DownSwinging.com

Watching the Little League World Series is fun. You get to watch 12-year-old kids with an incredible amount of talent for their age participate in a worldwide event covered by ESPN. Sounds like a dream to me. Unfortunately, I’m going to speculate that behind the smiles in the dugout, things aren’t exactly as great as they seem. My grandfather always tells me he accidentally ran into a reunion for a team that went all the way in the LLWS, when the kids were all in their twenties. He talked to them about the experience, and they all said the same thing: It was the worst year of their life.

Sure it seems great to put some kids in the spotlight for once and celebrate the hard work they’ve put into their game over the course of the year, but maybe it’s a bit too much. We have to remember that we are throwing 12-year-olds onto ESPN and expectingt them to play and act like professional athletes. I’m not saying necessarily to take it off TV, but maybe just cooling off the media attention would make it a little better for the ones who really matter, the kids.

But that’s not even my major issue with LLWS. Currently, there are seven major league baseball players who played in the LLWS.