Little League punishes Chicago team

[Arcadiasix]

Little League Baseball has stripped the U.S. championship from Chicago-based Jackie Robinson West and suspended its coach for violating a rule prohibiting the use of players who live outside the geographic area that the team represents, it was announced Wednesday.

Jackie Robinson West must vacate wins from the 2014 Little League Baseball International Tournament -- including its Great Lakes Regional and United States championships.

The team's manager, Darold Butler, has been suspended from Little League activity, and Illinois District 4 administrator Michael Kelly has been removed from his position.

The organization found that Jackie Robinson West used a falsified boundary map and that team officials met with neighboring Little League districts in Illinois to claim players and build what amounts to a superteam.

http://espn.go.com/chicago/story/_/id/12308988/little-league-strips-chicago-team-us-championship-suspends-coach

[Duckhunter935]

1. well they did cheat

[jehop61]

2. The coaches cheated

the kids played their hearts out......they don't deserve paying for what adults in their lives did. All around, a sports' tragedy

[DrDan]

4. and the other team also played their "hearts out" - they do not deserve the loss -

the Little League did the right thing in vacating the wins and correcting the situation

[Nye Bevan]

5. If the title was allowed to stand there would be every incentive for other teams to cheat

in the future.

I just hope the Las Vegas team which is now the US champion gets an invite to the White House.

[Arcadiasix]

17. Agreed

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

6. I was reading the ESPN article on this

Apparently, the coaches actively recruited outside of their zone to strengthen the team. It wasn't an accident, and they likely would not have won without cheating.

My dad coached Little League for years, so this subject is dear to my heart. Little League can be such a force for good when men like my dad coach; he never had a team go to the play-offs, but he was an awesome role model.

Little League is supposed to be kids from the local community; it's the nature of the league and recruiting players destroys the very essence of the league, imo.

It's sad for the players, but they got good exposure. I wouldn't be surprised if some of them are being recruited and offered scholarships to the best private schools in the city. I wish them the very best.

As for the coaches, I think they will be banned from Little League. Good.

[jehop61]

8. All true

but the coaches redrew the league boundries illegally and the kids didn't know. How can an 11 or 12 year old know anything about that? Why kick at risk children down when it wasn't their doing? I'm not in favor of breaking the heart of a child for what a corrupt adult does. Ban all adults but not the children. It's called compassion and trumps arbitrary rules put forth by the powers in Little League. Don't think I'll watch it next year. The adults are ruining it for the kids

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

9. Yes, they are ruining it for the kids

but you can't allow the victory to stand or it encourages more cheating.

[jehop61]

10. How about

banning the coaches and keeping the league out of tournament play, going forward, for a time? Is it really so awful if a kid lives a few blocks past an arbitrary line? If they were overage, that would be another thing, but this is a small area of a big city, and neighborhoods are constantly changing. Another thing which disturbes me, is the coach who blew the whistle lives in a racially changing area and black/white tensions run high. He has spent months and months trying to prove his point. I only hope this is not a racial charged action.

[questionseverything]

12. if they wanted to recruit across lines

the team would have to play tourneys in a different more competitive category...it is called "travel baseball"....where they would of gotten beat badly...so yes it is a huge deal

and at 12 years old i bet every player and parent knew they had "illegal players"

and as for the coach that spent months and months trying to prove his point...GOOD FOR HIM! afterall he is trying to compete with all the power and money the Robinson name brings while playing by the rules....why do you act like the kids he coaches don't matter?

[brooklynite]

13. Is it really so awful if a kid is a few years past an arbitrary age?

It's up to all the teams to play by the same set of rules.

[GGJohn]

11. So you're in favor of letting the Chicago team keep the title,

even though it was won through the adults cheating? While at the same time, denying the Las Vegas team the title even though they did everything right by not cheating?
That's some warped thinking there.

[jehop61]

14. NOT WARPED THINKING

Just compassion for children. So I guess you are in favor of kicking children when they're down. 12 year olds!!!!! So republican. Sports stories really bring out the worst in people.

[christx30]

15. Its a wonderful macrocosm of politics.

If your leaders are idiots and do the wrong/underhanded/criminal thing, the people suffer the consequences.
If they had won honestly, the coach would have gotten credit for leading their team to victory. But since he did the wrong thing, the whole team suffers. Next time, assuming he is allowed to stay in the league, he'll take an honest defeat rather than a dishonest victory.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

18. I agree that it sucks for the kids

But even though it wasn't their fault, they won while cheating. No way can that be allowed to stand.

My compassion goes to the kids on the Vegas team that played just as hard, with just as much heart, and were robbed of a probable victory because their coaches didn't cheat.

[GGJohn]

19. No, I'm in favor of no cheating.

So, you're in favor of JRW keeping the title over Las Vegas, who, BTW, didn't cheat?

[GGJohn]

20. How about compassion for the 12 year old Las Vegas children

who were denied the title because JRW cheated?
How about compassion for the Las Vegas 12 year old children who weren't invited to the WH to meet President Obama because JRW cheated?

Take your "so republican" crap and place it where the..............well, you can figure out the rest.

[greatauntoftriplets]

7. Agreed.

The kids lose because of bad behavior by the adults.

[lpbk2713]

16. The coaches will have to carry a heavy burden for a long time.

The players played their hearts out. And the shame of it all is the players and their parents misplaced their confidence in the coaches. There's no way the coaches can repay the debt owed.

[cherokeeprogressive]

21. I've been wondering, and trying to put myself in the mindset of JRW's coaches and parents...

As the first pitch in the Little League World Series final is thrown, what are you sitting in the stands thinking?

Wow we really got away with one.

Cheating's okay as long as everyone gets away with it.

Thank GOD my boss is letting me use his home address!

We'll stand together, and hang together.

I'm so fucked.

What the hell have we done?

I hope they'll call off the dogs when we accuse Little League International of racism.

If President Obama possesses an OUNCE of fairness, he'll invite the Las Vegas team to the White House.