My Bad News Bears

I've been spending a lot of time watching sports and it's been exciting, heartbreaking, painful and exhilarating.

I'm talking of course about Little League baseball. My two sons are playing on the "sky blue team" with their dad coaching and it's been a great season despite the fact that they lose every game.

In the beginning, they would get a few hits and then several strikeouts. They'd have humorous moments in the field where kids would either stand with the ball wondering where to throw the darned thing or they'd throw it the wrong way. Kids were in tears. There were games that were called because the other team's score went too high.

As for me, I'm not the competitive type. I sit out there on my camp chair with the other moms and root them on. I'm not an athlete and I only recently learned how the game is played myself. I once stood at the plate (as an adult) and froze. I have the utmost sympathy for these boys.

Meanwhile, my husband was sweet and encouraging to the team. At home, he fretted about the losses but on the field, he pointed out the positives and gave a "game ball" to one kid at every game. "The kids take their cue from you," I told him. "If you're discouraged, they'll be discouraged. If you're having fun, they'll have fun."

They practiced batting. They practiced fielding. They got better and better but they still lost even when they outhit the other team.

Meanwhile, I was doing my own practicing. I practiced not looking anxious when my kids are up at bat. I practiced concentrating on the one great catch rather than the three strikeouts. I'm good at this because deep down inside I really don't care if they win or lose. After all, this is Little League not the majors and the whole idea is for them to have fun, right?

But it turns out that deep down inside, I do think that the winning thing matters just a little bit. For one thing, I hate to see the kids get discouraged. You can't separate the game from the competition because it's all about the competition.

So I was thrilled when they finally snapped to it last night and started whacking that ball out there. I sat on the edge of my seat along with a cheering section of moms on our camp chairs. We cheered when they caught it on the field. We cheered when the pitcher caught fire. And none of us even dared say the word "win" because we didn't want to jinx it.

When that game ended, we moms in the cheering section jumped up and down and hugged each other. The kids had wide grins and a look of sheer disbelief. It was better than the World Series.

I still think it's all about how you play the game. But maybe it does matter if you win or lose. Just a little bit.