Little League...ugh

I think Little League is a different beast with a worthy audience. We do offer up small Scoreboard space to youth leagues if their coaches want to report brief recaps, but Little League we give solid coverage during a slow month on the sports calendar.

And yes, I always like when the local park hosts even a state-level tourney...I've gained enough freelance work out of those to take the wife on a nice weekend to the beach

 

Covered major division softball today and saw a couple plays I've never seen before.
1) Bases loaded, one out. Ground ball to short, 6-4 FC. Should have ended there, but this is major division softball. Second baseman doesn't pay attention, dawdles getting the ball back to the circle. As she's getting off the ground, the girl who moved up to third heads home. She scores, and as all this was going on, the batter moved all the way to third.
2) Girls strikes out on a pitch in the dirt. Throw has to go to first. First baseman, not paying attention, isn't at the bag. Throw goes to first, first baseman catches it, and casually - very casually - goes to step on first. By the time she steps on the bag, the runner already made it to first. First baseman looks at the umpire quizzically, wondering what happened.
Gotta love Little League.

 

If you didn't cover softball, would anyone care? Crap like this is why it shouldn't be in the paper. Why should a sport where the participants don't care get as much coverage as a high school game?

 

Depending on the market, it can matter a great deal, Stitch. Kids making mistakes certainly doesn't disqualify it from coverage.

 

There are markets where sports at this level are huge, it's the only thing of note going on in the summer, and it has to be covered. Again, I get the sense some think this is whether the N.Y. Times should be covering. It shouldn't, but maybe the paper in Plainfield, Wis., should.

 

We had a LL world champion Majors softball team in my hometown, Stitch. I can tell you it can be huge in some places. If you have a team where the first baseman walks over to the bag on a 3U and gets beaten there, that team's not going to the higher levels anyway.

You're painting with far too wide a brush.

 

If I didn't cover LL softball, I'd have a giant newshole in my paper with nothing to fill it.
Just because it's played poorly doesn't mean it shouldn't be in the paper. That type of thinking is why newspapers are failing and it's why people in my area pick up my paper instead of our competitors. If I covered just the good teams, we'd lose most of our circulation.

 

If -- and that's the operative word -- the readers are interested, you cover it.

I don't know that it's not caring, but just not knowing how to focus on the game.

 

This is why Chicago papers still cover the Cubs.

 

I hope you guys take breaks while covering these gams.

 

I get the cross thread reference...but in seriousness, I make sure I have my current SI or a good paperback in my camera bag before heading out to any baseball game