Bakich In Game Interview Regarding Diverse Roster
It was great to see a college skipper address how travel ball has left a lot of talent behind.
More good reasons to fire him--not even a decent man.
goblue85 is chewing on glass right now.
Agreed. This man wants kids to have opportunities? We can’t fire him soon enough.
Wasn't he already fired? Now we know why.
There's a finite number of opportunities. An opportunity given to one kid is an opportunity not offered to another. It seems like he's really just saying that he tries to find overlooked talent instead of competing with the blue bloods for elite recruits.
Correct, but he’s also saying that a lot of this talent is overlooked because of a youth baseball model that has become overly expensive and precludes a lot of kids from showing their talents. And he’s right.
He's absolutely right. It's also why we as a nation suck at soccer. Can't play competitive youth baseball or soccer unless you have money.
An added bonus: a friend of mine just texted me to tell me she thought the Michigan coach was "foxy." I'd have to agree.
LMAO - only 14yo girls (and I was in that age group too - no perv) wearing Jordache jeans were "foxy"
What?
This statement needs some work to take away the perviness. Just saying -no perv- isn't working Jared Fogle.
No idea what this means
While I can't speak directly for Wolverine in Iowa, I (and probably the other 7 upvoters) understand this as pointing out that the term "foxy" was last popular back in the mid 80's. It was also a time when Jordache jeans were popular and some of us were in middle school.
Garth!
Perfect!
the world needs more leaders like Coach Bakich
"Travel Ball" has left a lot of kids behind. And not just in baseball.
It's really incredible. And sad. Travel ball has caused kids to quit playing at a young age because they don't get selected for a "elite" team. Then they never show up for high school try-outs because they don't think they're good enough.
Kids giving up on a sport when they're 12-14 because they don't believe they have what it takes is ridiculous. Travel/club sports have taken the enjoyment out of the game for so many kids. It's a shame because they are giving up the game before they even had a chance to grow, build strength, and be coached at a higher level.
Depending on the sport, part of the problem is the lack of decent coaching. For many sports, your options are a well-meaning parent who doesn't know jack and the hyper-qualified transplant from outside the community. The rarity is the home-grown youth coach who knows what they're doing and can take the kids through the developing stages of the game while keeping it fun. (and kids just going out and playing the sport on their own).
Really, I would love to see a lot of the college-age kids leading a lot of the early youth-sports teams. They walk on water in the eyes of the kids and can relate and inspire so much more than the well-meaning adult, qualified or not. That said, the college kids are still busy trying to find their own way, and youth sports isn't going to cut it.
My city organized it's own youth baseball league and paid college kids to coach the teams. It was so much better than Little League, no fund raising, minimal involvement of parents.
I want to move to your city.
I agree, but it's also because kids can't afford to play on elite teams. When my kids were young, I didn't make enough money to get my kids on those teams. I couldn't work enough overtime to make that happen.
I get that concern. I was one of those kids. But the reality is that they do not NEED travel baseball. Playing "house" ball until they get to high school is fine. The coaching might be hit-or-miss, but many travel coaches don't actually instruct or teach anyway. They just find the best players and turn them loose.
Current parents in your position would be best served to save their money and just be supportive in continuing to cultivate a love for the game in their sons. Boys that are marginal baseball players as twelve year olds can grow, gain strength, and develop later than the youth league all-stars. They just need to be encouraged and continue to find joy in playing until they get there.
Also, don't be afraid to reach out to the local high school coach. I would bet that many would be willing to work with some kids, or at least recommend knowledgeable people who are willing to volunteer their services to help instruct, even if they are high school players.
Raising my hand for this comment (good one by the way). I moved to Seattle around 14 from Farmington, played ball throughout all my young years, made amazing friends, played some competitive ball, will never forget those years.
I get to Seattle to start that life again, I was an outcast from day 1...didnt get the time of day from players and/or coaches because I didnt grow up in their system. I wasn't a top talent type kid, but I was decently good....all that shit led me to fall out of love with baseball.
Extremely true, with many knock-on effects. I coach several sports at an Ann Arbor middle school, and more and more the kids with talent don't even come out to play for their schools; they just do their travel leagues (or, worse, the high schools allow them to participate with their teams against MHSAA rules). This creates a situation where not only are the best players not playing for the schools, but the other students who could have learned a lot from those players are deprived of that opportunity. The result then is often teams that aren't very good where many of the kids get frustrated and quit because it's just not fun to be on a bad team.
I would not be surprised at all to see middle school baseball and/or softball get cut in the AAPS in the next 10 years.
You need a bagman network.
So I assume they are waiting to fire him until the CWS is over
Yep. If Michigan wins the national title...Bakich is totally fired.
Clever man, delaying his firing by winning every game to keep the season going.
This isn’t just a nice principle to have a diverse roster or a fist-shake at the expense of travel-ball, either. It’s a great way to find value that other schools (southern schools) aren’t using.
The moneyball approach!
As a parent in the midst of travel softball season I can relate. I can and choose to pay for the fees, equipment, gas, hotels, etc., but I wish for the sake of all the kids that don’t have these opportunities that it never came to this. Bakich is right, good for him saying and doing something.
