Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk Aldeer General Forum Does a $300 BB bat really make a difference?

This is like the dog thread... As Americans, buy what you want.. A $300 bat to one kid, may be the same as a $300 rod and reel... Your kid, do what makes them and you happy.. But I do agree some parents try to live through there kid...

All this over bats and kids games? WTF?

I know what you're saying HH, you and I agree completely on all that. I've been fortunate, my girls are 19 and 16, and I've had the ability to create my own schedule for the last 15 years. So managing my time was never a problem for me...I could choose to spend time with them, and still have freedom to hunt or fish during the week. I totally understand and emphathize with parents who only have limited time to be a parent. And perhaps my flexibility skews my perspective about some of this stuff. But the over-the-top committment to youth baseball greatly surpasses the simple explanation of "I'm just spending time with my kids". I'm just supremely perplexed by the difference in today vs when we were kids. My dad was never a coach. He nor my mom ever came to a practice (except for maybe a few when I was very young, but I don't really remember that, I'm just giving the benefit of the doubt). I don't really remember if they were at every baseball game, but I think they made most of the football games. I don't ever remember feeling, or even having a thought, that my parents were absent?? They were awesome, still are. My dad worked a full time job, and we still hunted or fished more Saturdays/Sundays than not. This is NOT about parenting choices. I'm trying to understand when and why youth baseball became daily and year-round, and so many dads are coaches, and so many parents are grossly consumed with it. What changed and why? Did parents make a push for this, or did it just happen and parents follow along? This page is called ALDEER, it's about hunting, or just the outdoor lifestyle in general. Yet I repeatedly read posts on here where people say "I gave up hunting when my kids were in sports". Why??? What is different today than when we were young???...my dad didn't have to give up hunting because I played ball. We both hunted, a lot!

Parents are no different then the coaches,they want to see their kids develop and succeed at their sport,a lot of these parents you are talking about don't have any other hobbies like hunting and fishing so they're involved in their kids sports,and I agree with you 100% that there are idiots out there but not as many as you think,you said you teach a Sunday school class every week?why don't you do a lesson on judging others,you seem pretty good at it

Gobbleboxeth have burneth thy cookie.

ikillbux,
Having grown up near your turf, I get what you are saying. Folks around there lose their mind when it comes to youth baseball. It makes adults act like the kids involved in the sport. Here in Charlotte I know a number of co-workers who have their kids playing ball nearly every weekend. It's ridiculous to me that some parents push their kids to play ball year round. That said, I don't believe every parent is that way. If the kids are genuinely wanting to play year round, that's one thing. If the parents are constantly pushing it on their kids, then that is wrong. I feel like the latter is more common, but that is just my experience. Not accusing any of the parents on here of being that way. I just don't understand how some folks can push their kids to play a sport year round regardless of if the kid wants to play, which is what I believe ikillbux is getting at.

"Father, grant that I could be as (self)righteous as those on here who aren't judgemental like me. Amen."

Dang. I can't remember my parents ever NOT being there. I'm trying to give the same support for my kids.

And...I just ordered a 2015 DeMarini Voodoo Overlord. CD.

Same here CD..My parents were always heavily involved in my sports and dad always helped coach.

trox gotta $300 pinata killer

Y'all STILL act like you don't have a clue what I'm talking about??? Let me try to repeat this again: This is NOT an issue of being a good parent, or not--I do not say nor believe that you are a good or bad parent if you never miss or always miss. This is NOT even an issue about youth sports.

This IS me making an observation that I've never seen anything captivate such a huge percentage of whole communities (the kids, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends), for anywhere from 7 to 10 months of the year (some 12 months). Entire businesses have been created around it, and those businesses are exploding. Social media is growing more and more exclusively about it. It looks like a huge wave that covers everybody and everything. Only the kids are actually playing the game, but the REALLY INTERESTING THING is how caught up the adults are in it.

Now, is this wrong or right? I don't know!!!!...not even trying to say it's either. But I'm shocked that almost nobody else will even agree that what I'm seeing is occuring, and that it is hard to explain the attraction that so many adults have to something they themselves aren't even participating in (especially so many adults who never played it themself). My point about our parents above wasn't to debate what makes a good parent. It was to say that back then (80's) there was a TINY percentage of the community who might have even realized a game was being played. Today is looks like 1/2 of every town is at the field more days of the week than not. There's not a grossly critical accusation made in any of that, but damn y'all are sensitive about it!!!...and that sensitivity and defensiveness just confirms my feelings about the whole matter. It's more than just a hobby when you can't ignore criticism.

For the record, DeMarini makes one heckuva bat, and YES it makes a difference (even in younger players). Happy now??

My parents were at all my youth sports games, church games, band concerts and high school sports events. They left work or hunting/fishing or didn't schedule things that conflicted. I don't recall them not being at anything except for the times my mother's cancer wouldn't allow her to get out as easily ... but most of the time she even made it to the events during that period.

I appreciate that effort more now, as a parent who strives to not miss any of my kids' events. I don't understand a parent or person who thinks it's fine to miss some and if you don't then you're "consumed" or living vicariously or something.

There is some irony in there somewhere but I just can't put my finger on it.......

Alabama Football???

"Does a $300 bat really make a difference?"

Yes

"Does a $300 bat really make a difference?"

No

If I had just posted this yesterday it would have saved 5 pages of Internet paper.

Ikillbux - As far as parents attending practices.. What about just the simple fact that kids have to get there somehow. This isn't the 60-70's where kids ride their bike all across town with their glove and bat in tow like on "The Sandlot". I remember practices in little league being all over town, sometimes at someones house that had a batting cage and sometimes at an empty field by a church, clear on the other side of town. Some of these parent's probably don't want to spend 2-3 nights a week at the park but its a sacrifice they make. I understand there is a small percentage of those that live through their child but I would think most are just trying to be good parents.

JHC it's going to be a long off season. All this over a bat and a kids game? LOL!!