OT: National Little League Champs stripped of title
For a change of pace from Michigan fight songs, here's a piece of news that is hot in Chicago.
The local Jackie Robinson West Little League team has been stripped of it's title from last year for cheating. Apparently, they greatly fudged on residency stuff, and had players from a much wider geographic area than allowed.
LINK: Little League Team stripped of title.
From what I can tell, the evidence was irrefutable and undeniable, and finally, they had to do this. Everyone feels bad for the kids, but I have to agree that this was the right thing to do, hard as it is.
February 11th, 2015 at 7:49 PM ^
That act certainly obligates nobody to grant the tilte to another team.
February 11th, 2015 at 7:13 PM ^
February 11th, 2015 at 7:16 PM ^
February 11th, 2015 at 7:16 PM ^
February 11th, 2015 at 7:18 PM ^
February 11th, 2015 at 8:14 PM ^
This should ready them for Harvard, Dartmouth or one of the Military Academies. Then they'll be fully prepared for Wall Street.
February 11th, 2015 at 7:42 PM ^
Cheating is easy. Try something hard like being honest. Great decision by the Little League.
February 11th, 2015 at 7:46 PM ^
I have to agree. It had to be done. Rules are rules.
February 11th, 2015 at 7:47 PM ^
When I was a kid, we didn't cheat... we just accepted that we sucked at sports and had pizza after every loss regardless. Good times.
February 11th, 2015 at 8:01 PM ^
And they didn't give everyone "you tried" trophies so self-esteem won't be damaged. We need winners and losers so that people will understand that hard work pays. Back in the day a long time ago we got two dimes to spend after every game at the Dairy Queen on Packard Ave win or lose. And two dimes got you a pushup and a dilly bar. Now those were the days.
February 11th, 2015 at 8:18 PM ^
February 11th, 2015 at 8:54 PM ^
February 11th, 2015 at 8:53 PM ^
February 11th, 2015 at 7:50 PM ^
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February 11th, 2015 at 7:56 PM ^
February 11th, 2015 at 8:52 PM ^
February 11th, 2015 at 9:24 PM ^
February 11th, 2015 at 9:34 PM ^
Whether the kids knew it or not, it sure as hell wasn't the kids that arranged it.
February 11th, 2015 at 10:17 PM ^
February 11th, 2015 at 10:35 PM ^
I have a son who is a year or two older than these kids and played little league in the Chicago area. There is no chance he would have taken on his coaches in that situation - way too intimidating. But the boys must have known something was up. Suddenly, a kid shows up who isn't from your immediate area, you know something's up if you're a player. And the kids all talk about stuff like that. When my kid was 12 and 13, he encountered players from other teams who were 6'0", 6'1" and 200 pounds, and we all wondered, but everyone in the league had to provide a birth certificate, so we had to trust the other teams. If, however, the parents of the Jackie Robinson players knew what was going on, then they should have come forward.
February 12th, 2015 at 9:49 AM ^
Way too intimidating for him, and you had his back. Imagine a case like this where the parents may have been involved too...a 12-year old is going to pick up the phone, call Williamsport, and turn in just about every adult in his life? His parents, the parents of the kids he plays with, his coaches, the people that administer the league?
I wouldn't wish the consequences of that on any child; it's hard to believe people wish it had been done.
February 11th, 2015 at 8:08 PM ^
Why can Little League do the rigjht thing and enforce its rules but the NCAA is incapable of it ? Good work Litle League. Is the NCAA paying attentkion ? Probably not.
February 11th, 2015 at 8:28 PM ^
February 11th, 2015 at 8:50 PM ^
Gotta wait 3 years to see if they return the title to the team if they don't break any other rules.
February 11th, 2015 at 8:16 PM ^
This is espn crap. They made it big business. As soon as espn get the rights to the Marble Classic kids will be scuffing up their marbles so they won't roll as far when they get hit.
February 11th, 2015 at 8:19 PM ^
For the record, an overwhelming majority of poll takers in the Trib believe this decision to strip the team of the title is fair. In a group of more than 2,000 respondants, 81% believe the decision was appropriate.
The race card certainly is being played, at least by one alderman in Chicago. (Haven't heard from Sharpton or Jackson yet.) Certainly, some team parents and others are telling players that they've been "robbed," and that the title can't really be taken away.
In the Chicago area, this was definitely a "feel good" story. And it is true that there aren't that many African American players in Little League. Having said that, they clarly cheated, and the rules are pretty clear.
With my son having played baseball for quite a few years, I am certainly aware of how some people will do anything they can to win. Sad all around, but as I said in the OP, I definitely believe this was the right thing to do.
February 11th, 2015 at 11:25 PM ^
Sharpton is warming up in the bullpen presently. He's coming in for the 9th. Don't worry, you'll see him.
February 11th, 2015 at 8:36 PM ^
February 11th, 2015 at 8:48 PM ^
As a coach, I know all too well...
February 11th, 2015 at 9:12 PM ^
Let's agree to stop using the term race card to dismiss someone's grievances. Anyhow, it makes the coach who lost 43-2 in 4 innings just look salty that he was the one who researched and complained about what is pretty much a common practice. If anything, this school is guilty of not being discreet about what is done by every elite program in the country regardless of sport. Even LL baseball is like a 80 million dollar industry. Money is in everything, it's nuts. No one actually thought, or cared that all these kids weren't from that spot. It is just a known thing. It happened when I was growing up playing high school ball like 7 years ago. We all know that this happens everywhere. It is only really brought up when you start getting older kids.