I agree and I think travel teams have ruined a lot of sports. They are so pricy and incestuous in nature. Unfortunately its a big business now selling kids on getting college scholarships.
And totally and completely unnecessary from a competitiveness perspective. I live in Northville and kids are always traveling all over hell to play. A bunch of 10 year olds just spent a weekend in Indianapolis for some reason.
This is a metro area with more than 4 million people. If each community put together it's best kids on a team you could fill a 30 game schedule and never travel more than 25 miles.
Thought I'd check in to see how many variations on the Fire Bakich meme you guys could come up with. Ya never let me down.
Edit: Okay. I really wanted to see the video. AND the clever spins to follow.
Anyone have a link that works ? For me that web page can't connect.
And we don't need the southeast either. Only one kid from the southeast on the whole roster!
Midwest + California for the win!
Bakich’s view is a breath of fresh air to me.
I played Big Ten baseball from 2002-2006 and summer leagues each of those years. There was a lot of racism in college baseball then. Former Big Ten coach Larry Cochell (sp?) embarrassed himself at the CWS using the N word casually to refer to his own centerfielder. My coaches felt that the press “never should have done that to him” because it’s not like he used the word on a hot mic he thought he was saying it among friends. I thought my head was going to explode. A different coach on my team, yes right here in the Big Ten, made monkey jokes with a banana directed at one of my black teammates - a kid he recruited.
In summer ball kids from GA, FL, and TX regularly used the N word to refer to the very few black players on any of their teams. Many of those fortunate enough to get drafted to the minors often referred to all Hispanic minor league players as “pieces of S*%#*”
Of course this wasn’t everyone by any means. I saw plenty of caring, more socially aware players but it only takes a couple per team to really poison the culture and from what I experienced the coaches condoned it.
You could palpably feel the stereotypes coming out when a black kid was spotted on the field. I heard Curtis Granderson was too stupid (the son of educators? Not even close to stupid) and that Big Ten tri-player of the year Kennard Jones was, “just fast and otherwise lazy” uh. No. That kid spent 2 months at IMG training all day and playing summer ball at night.
I imagine this problem still exists in college baseball but glad people like Bakich are better informed.
^^^Required reading.
Thank you, "Vote_Crisler"!
That's gross.
I will quibble with one term: "socially aware players." I don't think you have to be "socially aware" to not treat other people like this.
It's basic human decency.
This is great and incredibly important. Thanks for sharing. It's sad and disgraceful that people need to act this way.
(also: Curtis Granderson has never been anything but a class act - shame on these people).
speaking of diversity, the best part of the whole game was when the athletic trainer acted like she had a no-hitter going and ignored all the players' high five attempts in the dugout after checking on Jordan Nwogu at 3rd.
We were at a luncheon with the team yesterday and she was absolutely as cold as ice in person as she is on TV
Haha!!! She had no sympathy for Blomgren when he dislocated his finger last weekend, either. She's a brute, that one!!
Kimberley Hill! Here's her profile: https://mgoblue.com/staff.aspx?staff=66
Definitely now one of my favorite interviews in sport.
As a parent of sportsballers - the cost of some of this stuff is RIDICULOUS. All so some 'glory days' dads can relive the big time through their kids, which typically amounts to little more than HS sportsball captain. A handful of kids get the majority of reps because they're advanced for their age or able to pay. Bakich is spot on - there's talent everywhere, and it's his job to find it, and not just by watching travel teams.
Continuing...I once heard a parent ask Curtis Granderson when to start focusing on one sport and he told the parent (and audience) that, essentially, that was dumb. Kids needs to play all sports or risk burnout or limit breadth of physical development. (Dhani Jones has said his best years as a pro were when he did "Dhani Tackles the Globe" because it worked multiple, different muscle groups.)
Someone, please rip the soapbox out from under me.
"Dhani Tackles the Globe"
I loved that show, but it was hard to find on TV. They did not give it the focus it deserved.
Nah. Get back on that soapbox. You're on a roll. Great hearing this from a parent's perspective.
See, people say this: Curtis Granderson when to start focusing on one sport and he told the parent (and audience) that, essentially, that was dumb. Kids needs to play all sports or risk burnout or limit breadth of physical development.
but then the reality is that the high specialization kids are playing JV ball in 7th grade and Varsity in 9th b/c they are technically sound/have the look of college player b/c they've been coached up from age 8-13 in travel/club ball.
As a guy who coaches a (low level) travel 12u softball team, it's frustrating to compete against other teams who charge players $1200-1800/yr plus mandatory fundraising duties plus optional fundraising, practice 2-4 times a week over the winter plus private individualized coaching, just to hear these quotes all the time.
Our team philosophy goes against the grain in charging 375/player plus fundraising and encourage girls to play other sports and rec softball. 10 practices over the winter total. Some will do some private coaching. We just get creamed in 1-2 games every weekend in addition to a tight game and a win or two.
Nearly identical to what I did with my sons teams in 11u-13u. Some parents left for "greener" pastures where it was more "intense" so their players got better training.
Those kids aren't eve playing high school ball now. Burned out on baseball. My son and a few who stuck it out with us are playing high school. Keeping it fun and instructional paid off.