ShareThisRare is the sporting event that I refuse to watch.
Curling? Sure.
Lacrosse? Yep.
Rugby? Field hockey? Even -- gasp! -- soccer? There aren't that many things in the world of sports that make me want to turn the channel or run for the exit.
But I refuse to watch the Little League World Series.
The reason is simple -- it's a moral abomination.
Once upon a time, the Little League World Series was a quaint event held annually in Williamsport, Pa. It was started in 1947 in an attempt to grow youth baseball after World War II, which had sent many fathers overseas, thus reducing the number of available coaches and dooming many youth baseball leagues. Most of the teams at that inaugural series were from the area, and for many years, the charm of those early days carried over.
Now, teams filled with pre-teen boys are treated like big league clubs. They play in a stadium that seats more than 25,000. Fill it up, and it's more than about a dozen teams average in Major League Baseball.
It's not quaint. It's crazy.
These players are 12 years old. Remember that.
Listen, I'm not naïve about youth sports. They are no longer the endearing endeavors that they once were. Teams wear the best uniforms and travel across the country for tournaments. Players practice with the best equipment. Parents shell out the big bucks.
You see it in every sport. Baseball. Basketball. Soccer. Volleyball. The list goes on and on.
But even the most extreme youth leagues or the most intense traveling teams pale in comparison to the Little League World Series.
Watch these games on television, and they feel more like Yankees vs. Red Sox than Urbandale, Iowa vs. Mercer Island, Wash.
Remember, these are 12-year-olds.
A radar gun gauges pitch speed. A sideline reporter interviews fans and parents, coaches and players. A dozen television cameras follow the action.
Heck, there are so many cameras that the Little League World Series has instant replay. They used it before Major League Baseball did.
But the thing that put me over the top with the Little League World Series is the way the television commentators talk. They break down the games with all the seriousness of a big league contest. They talk about five-tool players and foot speed and arm strength. They dissect skills, herald triumphs and scrutinize mistakes.
Close your eyes and listen for a minute, and you have a hard time knowing whether they're talking about Derek Jeter or a 12-year-old.
Granted, ABC and ESPN hardly bear all of the blame. Newspapers, magazines and wire services cover the games with a tenor seen only with college and pro sports.
It's wrong. These are kids, and they are being exploited in a way that is truly disturbing. It's like those little girls dressed up like twenty-somethings for beauty pageants. They wear hair extensions and full make-up. They bear their mid-drifts. They dance like they're out at the club.
I just can't stomach that.
Ditto for the Little League World Series. Maybe your intestinal fortitude is better than mine, but I have an aversion to being entertained like this by the exploits by 12-year-olds.
The charm has been replaced by smarm.
(Contact Jenni Carlson at jcarlson@opubco.com.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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