Idle chatter while waiting for Tom Brady to decide playing quarterback in the NFL at the age of 45 is an absolutely ridiculous notion.
We start with kudos to Kevin Whalen of the Wyoma Little League Yankees. Kevin is a 12-year-old pitcher who did what few hurlers at any level have done: he pitched a perfect game in which he struck out all 18 batters.
During the game, which took place Monday, Kevin threw a total of 78 pitches, 57 of which were strikes.
That is what you call domination.
His parents, Keith and Donna (Bansfield), are manager and coach of the team.
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It must be pretty tough to be a Little League-aged kid this spring the way the weather’s been. I can recall only one other time that it has stayed this cold for this long in the spring — and that was when my son was 11 (he just turned 37 last week) and we were shivering on a nightly basis up at Gallagher Park.
It’s too bad the season has to start just as we’re coming out of winter. But it’s got to be this way so that Little League can follow the national time schedule vis a vis the World Series, and ESPN turning it into a month-long extravaganza.
I’m sure it’s a great partnership for Little League. But for the kid who just likes to play, and probably has no shot of being an All-Star and getting ESPN face time, it’s awfully hard to get motivated standing out in right field with a gale-force wind blowing in your face.
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Thanks to Lynn’s five leagues for straddling their opening days. Three of them (weather permitting) are being held today. Two others were last week.
Pine Hill’s always has special meaning for me. During the ceremonies, the league announces the recipient of the Chris Spagnoli Scholarship. Chris played in the league while I was a coach and official. He died at the age of 16 due to complications of AIDS contracted by being transfused with tainted blood. It was an absolutely awful thing for an adult to experience, and it had to be that much worse for those who were his closest friends.
And this year, thoughts of Chris evoke even more intense tragedy than usual. Earlier this month, his cousin, Molly Ramsey, died while giving birth to twins.
It’s an awfully sad world sometimes. And all we can do, I guess, is be grateful that despite whatever issues we may have, we still have the gift of life.
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Here’s a shoutout to Lynn Babe Ruth on a couple of fronts. First, it held a moving ceremony at its own opening day last week in memory of Nick Chakoutis, who died over the winter.
It is no exaggeration to say that Nick kept that facility on O’Callaghan Way running. There wasn’t a machine he couldn’t repair, and he was there, day in and day out, freezing cold, blazing heat, to maintain the facility with the utmost care.
Babe Ruth also named the walkway that connects Clancy and Edmunds Fields on one end of the Breed Complex with Rogato Field (softball) at the other end “Bells’ Boulevard” in honor of longtime league president Jim Beliveau, who has stepped down after many years of service.
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Youth sports groups wouldn’t exist if it were not for the Beliveaus, Chakoutises, the John Kasians, Dave Dorgans, Jill Averys, Tony Lucianos — just to name a few. There are so many more.
They’re the ones who, year after year, put their lives on hold to administrate these leagues so that kids have a safe, structured environment in which to play. They do it year after year because, by and large, everybody has an opinion. But not everyone feels the need to help out. That leaves it to a frazzled few in each league to put in long (unpaid) hours getting fields ready, conforming to national regulations when it comes to rosters and documentation, making sure games are staffed with umpires, and seeing to it that concession stands are stocked and manned.
It’s not easy. Perhaps more people could volunteer to do some of these things to take the onus off the same few people in every league who end up doing all the work.
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The Patriots dropped the ball last year with the whole Jimmy Garoppolo saga.
And while most of Brady’s career has been exemplary, both in terms of his dedication and his accomplishments, he didn’t come out looking quite so good in this whole mess.
Because of this, the only thing that separates the Patriots from being also-rans this fall, and all falls thereafter, is an injury to their 41-year-old quarterback.
That is why those who are complaining because the Patriots took an offensive lineman right out of the gate need to step back and reassess their outrage. No line. No Brady. And then it doesn’t matter how many pass rushers the Patriots have.
Or, to put it another way, they’d better pick a credible quarterback in this draft of there’s going to be a lot of howling among the masses.
