I just have to take a moment to congratulate the new Little League World Champions from Warner Robins, Georgia--especially since Warner Robins is practically in my back yard. As a matter of fact, I didn't get to watch any of the championship series games until the weekend because I worked weird hours last week teaching library instruction classes, some of them on our Warner Robins campus.
I loved watching these kids. I'm so used to seeing the major league players, who are so poker-faced and try to look so cool, calm and collected. Not these boys. They were thrilled when things were going well. Sometimes when things didn't go so well, there were tears. The highs were definitely higher and the lows were lower.
On Saturday, Warner Robins (Southeast) won the U.S. championship after defeating Lubbock, Texas (Southwest). On Sunday, they faced off against Japan, the International champion. The game was deadlocked at 2-2 into extra innings when Dalton Carriker hit a beautiful home run that gave them the championship. The expression on Carriker's face when he realized what he had done, the way he slapped his helmet in joy as he ran the bases, was priceless.
Of course, being the way I am, I had to analyze things a bit. I felt bad for the Japanese players, who appeared so devastated but immediately went over to congratulate and hug the winners. (That's right. Hug! Isn't that great?) I wanted to tell them, and the Texas players, and all the others who made it to the championship just how much they had accomplished and how much they had to be proud of. A whole lot of people never get that far in any endeavor--and they're only 12! I looked at the skill involved in some of the heart-stopping plays and thought about the sheer work and dedication that went into reaching this championship series.
Then I thought I should probably be writing instead of watching baseball. Then maybe I could accomplish something, too.
Anyway, congratulations, guys! I've got to go work on my own dream.
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Oh how sweet! The wee ones are cute! That would be hard for the Japanese kids though, to have come so far and then be disappointed. I hope they're getting to do a lot of sight-seeing and other special stuff to make it an overall happy memory even though they didn't win. Congrats to our GA boys though! Great job!!! I hope they're enjoying a big celebration and show as good sportsmanship as the Japanese kids did and are encouraging to the others!
ReplyDeleteI just watched that movie, Mickey, which is about the Little League Championships. My daughters play softball (well, the little one is still playing T-ball). It's amazing how good some of the players are, at such a young age.
ReplyDeleteOh, I had no idea I would struggle so much with being undisciplined once I actually had plenty of time to write. No idea!
Hi Robin!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the salute to my hometown world champs! The games were awesome, the kids are unbelievable, and everyone is invited to Warner Robins Saturday for the parade and official recognition ceremony!
BTW, I could use some help with purchasing my textbooks - so sign me up for the drawing!
Barbara
It's amazing that they won but yeah a huge disappointment to the Japanese team. I hope they still had a good time in the U.S.
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