ALL-STAR BASEBALL (one)

Cole had a goal of making the All-Star team all season long after being jipped out of being on the team last year. Last year his team won the Championship but the All-Star team had already been decided because of a side deal 2 of the coaches made to guarantee their own kids were selected. All politics really.

Nathan formed his own team this Spring to ensure Cole got a fair shot to improve and be seen. Well it worked. Cole worked his skronny little tail off and had an awesome season. We didn't win a ton of games but he really started showing his abilities.

Telling Cole the news that he made the All-Star team (turn the volume WAY up)...

I was less than pleased with the head coach but I still couldn't help making a little sign for the team.  After all, it's not the kids' fault that the head coach had no clue about how to coach a team or really even understand the game of baseball.  Complete moron.

Cole picked #17 for Nelson Cruz from the Texas Rangers. Love!

Oh man, the facilities where the All-Star tournament was held was in this podunk, hick county that apparently had no resources or know how of what the grounds should look like.  The grass on the field had little weed flowers that were showing, the pit at the batters box was a twisted ankle waiting to happen, not to mention all the bumps on the rest of the field...Thus the reason for the squiggly base line. 

See the flowers in the grass???  Ridiculous.

Yes surrr...Representing TEXAS in Tennessee, folks!

The guy standing here in front of Nathan is Steven Wallace...And he was the absolute best part about the whole All-Star experience for Nathan.  They talked a lot and became pretty close...So much so that they decided to coach a football team together in the fall.  Remember his name for a future post.

COACH NATE!!!

I couldn't get over the fact that this umpire's face mask thing looked like a jockstrap on his head. Huh-larry-us! I tried so hard to hold my smirk in every time he came right in front of me to drink his water. :-)

This All-Star team was actually a terrible experience for us.  Cole got to play very little and never as catcher.  He was pretty much just a filler for the team, as were a few other kids.  It just wasn't right...Especially since Nathan was one of the coaches and put so much of his time into the team.  Several of the parents even mentioned to me that they couldn't believe Cole wasn't playing after all Nathan was doing.

It's been months and I'm still kind of bitter about it all.  Just thinking about the head coach's name makes my eyes squint and my face get all tight and scrunched up.  Grrrr!!!  Chad, if I could just squeeze your neck a little I might feel a little bit better.  Nah...That wouldn't be right.  A nice, short elbow to the jaw would be much more satisfying!

Whoever wins the season gets to be the head coach...So that's Nathan's goal for next year.  And Cole's too because he was so badly hurt by that coach's selfish decisions.  I could go on and on venting my frustrations about it all but I won't.

However, I cannot tell you how PROUD Nathan and I were of Cole for taking the high road the entire time and never crying during the games and continuing to do his part and support his team.  I often had tears in my eyes just watching him in the dugout.  He would get very upset after the games and try to understand but, it's hard to explain to a 9 year old that sometimes life just isn't fair no matter how many things you do right.

Nathan and I saw a glimpse of the amazing man that Cole is going to turn out to be...And that in itself made it all worth it.