Hockey Goalie Mikayla Demaiter Invades Curacao, Barkley and Manning Play Golf, Plus Donald Trump Hits An Absolute Rocket

10U house ball report - Game 8

I flat out told them the teams are getting better and if we're not getting better we're going to get beat. And then we got smoked by a team that was winless.

The final: 15-7.

It was a total domination in all facets of baseball. The other team smoked the ball. Our outfielders played back pretty much the furthest they'd played off the infield all season and there were still rockets getting over their heads. I think we were down like three runs in the 5th and we had a shot with our last at-bats. Then their big hitter crushed a ball down the right field line and that was all she wrote. It was a two-run triple and the fans were headed to their cars.

The best we could do was seven runs in our half of the 5th inning.

Ballgame.

The record stands at 5-3 and I'm officially on vacation from the 10U team. I handed over the gear, the book, the balls to the assistant coach and now I'm in golf mode.

Vacation season:

• I warned the kids vacations would start after Memorial Day and some of the younger kids would have to step up. Then two of our best players were out last night and the younger boys didn't step up. Nightmare fuel.

Daddy ball report:

• We had another base-running mistake at first and I'm starting to think it might be time to make a wristband that reads, "2 outs = RUN ON CONTACT! DO NOT GO BACK TO THE BASE THINKING YOU HAVE TO TAG UP."

What's up with the lack of energy?

Have my fellow 9-10U coaches noticed how one game the kids will be energized and the next game the entire team acts like they were zapped? In two of our losses it was a team of walking zombies out there. Even the Double Bubble gum had zero effect on them.

Travel ball team that played 5 games on Memorial Day

• Brandon C. in Pinckney, MI writes:

Those parents and coaches who allowed 8 year olds to play 5 baseball games on a Monday should be in jail for child abuse not celebrated. 5 games x 2 hours == 10 hours of baseball for the kids. On Memorial Day. That's insane. I'm pretty sure they probably didn't have 5 catchers and 10+ pitchers. Wonder how many of them were able to go to church on Sunday?

• Travel ball hardo Chris B. in Houston writes:

Our team wasn't good enough to win that many games when they were 8, but our boys definitely played 4 games on a Sunday more than once and probably played 5 at some point.  Starting with the 8am game and making it to the 8pm championship game is a brutal day. And heck yes it's dumb.  It's not good for anyone.  In my opinion travel ball tourneys should play double headers Saturday & Sunday, and that's it.

Thankfully high school travel ball is slightly more sane.  They typically play one game a day.  Sometimes they play two in a day, but not more than that.

• Cord M. writes:

My 3 boys 29, 26, 22 all played All Stars/ Travel baseball in Atlanta. They started playing at age 7. I coached the younger ones for years and have enjoyed reading about your recent experiences.

I can remember playing 5 games in a day several times. It was brutal especially the tournaments in July in Florida. Usually ran out of pitching but the worst thing ever is when we had rain delays or postponed games in a tournament. We would have to play back to back to back games and if  I recall  correctly, a couple of games that didn’t end until well after 11pm. 

A little ridiculous for a 7 or 8 year old but they didn’t seem to mind as much as the coaches or parents who were ready for some cold beers after a long day at the park.  I spent enough money in 10 years on equipment and travel to partially fund my retirement but wouldn’t trade it for the world. Met some great folks and made lifelong friends along the way AND got to see some places I would never have seen.

Playing football at Ohio Northern University comes with some perks

• My Put-In-Bay 2-Club Invitational partner Tim G. writes:

We just got back from taking our Ohio Northern University football team on a 7-night, 9-day tour of Italy. We spent four days in Rome, which included a joint practice session with the Roma Grizzlies and an exhibition against an all-star team from the Federazione Italiana Di American Football on Sunday.

The Polar Bears scored on all 10 offensive possessions and added a pick-6 and a safety on a bad punt snap to record a 79-0 victory.

ONU is now 6-0 in international competition since 2007 with victories in Germany (2007), Italy (2010), Ireland (2013), Italy (2016) and Germany (2019) prior to Sunday's win.

While in Rome, the group of 107 players, coaches, administrators, parents, family and friends saw the historical sights of the Colosseum, Vatican City, the Forum, Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps among other things.

Ohio Northern then went south to the Amalfi Coast for two days before returning to Rome for one day to fly home on Thursday.

BTW, I got home and mowed (it is Thursday, after all) before crashing after staying awake for more than 26 consecutive hours. The lawn is starting to turn brown but had gone to seed in some places.

The IGs won't load drama

• JT writes:

In regards to Instagram embed problems, I have had a much better outkick experience since switching from chrome on Android to a browser called Opera. I'm guessing that some of the background scripts don't run in Opera and it really cleans up the site experience. If anyone is interested it's available in the Play store.

We've had Patio SZN, Grill Wars, Garage Beers, Man Caves...what's next?

I feel like there's a new trend out there, but it's in the infancy stages and I just need to draw it out of readers who are on the forefront of being trendsetters. Is there a backyard game out there that is ready to explode? What's new in the patio game this season?

I need boots on the ground reports on what you're seeing in suburbia.

Are people now spending more time on their front patios with their neighbors?

I really want to dig deep into this subject over the next two weeks.

Email: joekinsey@gmail.com

HOAs

• Heywood J. writes:

I read your blip about HOAs and I think I found the guy who lives in that house. He's the last reply in this thread.

Good luck to those readers looking to buy a house this summer who thought the rates might dip a little

Ouch.


Now we're ready to go. The blood is pumping. The sun is out. The weekend is here and it's going to be like 91-92 today and tomorrow. Yes, the patio TV is going up and I plan on consuming the Memorial Tournament, the Stanley Cup Finals and probably even some baseball.

Have a tremendous weekend. We don't get too many. Take full advantage.

Email: joekinsey@gmail.com

Numbers from :

Stuff You Guys Sent In & Stuff I Like :

Written by
Joe Kinsey is the Senior Director of Content of OutKick and the editor of the Morning Screencaps column that examines a variety of stories taking place in real America. Kinsey is also the founder of OutKick’s Thursday Night Mowing League, America’s largest virtual mowing league. Kinsey graduated from University of Toledo.