Sportsmanship

There is a letter to the editor in the "Rocky Mount Telegram" this morning that everyone who has children playing ball needs to read.

I told you a couple of days ago of an incident that happened while our Babe Ruth 14 year olds were playing Saturday in Pitt County.

I have heard all kinds of excuses as to the raw deal we were getting from local fans during this game.

You have seen if you are a regular reader of my experiences growing up. I think I was about ten years old and we were playing Legion ball in Benson. Their stadium then had a wooden fence that ran around the whole stadium so as bat boy I had to chase foul balls that left the stadium during batting practice.

I would come back into the ticket booth area to get back in and I would show the man taking up tickets the ball and he would let me back in. Each time he would say something like let the boy in he's from Ahooskie or he's the Ahockey bat boy.

When I got home that night I thought it was funny and told my father about the ticket taker. He told me that he was making fun of me and I needed to expect that kind of treatment if not worse every time we went to someone Else's place.

He told me I needed to be on my best behavior because I represented the American legion, the legion team and the town of Ahoskie whenever we went off to a game. Most of all I represented what he had taught me and my actions were a direct link to him in any misbehavior on my part. I also knew what that meant that I could expect a whipping if I misbehaved.

I would suspect our crowd at the game Saturday would have had a different perspective if we had of been winning 11-3 instead of losing by that score.

There is a quote from that famous quoter Anonymous that says: "A man has no more character than what he commands in a time of crisis".

Down 11-3 in Babe Ruth baseball is a crisis. But it is nothing more than a game.

The character of every person who supports sports in general in Rocky Mount and Nash County have be vilified by the actions of people who took winning at all cost to a new level.

Babe Ruth Baseball in Nash County has taken a severe blow due to some very undisciplined coaches and parents.

I have no idea whether the writer of the letter had a player on Pitt county's team or not. I don't see anything written by the man from Bethel that was not the truth.

In Tar heel senior little league district action last night the national league team from Rocky Mount beat Zebulon in the 6.00pm and turned around and beat The rocky Mount american team in the night cap.

That sets up a winner take all tonight between the Rocky Mount national and Rocky Mount american league all stars. The winner get to go to the state tournament in Newton the loser the season is over.

Legion baseball tonight 7.00pm Fleming stadium in Wilson. Game Two Wilson/Nash County.