Have you ever felt this way?

Has this ever happened to you? Just sitting by and waiting for an opportunity for the coach to call your name and he never does. Then like every time before you go home broken and dejected your feelings hurt. You feel like you are a contributor because you don't miss practice and you give one hundred percent but, your coach feels you aren't good enough. Then a game like this one as described in the song happens and the coach doesn't understand why.

Rudy was another example of putting a lot of work in on the Notre Dame Practice Squad but never making the team until the last game, when every player gave up their spot for him. He was in the last game, he was on the final kick-off and final defensive play.

When I was growing up in the 1960's and 1970's we had to tryout for our teams. By a certain date the coach would tell you if you made the team. I did make the team the first three seasons I tried out. But I wished I hadn't because I never played. Baseball was my favorite sport and I never got an at bat my second or third season. My first season I got eight at bats with two walks, two hits and four strikeouts.

I played football and it was the same thing as baseball. I was good enough to make the team but not good enough to play. I was good enough to be elected team captain. I was always teased about playing guard, end and tackle. I was told I was sitting on the end of the bench guarding the water bucket and tackling anyone who came near it. I was hurt, angry and embarrassed. I wanted to quit, but that wasn't allowed because my parents had already paid the fee. I didn't even try out for basketball having already been embarrassed in two sports as it was.

In 1972, we moved to another part of the city and I wished we hadn't. I tried out for baseball and was cut, I was hurt because I had always made a baseball team. I went home and threw my glove into the corner and sulked for two hours not speaking to anyone. That fall I tried out for football and made the team, but wished I hadn't. The coach was both physically and verbally abusive to us players. I still never played so I didn't care. I was playing in a scrimmage when the guy beside me let the man in front of him run in on our quarterback. Our coach ran out and grabbed him by the face mask and proceeded to cuss him out. My uncle pointed me out and said you do that to him we will have problems.

Now we have all of this political correctness going on and everyone gets a participation trophy. By the time I started coaching each player had to play half the game or else you forfeited and like I said every team had a banquet for trophies.

Do we still have the urge and tendency to cheat? yeas we do. Look at the numerous Little League teams that came out this year and said that they used ineligible players to make it to the Little League World Series. Who does this hurt? It hurts all the participants involved. The team that lost to the team that cheated etc. I think it is so wrong that adults puts their egos first instead of the sportsmanship.

My son played baseball. They had an early morning game and if they won, they wouldn't have to come back until five pm. If they lost then they would have to play until eliminated. It was nearly one hundred degrees that day and all of our boys had blond hair and either blue or hazel eyes, light complexed. We had fruit, water and Gatorade there to keep them hydrated but also made them sit in the shade. By the time they played their fifth game the boys were totally exhausted and came to us and said coach, we can't play another game. We know it is for second place but we are too tired and burned out. We went to the administrators who said the the other team said the same thing and we were co-second place winners. The organizers learned a very valuable lesson not to do a double elimination tournament in a two day period. They also learned that ten to twelve year old boys don't have the stamina to play five games a day.

Sports is meant to build teamwork, comradery and trust. Without any of that you are just a collection people taking up a space. In Little League when I played we didn't have our names on the backs of our jerseys. In the pros I have heard managers like Don Baylor tell his young players that playing for the name on the front of the jersey is more important than playing for the name on the back of the jersey.