Little League Part 1

Its that time of year again. Another chance for the boys of summer to show they're ugly faces. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.....Once again, grown men are behaving like little boys, searching for the 'stardom" that eluded them as youth. This years team draft was just another joke, in a long line of jokes for BWSLL. The entire process took only 55 minutes, but that's not the real issue. Most coaches have already held clinics and private tryouts to determine the roster. More kids are selected at the Seadog or the hockey rink, then get picked up on draft day. Its pretty sad and the kids pay the tab. The core problem appears to be the eligibility of 9 year olds for the draft. Now I'm not against 9 year olds playing in the league, we all have known a few who were impact players on day one. But these kids are the exception, not the rule. Every coach is out looking for the next Manny Ramirez or Josh Beckett and will draft any 9 year old who may have the slightest potential in year 3 or 4. So who cares? Who looses out here? A case could be made that everyone does, howeverI believe that the 10 and 11 year old boys are getting the short stick here. The 11 year olds are forced to stay in the Farm League system for some, a fifth year! I strongly believe that if a child has come through the Farm system for 4 years, and is not prepared to play in Little League, than the coaches have failed, not the kids. The League needs to take a hard look at the Farm system as a whole if this is truly the case. But, that's not really the case is it. We'll talk more on this as the season moves along.....

Well, I've been watching the City council meetings and other misc things over the past week and there's not a lot to discuss this week. Gerry Palmer is running for State Rep. Of course he is, its another job on the States dime. This guy couldn't get by without the States payroll, a true hack. I didn't catch who he was running against. It sounds funny to say that Gerry is "running" for anything. I don't think he jogs very much. On another note, the Council has been working on the school budget lately. It looks like Alan Kotchis has a pretty poor grasp of business issues to me. He couldn't answer a single question from the Council. How much is this dope getting paid? Around $100K so I hear. When the subject of the GE fuel buying program (that was going around a few weeks ago) was brought up, he had no clue if Bangor was involved in any buying program. With the cost of fuel going nutty, you'd think he'd know that one, been there, done that, but not him. Where do we get these people? How do I get that job??

I've been working hard on VOB's idiot of the month for April. OK, not that hard because it was pretty easy. Congrats goes out to Hal Wheeler. This guy loves to hear his own voice. He has no problem telling you how much he knows and how qualified he is to speak on these issues. He starts every sentence with '"When I was on the Council in 1984....." Wasn't that over 20 years ago? I dont know, but I think things have changed a bit in the last 20 years Hal. I'm regretting voting this blow hard in. Oh well, you can blame me I guess. Till next time.......