OK, we made it this far

Little League is bumping along. The boys have won two of three and are now 3-5. My frustrations grow however with the inconsistency of play, coaching and officiating. I knew this was going to be an issue going in and have no one to blame. However, we are now playing ball six days a week. I just wish were more satisfied with the results. Rabbit is playing well, and most impressively hitting again. He has not pitched as frequently or as many pitches lately. That is a real positive. Also, after Saturday we do not have another LL game for 2 weeks. We are ready for a break.

I think my real frustration lies in the dichotomy of LL versus travel. The attitude, of both the players and the parents, is so markedly different. Understand that in both teams everyone wants to improve. All the players are trying and the parents are supportive. However, there is a large difference in commitment level between the teams. We had tried to approach LL as a "social" activity with little or no stress about quality of play. Rabbit, however, knows only one way to play this game. He is sometimes having difficulty remembering how much fun he is supposed to be having. This is frustrating because even after getting "mercied" 3 games in a row on Blue Wave he always had a smile and something positive to say.

Blue Wave has been frustratingly quiet. A few rainouts and last minute cancellations mean we have not played with them in nearly a month. We have one game with them this Sunday against a team we had previously beat by 20. It will be a good opportunity to build some team confidence and try out the new players on the squad. It is fun to see Rabbit as a "veteran" on this team. His quality of play is up now that he has stopped growing as much. He again looks comfortable in all aspects of the game.

As loathe as I am to say it publicly, I think a week or two off will do us all some good. MLB starts Sunday (without the Reds, Bud Selig and ESPN deserve their own circle of hell) and we will spend Saturday night watching Fullerton play UC Irvine. A few nights of having dinner as a family and thinking about something different will help tremendously.