Notice: This is a non-security post, if you only care about my rambling on security don't read past this. 
Today was a tough day for my son Landon's I9 Sports rookie league baseball team.  I am the coach of the team and have been coaching Landon in baseball since he was 4 years old. He is now 8 and playing in a 9-10 year old division. This year marks the first time that the kids are pitching and we play with walks, stealing, etc.  In years past, it didn't really matter if a child on the team was experienced or skilled enough for a particular position.  Frankly it was not that competitive and other than catching the ball at first base a players inexperience could  only hurt so much.  But at this level it is literally a different game.  If the pitcher can't throw the ball for strikes, if the catcher can't catch and throw runners out and if a child is not baseball savvy enough to know when there is a force or not at a particular base, it can get real ugly. 

I have a team full of kids who are younger for this division and for the last month many of them have been begging to pitch.  Each of them in their own mind knows that they could be a great pitcher, maybe even a big leaguer. So I informed the team that if we fell behind today, i was going to give everyone a who wanted to a chance to pitch to at least two batters.  The first two innings our best pitcher held the other team scoreless and we punched through a run in the 2nd to take the lead.  However in the 3rd inning, he ran out of gas and our next two pitchers didn't do any better.  Trailing 6 to 1, I decided to give the other kids a chance.  18 runs later (thats right 24 to 1in total) the umps called the game, as time ran out.  None of the kids who wanted to pitch managed to get anyone out and they walked every single batter.

Was this painful?  You bet it was.  For the kids, the parents, the coaches, the other team and everyone else watching.  However, I had to let it run its course so that each child had a chance to see for themselves that it is not easy to do.  It was a tough lesson to learn for 8 and 9 year olds, that not everyone can be the pitcher.  I had mixed feelings about doing this because I didn't want the kids to lose confidence or be hurt by their lack of success.  Even Landon who is one of the kids on the team who can pitch (picture to the left) was crying after the game that he did not want to play on this team anymore. But I felt I had to do this. I think they had to learn this lesson, I just wish it were not the hard way.  After the game I gathered the team and told them baseball is a team sport.  Each member of the team contributes in their own special way.  They each possess a unique set of talents and skills that allows them to help the team, but not everyone is cut out to be a pitcher or a catcher. I think they all realize it now. Some of the kids accepted this and told me they did not want to pitch anymore.  Other kids said they would practice and try to get better. 

At some level I guess it is part of growing up and realizing that you are not the next Nolan Ryan or Josh Beckett.  It is similar to a truth I come to grips with every day.  That is as I get older with each day, there are going to be some dreams and hopes that are going to go unfulfilled in my own life.  There are going to be mountains I am not going to climb. As I have gotten older I have come to grips with this reality and even accepted it.  Looking into the faces of these little kids today I wish they never had to realize their own limitations. I wish they could believe forever that anything is possible, people never die, they never even get really sick,and everyone can be a great ballplayer. I wish the realities of life did not have to invade on their innocent idyllic lives.  I wish I did not have to be the coach who had to show them in this painful way their own limitations and life lessons.  It was not one of my favorite days coaching for sure.  Don't you wish we could all still live in that anything is possible place of our childhood fantasies where we could be the next Mickey Mantle or Franco Harris or even Bill Gates for that matter.