 3 runs after four innings. The other team had 17 runs and only needed 1 run in the 4th inning to win by the mercy rule. I have to admit I was really hoping that the other team would score so we could go home.

The Main Point

Nobody is going to admit it, but parents root against their teams at times for self serving reasons. I hear about these situations during team dinners on the road. Parents will get a few beers in them and then your start to hear it. Some want the jackass coach of your team to lose to teach him a lesson. Others simply want to lose so they can get a jump on the ride home from an away tournament. Some will root against the snotty ball hog on their team secretly hoping that he fails miserably. Some root against a kid because they hate the parents of the kid. Vindication, Dad Labs explores this too.

Have you ever rooted against your team?

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