What do you expect?

The little one had a baseball game last night. They won. Now no one cares about that. What I want to talk about is what came after.

I have always taught my kids to give 100% all the time. Never quit, never say die. This tenacity has been at times a detriment to my career. I have been called a bulldog (and an asshole) but I believe you always give your all.

We stayed to watch the second game of the evening. Heck, I love baseball at any level, and honestly at 11 and 12 years old many of the kids really are starting to know the game.

The game was a blowout. By the 5th inning the score was 10 to 3. The boys on the losing team were quiet, they knew they would lose. The coaches sat in the dugout, no words of encouragement, no support, nothing. At one point I heard the manager yell "Good job, blow another one" as the second baseman missed a ball. It was his son.

The boys gave up. A ground ball was hit to the first baseman, he did not even try to beat the batter to the base. Why did the kids quit? Because the adults gave up. That was the lesson they learned last night, just give up if it gets too hard.

Now I am not the cheerleader type. But as a coach and role model for these boys you must encourage them, exhort them to give their best EVERY TIME, EVERY MINUTE. Do any less and you have failed as a role model, as a coach, as a parent.