Not So Classy

In my last blog I wrote about the contestants on American Idol and how they acted very classy in their defeats and victories.

Tonight my baseball team played against a team with the exact opposite of classy in some of their parents. It is sad when you go to a baseball game in rec. league (or any league for that matter) and parents are "cussing" (that's southern for cursing) the league president, coaches on the other team are badgering our players, and coaches refusing to shake hands with kids after the game. It is sad enough to lose a game badly like we did. It's even worse when all of this unnecessary stuff has to happen.

What ever happened to baseball being fun? What happened to the concept of teaching kids proper attitudes? I was absolutely appalled tonight at the actions of adults.

When we coach youth league baseball, we are not just teaching the game, but we have many opportunities to teach about life. If you look you can even find times to teach spirituality and tonight provided the perfect opportunity. Please know that God is to receive all the glory for the following story, but it sure was a teachable moment.

We actually had two games tonight. We finished a tie game and then played a full game. We lost both games, but that's not the main story. After the first game, one of my kids (Josh), who had already been badgered by one of their coaches was going through the line to shake hands. When he got to this coach who was giving him a hard time, he removed his hand and did not shake. This coach (who happened to be the husband to the woman who cussed the director) told me that I needed to work on my kid's attitude. The audacity--him trying to tell me to work on Josh's attitude when he had been badgering this kid and his own wife had caused trouble. What hypocrite!! (Bless his heart).

As you might have guessed, he continued to harass Josh throughout the second game, which made Josh even more angry. It really affected his play. The inning before the game was over, I called all of my players together and told them that no matter the outcome, we were going to be a classy team and have the proper attitude. Josh's words were something like this, "I'm not shaking that son of a gun's hand." I doubt those were his real thoughts, but that's how he expressed it.

My words (God's words in me) to Josh were, "Wait a minute, you need to not let this man control you. You need to be the bigger person (hard for a 14 year old). " I even confessed that I would really like to slap him too, but we were a team and if one of us treated someone else badly, we were representing all of us. I asked Josh to shake the man's hand and build his character. Even if he did not want too, I asked him to do it because I know that it will be good for him.

I was so proud of Josh. As we went through the line after the second defeat he reached out to shake this coach's hand. Do you believe it? This guy took his hand away. So sad!! Josh exclaimed to me, "Did you see that!" I told him that I did, but that tonight he had shown me that he can be a bigger man than a grown up.

I hope that somehow he can understand the significance of that moment. God is awesome and I am so thankful to have been in that teachable moment.

I think that we need to pray for youth league sports that we can return it to the kids and stop the parents from messing it up.

Class Acts

As I am typing this I am watching American Idol and the results show of the final three. Tonight decides who goes to the finals next week. I have really been impressed with the competition this year.

One thing I am really impressed with is the class acts that they have been. Of course we don't know how they are in private, but tonight I witnessed some class acts. They seem to love each other and have fun together. Taylor sang and danced along with Katherine and Elliot and seemed excited to include them in the number.

One of the things that is unique to this competition is the time they spend with one another. I think this to be the key. I think there is a spiritual significance. They have spent so much time that they have built what the scripture calls fellowship. They are are like a family.

I just thought that was worth blogging about.