'Pump the Brakes' on the LLWS Please!!!

I was recently listening to a Mason & Ireland podcast where during their segment "FAST TRACK!," they were discussing the [Summer 2018] Little League World Series (LLWS) which took place on ESPN. John Ireland whom I have admired for many years, insinuated that the children who participate in the LLWS should be paid or compensated, especially given the organization may get money for it. I got sick to my stomach listening to this and was inspired to write this piece because I feel the need to encourage people to "pump the brakes" and stop getting carried away with how we are treating young people who happen to be on TV and participate in network televised sports.

As radio partner Steve Mason pointed out in that very discussion the LLWS in itself is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization, meaning salaries and wage scales have very little to do with what's being displayed on the screen. Programs such as the LLWS should be meant to give children interested in the game of baseball the opportunity to develop their skills and improve on their fundamentals, while on a broader scale giving them something to do when not attending school. It's also an excellent opportunity for youth to connect with each other around the world and enjoy a very good experience in the name of competition. It should not be meant for degenerate adults to gamble on (as according to Steve Mason during the segment, an "offshore sportsbook" was betting on the LLWS games), and certainly not for sports media to turn into some spectacle similar to what's happened with the NCAA (which i'll deal with at another time). I found it disgusting watching ESPN reporters interviewing Little League players and coaches on the field and inviting them into the booth. At one point I joked to a colleague of mine, "next thing you know they'll have the children sitting at a podium doing press conferences and fielding questions [from the media]." Have we lost our minds, and what exactly are we doing with our young people today???!!!

Let's not forget these children are 10-12 years of age and still have plenty of growing to do before being paraded on the big stage by ESPN and other major networks and in the case of John Ireland, being worthy of financial compensation. This isn't the pros; these children don't have agents and sign contracts to become some entertainment show for adults. It is and should be about the children who just want to enjoy the game and experience of competing globally, against each other. Nothing wrong with being supportive and having a good time watching the talent play out, but let us not get carried away and start thinking ourselves into further exploiting young people for profit, as it seems we're trying to do in televising early-amateur sports.