DEATH OF HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL

Mooresville School district is independant. Having fewer schools to monitor, in my opinion, makes it a little easier to monitor the budget and find adequate funding.

 

How much money is needed to play a game where parents supply most of the equipment?

 

I do remember those days, Braves. We had two main rivals back then, and we absolutely hated them. We hated the coaches, players, teachers, families, and even the towns these schools were from. We didn't take losing lightly either. These days it's all sportsmanship, and a bunch of politically correct rhetoric that sometimes makes you want to puke. But times have changed. My son has friends everywhere from playing on all-star, legion, and showcase teams thru the years, and it's just hard to hate your buddies you play ball with. The really "heated" matchups from 30 years ago have definately changed. The only part of showcase ball that I don't like sometimes is that I see far too many players that have become too familiar with losing. They play on losing high school teams, and lose frequently on the showcase trail, and it doesn't bother them like I think it should. They lose another game, grab their cell-phone, and go home to play a couple hours of Playstation, and don't give the loss another thought. Times have changed.

 

If this thread was entitled "The Death Of High School Soccer", I would be alright with that. I've been to one high school soccer game in my life, and I was bored to death. There was about two players on the whole field who were really good at the game, and another 20 who were just standing around and kicking the ball. I suppose there's alot of participation in that sport, but if I was an athletic director, thats the first sport I'd cut. Let the best players just join some club team out there, and the ones that can't play, well, maybe they just should go home & study. Seriously thou, in a budget crisis, the first thing alot of school systems start doing is limiting the travel distance of teams, and maybe trim a few games off of the schedule. They start scheduling where multiple teams can travel on the same bus, drop JV teams in some sports, and go from there. I don't see baseball ever being dropped.

 

Come on now, KARLROCKET, you actually "hated" the players, coaches, families, et al .
That is really extreme!! Why did you HATE them???

iff

 

Yep, we had a couple of rivalries where our schools absolutely hated each other. They couldn't stand us, and we couldn't stand them. I know it sounds a little mean-spirited by todays standards, but that's the way it was back then. It was war when we got together with these schools. No doubt about it.

 

so did you pitch a little inside

So you mean the days when people would pitch a little high and inside at opposing players

 

I can't speak for KarlRocket, but I agree that "hatred" is a pretty strong term. Total dislike is probably the correct term, but the word hate was used extensively.

In order to be a true rivalry it must be between two very good teams. But an intense rivalry is made when players and their families are not social friends. Sports can bring out the best in people, but it can also bring out the worst. People who are normally friendly, outgoing and reasonable can take on a different personality at a rival sporting event. I recall this one guy who was a president of a huge company. At that time I didn't know him except as he appeared at a baseball game. He was a loud, obnoxious jerk with boorish behavior. He would constantly deride the players on the other team during the games; and would incite his team's fans to do the same. I couldn't stand the guy, but I honestly didn't know him. A couple of years later, I met him and his family because our sons became teammates on a showcase team (showcase was just beginning.) I liked him! Great guy! We remain good friends to this day. But prior to that, I disliked him, his appeared arrogant family and that "stupid" dog they used to bring to the games.

...and that was what rivalries used to be like. There were no social acquaintances on the other teams. The players disliked each other since they were rivals in LL. When you attended games at their field you were treated as an enemy. You could expect to be loudly booed, the stands were packed with obnoxious supporters from both sides and every hard slide, a pitch inside or a visit to the mound from a coach was met with venomous cheers. Now everything I have said may be a sad commentary about people's behavior at a sporting event, but if you ask the players if they liked playing in that environment, they wouldn't hesitate in saying, "it was one of the best times of my life." Athletes are gladiators! They love it when the lions are roaring and the fans are screaming. A heated rivalry was an event. Even those with no emotional investment enjoyed the contests...and this wasn't something that occurred 30 years ago, but in this decade. Just before showcase baseball started.

For those that were around HS baseball in Charlotte during the early 2000's, you know what I mean. The SM/Providence games were unbelievable. The SM/Myers Park series were pretty intense as well. Butler came on the scene and they let you know from the start they came to kick your butt. There was not one school in the SW4A conference that liked each other. The coaches disliked each other, the families disliked each other and the players disliked each other. I asked my son what he missed most about playing HS baseball and he said he missed playing at Myers Park where the fans would throw M&M's at him and he would scoop them up and eat them in the dugout. He said he missed coming off the mound to get a foul ball by the Butler dugout and faced obscenities and jeers by their players- he absolutely loved that....and the Providence game? It would be on his mind all week. The "dislike" would grow each day.

It's kinda cool that everyone are friends now, and while they support and cheer for their teams, they are also secretly cheering for the players they know on the other team--as long as they win. The coaches are all friends now...and I blame Coach Hal Bagwell for that. Many are from his coaching tree. They are all very competitive, but they remain friends. There are no animosities anymore. No real dislike. Is this the way it should be? In this politically correct era, probably so. But I miss those days of a "heated" rivalry and wish the players today had that opportunity to perform as a gladiator like the players past.


I know this has veered a little off topic, but I hope that HS baseball never dies.

 

I guess the word "hate" isn't used anymore and sounds pretty harsh these days, but one definition of the word is to "extremely dislike", which pretty much sums up what I was trying to say about a couple of our rivalries in high school. We didn't like each other. Plain & simple. The games were always "knock-down, drag-out type" affairs. Didn't matter what sport we were playing. Good athletes on both teams. Like Braves said, there were no friendships, no friendly chit-chat between players, and certainly no lining up and shaking hands afterwards. Things certainly have changed. Nowadays, I'm friends with most of those same players, and there's alot of mutual respect from both sides.

 

Field maintenance costs alot, so do umps and baseballs. I've been told paying for night games is also a big expenditure, but if the games aren't late enough, then alot of parents wouldn't be able to make it.

And unfortunately, Karlrocket, soccer will likely be one of the last to go. It is possible the cheapest sport to pay for, since they use the same field as football and they don't need to pay for new balls every game like baseball.

Hopefully high school baseball stays, but it could become similar to this.

http://www.carynews.com/2011/01/12/25892/hockey-its-a-school-sport.html


I miss the old-school rivalries. There are just too many politically correct parents that won't let that stuff fly. I heard more trash talk back in Little League than I do now. My school's student section gets shooshed by the AD all the time because parents on the opposing team think its "inappropriate." A lot of the time its not even offensive.
Honestly, most high schoolers do not care for watching baseball, but they come out to support their team. But when they aren't allowed to talk hardly any trash, they get bored and stop coming, and we lose attendance.

But this rivalry discussion is really just a digression. The really issue is budgets.

To my understanding, baseball is an expense sport. School's make their money from basketball and football, and then hope baseball breaks even. That has always been my understanding. If you want to keep baseball alive, get more people to come to games. True, the rivalries of old kept attendance high, but there isn't much to be done now.
Raise money for programs, contact alumni. Volunteer over the summer and on weekends to work on the field. Do something pro-active to keep your school rolling. The biggest thing is to keep it going through the recession. Its been said already, once a program is dropped, it will be very hard to bring it back. There may not be much you can do, but its better to do even a little something than absolutely nothing.