Wow! You never know what’s gonna set people off but apparently my last post about my 9-year-old son, Aden, crying after losing his baseball game touched a nerve.
My goal was to describe the epiphany I had at Aden’s game last week. His team was one strike away from winning and went on to lose the game, sending my son– and several others– into tears ( you can read post and comments here.)
Aden brings intensity to the mound
I got several positive responses from parents who related to the issue. One mom even read the post to her kids after a different loss last night.
The point of the post was that instead of being troubled by seeing Aden (and all my boys for that matter) upset when he loses, I realized it’s a good thing that he’s so passionate about sports.
But the moral of the story was muddled by the details I revealed to get there.
One family friend — who clearly once had sons who were umpires or is perhaps a representative of the illusive Teenaged Umpires Union– criticized my perception of the ump’s “bad call” from my bleacher seat, and suggested I refrain from such judgments in the future.
I received other comments and emails suggesting my version of the story was one-sided. One email pointed out that Aden’s team had as good a chance as the other team to win but couldn’t make it happen. A friend and so-called “Candy” fan even claimed I was the cry-baby for complaining about the call.
Jeez.
Of course the post was one-sided. It’s a blog! It’s my opinion of events.
But it did bug the journalist in me that I had reported the facts in a completely biased way. Frankly the facts were beside the point and could — and perhaps should– have been left out so only Aden’s passion shined.
Live and learn.
It’s interesting to note how some parents overlooked the lesson because they were focused on keeping score. And we wonder where our kids get their intensity.
One positive was how Wilson– who cares deeply about all sports outcomes– fiercely defended me. In response to one disgruntled reader he said this:
“I don’t think she was complaining, as I don’t believe she cares one iota about who wins or loses any 9-year-old baseball game (nor should she or we.)”
Glad he’s on my team.
carpool candy 
People are fun, aren’t they? I thought the post was great. It’s a shame that some people can’t see what it was actually about. Signed, A Former Child Softball Player Who Witnessed PLENTY of Umps Make Poor Calls…it happens.
wow! is right. I think it’s interesting that some people chose to focus on the irrelevant details when your message clearly ( to me at any rate) was about the “epiphany” you experienced. My guess would be those people didn’t do well in school with math story problems that included extraneous information:-)
indeed. : )
Who’s Dick anyway!?