Tales From The Bleachers

Fanaticism as Wikipedia defines (from the Latin adverb fānāticē (fren-fānāticus; enthusiastic, ecstatic; raging, fanatical, furious)^[1]) is a belief or behavior involving uncritical zeal or with an obsessive enthusiasm. The fanatic displays very strict standards and little tolerance for contrary ideas or opinions. Tõnu Lehtsaar has defined the term fanaticism as “the pursuit or defense of something in an extreme and passionate way that goes beyond normality.”

Hey, we all need to express ourselves – when it comes to our sports teams, we don a ball cap with their logo. Maybe going all in with a t-shirt and sweatshirt as well. We are united in our support and want to express our allegiance and connect with like-minded parents, siblings, school-mates, friends and strangers. It’s a great feeling to “find your tribe.” But the extreme fanatic’s singular focus takes it beyond self-expression. And there are few areas of our modern lives that brings out the fanatics quite like sports. Having said that, I have never really experienced or observed intense fanaticism related to the sport of baseball. Football, of course. Hockey, absolutely – and while never personally experiencing a professional, international football (soccer) game, obviously wild fanaticism rules the day. But the “beautiful game” is more often associated with laid back, slow-pace appreciation and a leisurely way to spend an afternoon. Well, not in Texas my friends…

Game one at the home of the SEC conference Aggie’s was, for our mid-american conference neck of the woods – a blow-out. From the get-go we knew their highly ranked – likely first round draft pitcher was no match for our boys. But I’m getting ahead of myself. My first impression of the robust student-section was “wow!” Just witnessing this kind of fan support for college baseball was awesome. I haven’t seen that sort of energy on display in many college parks during the regular season. As the game got rolling it was clear these fans had done the work – bubble machines perfectly coordinated upon a run. The humiliation of the ball count as we cringe through consecutive walks: “ball 6, ball 6, ball 6…ball 7, ball 7, ball 7… The sea of outreached arms with fingers fluttering on strike 2… But what was most impressive is the heckling. These fans don’t just know the opposing players names, they scour social media for details and tidbits about their girlfriends, their majors, their hometowns then taunt, laugh, scream. It’s extraordinary. It’s intense. It’s fanatical.

IMHO it was all very admirable in support of the sport of baseball…until it became obnoxious. As the score became more like a football score…8-0, 9-0, 10-1….15-1 you kind of think, okay, maybe letting up a bit won’t hurt. Nope. Worse, the team/coaches still taking aggressive base running approach fueling the fan base. For me, it crossed over and became not about supporting the team, but taking on that bully tone. Can we just stick with the mellow, beautiful pace of the game and give it the old college cheer for our boys? Not here. Not in Texas. Like everything there I guess it’s true: it’s bigger in Texas – and if you’re not going to go big, well – go home. Onward…see you in Cali soon readers!

I remember starting this blog when my boys were playing little league baseball. Inspired isn’t quite the word – it was more that I was compelled to share the crazy underbelly of insanity of youth sports. At the time my boys were playing three sports, and it was prior to the internet frenzy of outrageously bad behavior among parents and coaches. Back then – the periodic outburst among and between coaches and parents was fairly uncommon – at least for us. Over the course of their athletic seasons from grade school to junior high to high school to college selection we lived and observed the slow unraveling of appropriate behavior, respect and boundaries from season to season. At the same time we were living through the evolution of youth sports – this transition from “kids playing sports to PLAY sports” to the “youth athlete as specialist” – with options and choices shrinking for kids. Passion and fun slowly giving way to more serious competition and grooming for the next level. So with that as the backdrop – I thought it would be a fun idea to record the ride, but maybe share some lessons and knowledge with other parents, or just entertain a bit. I mean on balance, even as the world of kids sports was evolving…it was and is – an absolute blast.

Alas, like so many with the grand idea of starting a blog because the world needs to know…my posts became fewer and farther between. Even though I filled a file folder and notebook with fun, crazy and emotional drafts, the urgency of the message slowly faded. Well…here we are. It’s February 14th 2020 and those little leaguers opened their respective 5th and 3rd division one college season today! For me and their dad – it’s the last season we’ll have two boys playing college baseball – so we’ve scheduled the dog sitters, reserved our flights, hotel rooms, pulled out all our Redhawks and Dons gear and are off on a marathon of college baseball this Spring!

I’d love it if you would come along with us for a few more Tales from the Bleachers. We’ll travel back to the wooden bleachers at “K&E” little league field, to the metal ones at the Chatfield High Chargers’ diamond – I’ll regale with past and present visits to the million dollar baseball facility in Oxford Ohio, to the sweeping views of the San Francisco skyline from the Dons’ friendly confines. So many tales to share, and I’m just as curious as you about where this spring will take us (and the boys.) First stop: College Station TX where the Redhawks take on the formidable Texas A&M Aggies.

Here we go!