February 11th, 2015 at 11:41 PM ^
Its not a common practice. Might have been before Almonte but it ain't now. Parents and coaches must assemble a small dossier for each kid on the team. My son played on the local 11U LL tournament team last summer. Its pretty rigorous and it will get moreso this summer.
In case anyone is still reading, the Michigan team to beat is Rockford. They've won lower level state titles each of the last 2 years. The 11U title in '14 and the 9-10U title in '13.
February 11th, 2015 at 9:27 PM ^
February 11th, 2015 at 9:38 PM ^
I absolutely hate the "everyone does it, so who cares?" argument. This whole thing is a reflection of the "win at all costs" mentality that is so prevalent in our culture.
I am hopelessly naive. I'd rather win the right way, or not at all. This is why I love Beilein. I hope and think that he does things the right way. And you know what? I'd rather have that then the shenanigans going on at Kentucky and Louisville and Kansas and Duke.
This is why, even if it is technically ok, I hate things like Drayton and Urban's recruiting of Weber at OSU, and why I'd rather Michigan lose a player than gain one by doing things that way. (Interesting question: I wonder what they would have said if Weber had asked point blank, "Coach Drayton, will you be here as my position coach through at least the next season?"
This win at anything culture is why I hated the surreptitious filming done by the Patriots years ago. And it is also why I really hope there was nothing to the deflategate nonsense.
This is part of the reason I liked Hoke, and why I think parents and kids liked Hoke. (Even though he needed to leave.) Hoke wasn't a "win at all costs" kind of guy, and it cost him his job. I really have hope for Harbaugh, but yeah, I don't want bag men and shady booster types and girls who are provided to give favors to recruits.
Brian has said (implied?) that to compete, we need to do the same thing. I don't want to go there. I don't. My hope is that Harbaugh is a man of integrity, and that Michigan will win the right way, fair and square.
End of rant, TL;DR. Point: win the right way, or don't play the game at all.
February 11th, 2015 at 10:15 PM ^
February 11th, 2015 at 9:48 PM ^
February 11th, 2015 at 11:38 PM ^
February 12th, 2015 at 8:01 AM ^
The Illinois District 4 administrator, Michael A. Kelley, was in on the illegal boundary changes, so the larger Little League body was not aware of it last year. Kelley was put into his position just before last season and had a long history with the Jackie Robinson West team. This was a very elaborate plan to cheat that was carried out by parents, coaches, and league administrators. This is a pretty detailed article outlining exactly how it was done.
http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20141223/morgan-park/jackie-robinson-wes…
February 12th, 2015 at 9:33 AM ^
Thanks so much for posting. I'll be giving you plus ones any time I see your avatar. This was very helpful for me to understand some of the details on what happened. Thanks much.
February 11th, 2015 at 9:56 PM ^
The whole concept of selecting all stars to play in the LL tournament is somehow wrong. These are not teams that have earned their way into the tournament for their performance in the regular season. The regular LL season is nothing more than a long try out to be selected for a tournament team.
February 11th, 2015 at 10:04 PM ^
It's probably less susceptible to abuse than using the regular season teams would be. This way it's simply a matter of age and residency. Using regular season teams brings in the process of selecting the teams--some jurisdictions would go on dividing the players evenly, but others would see a chance for LLWS success and stock one of the teams with all the best players (ruining the local regular season in the process).
They could have a rule against it, but it'd be hard to enforce.
February 11th, 2015 at 11:11 PM ^
February 12th, 2015 at 12:55 PM ^
I work in Williamsport, coached LL, and was a league president. LL is every bit as disgusting as the NCAA. Only focusing on the LLWS for a minute...
These kids travel from all over the world to play in a tournament televised on ESPN/ABC who pay a lot of money for it. They also sell all kinds of deals to be the Official XXX of Little League baseball. Where does the money go? LL, unlike the NCAA, is not even making an effort to get the parents here! Last year the Korean team onlynhad one parent present because the rest could not afford the trip. Fortunately they were "adopted" by the local Korean community.
Where does the money go? Despite what you hear on TV the local population isn't overly enamoured with LL. When Carl Stotz started it LL really was about the kids. In the beginning it was held here in Williamsport. After a few years it was realized that there was a ton of $ to be made and and eventually LL moved across the river to "The Palace" in South Williamsport, it's present location.
Stotz quit/got booted from the organization he started because it had been taken over by those who saw $. He came back over to Williamsport and started Original Little League on the same field as the original incarnation. By then it was too late since what he had built became the money machine you are familiar with today. Original League still exists but it's just another small local league.
There is no way that LL was unaware of the address issue. When you are presenting rosters you have to provide several documents that establish residency at the given address. You also have to show on a map the location of that residence within your league boundary. This happens multiple times during the process from local league all the way to the LLWS.
I have my own theory as to why this was allowed to happen but I'll keep my speculation out of this discussion.
February 12th, 2015 at 3:29 PM ^
February 12th, 2015 at 3:29 PM ^
February 12th, 2015 at 3:29 PM ^
February 12th, 2015 at 3:56 PM ^
ESPN wanted the good ratings and feel good story that it WAS?
I wanted to see that girl pitcher keep taking it to the boys...
February 12th, 2015 at 3:54 PM ^
This cheating goes on ALL the time in travel sports. It's hard to play the right way and explain the higher value of sports to kids when your team loses to scumbag coaches and parents who promote a win at all costs attitude.
Now Jesse Jackson is threatening suit? LMAO.