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in_the_know
985 Posts |
 Posted - 08/19/2011 : 00:13:59
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The primary difference is that he brings into question the integrity of the weeks he put HIS ringer teams in. He observed the teams during the season and then chose to invite specific performers from various teams to pair up with his grandsons. He did this over multiple weeks. He enticed those families to participate again by footing the bill for their individual entry fees. Any team that PAID their way in has every right to feel slighted by his actions.
Very different than a coaching staff putting together a team, paying their entry and taking them up to take their chances.
quote:
Originally posted by TBBFAN
Cooperstown has always been about putting together super teams to go play in that tournament. The two Georgia teams that won the NATC two years in a row (2007,2008) had players from everywhere. The 2007 team had players from Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, Florida, and California. You can’t blame the teams or the coaches, because there are no rules in place to prevent that. If I was a coach of one of those teams, then I’d do the exact same thing. So, I don’t really think Lou did anything out of the ordinary.
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bball2008
100 Posts |
Posted - 08/19/2011 : 10:11:18
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in the know makes a good point. The wrong wasn't the issue of creating teams of kids from different areas or the fact that they happened to win one particular week, it was the issue of the owner of the park being behind it all and allowing each of those players' families to forgo the nearly $800 reg. fee that the thousands of others had to pay in order to play. As the owner of the operation, that is bad business 101. He would have gained much better press by bringing in teams of under privileged kids that would otherwise never have the opportunity to play in a tournament like CDP.
I also don't buy the argument that the parents thought the registration money was being paid by a sponsor. There are zero businesses in this country that are willing to shell out $10,000-$12,000+ per week for multiple weeks for a group of 12yr old boys to play in a baseball tournament. |
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baseballpapa
1520 Posts |
Posted - 08/19/2011 : 10:29:41
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Papa did not get this old by being dumb. I understand what is being said and do not blame any Coach for being upset and understand completely with what they are saying. We were told that the team we were playing for had a sponsor (3N2) and that the park fees would be waived and then you all say that the owner was footing the bill. I don't know who footed the bill and I don't think any of you do either. I am saying that I didn't know then what I know now and that if we made a mistake by letting him go then the mistake belongs to the adults and not the child that just wants to play baseball.
I have been the target of many attacks many of them deserved and warranted but this one is not one that I am all that concerned about. We made a decision based on the information we had at the time and chose to play and if turns out not to have been a good decision then we will learn our lesson and apply it to the next decision. The only difference in the make up of the week #10 and all the others is that they won the tournament.
You all know and have known for years that there are no roster requirements for Cooperstown and there never has been to my knowledge. Do I wish there were roster requirements, "Yes I do" but the fact is that there are none. Never has been. Most of you that are posting have been to Coopertown Dreams Park and have known for years that there were no roster requirements yet you went anyway. Does that make you wrong? The rules are no different now than the day the park opened yet each week is filled with 104 teams with a waiting list a mile long so evidently something is being done right up there.
Now let me state for the record that I have never been to a place that I enjoyed more and have never seen my Grandson's as happy as they were the week they played baseball at Cooperstown. I would recommend that none of you miss this opportunity (even if the owner allows Derek Jeter and the New York Yankees in the week you are going) to play baseball in this place. I feel blessed to have had this opportunity and even if the owner has made a huge mistake I appreciate him and will always thank him for building something as special as this place.
Maybe the way to handle this is to convince the owner that it's time to change the rules and come up with some sort of roster requirement that would even the playing field. An idea might be to play A one week, AA one week, AAA one week, Major one week and this would not only make the tournament more equal it would make more games competitive. |
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