Althouse: "For him to come home and just cry and go to his room and say, 'I give up,' I'm not going to let him give up."

August 16, 2012

"For him to come home and just cry and go to his room and say, 'I give up,' I'm not going to let him give up."

"This is his dream. This is what he wants to do. And I'm going to make it happen."

50 comments:

Michael K said...: Six feet and 300 pounds. I'd check the birth certificate. They had a case of this in little league a few years ago.; 8/16/12, 11:25 PM
MadisonMan said...: Rules are for little people.; 8/16/12, 11:37 PM
chickelit said...: I think I had stopped crying like that before 7th grade. Where's dad?

300 lbs is too heavy for 6 ft, sight unseen. Suppose he hurts someone much smaller--then what? These are kids, not professionals.

Is this another "Blind Side" story?

Life is unfair. The kid may outgrow his outsized advantage and still become a star!; 8/16/12, 11:41 PM
rcommal said...: Wait a sec: Is this truly and just a weight issue? Earnhardt is 12 and more than 6'tall, already.

It seems to me that, among other issues, this has to do with not just defining, but redefining, the meaning of Pee Wee leagues on a whole number of levels.; 8/16/12, 11:46 PM
Synova said...: it's undoubtedly a safety issue.

Not fun for the kid, of course, but I'm sure he doesn't want to accidentally hurt someone either.; 8/16/12, 11:47 PM
rcommal said...: "I don't want to play in school right now because it's people that's had experience and I want to get some experience first and then start playing," Elijah Earnhardt told the website. "I just want to play because my teammates are my friends -- I know them. I don't want to go play for somebody else I don't know."

Maybe he's not actually a sports guy, or even an athlete. I say this only because most of the sports guys and athletes I have known in my life (and in our not-much-extended family there are professional sports folks), this approach, much less attitude, would be considered very odd indeed, and not at all the sort of attitude which would lead one to conclude a serious attitude toward football, for one example.

OTOH, if the goal is to be involved in a less serious league of sports, this kid is too damned tall, and big, and so he poses an actual, outsized threat, in context. Sometimes the capricious fickle finger of fate is unjust and causes pain to one individual or another. That doesn't justify changing rules--or even refusing to make exceptions that clearly would be even in utilitarian ways silly--in a manner that could, and even would, put a whole number more of individuals at risk.

---

Also, that boy's mom is doing him no small disservice. Alas.; 8/17/12, 12:04 AM
wyo sis said...: If I were a parent with a child playing Pee Wee Football I'd be a little concerned.If there are a lot of big kids, maybe they could have a league for them.
It will only be a big deal if Mom makes it a big deal. Kids have been disappointed before and they will again. I feel for him, but we can't protect kids from everything.; 8/17/12, 12:20 AM
Chip S. said...: If Elijah wants to develop football skills, he should probably join a league with bigger players. He's not going to learn anything by pushing 130-lb kids around.

If he just wants to hang out w/his friends and they're spending all their time at football practice, then he could work out with a team but stay on the sideline during actual games.

If his mother just wants to be an asshole, then he's doing exactly what he should be doing.; 8/17/12, 12:25 AM
ed said...: *shrug* if the kid really is 12 years old then being 6' and 300lbs doesn't mean much because mentally ... he's 12 years old. Sometimes things need to be repeated to sink in.

Frankly I understand where he's coming from. His friends are known quantities so he knows what force they are able to project and how careful he has to be when playing with them. Being pushed into playing with older kids he becomes uncertain because he doesn't know what the limits are. Limits on what he is supposed to do to them, and the limits on what they are supposed to do to him.

At 6' 300lbs, and assuming he doesn't run like a lumbering brick, most other players would probably treat the kid as something to hammer into the ground. Is a 12 year old really mentally prepared to get hammered like that? Or to hammer right back? Do you really want to teach a 12 year old kid to be hyperaggressive?

Personally I wouldn't put the kid on a football field at all. Instead I'd sign the kid up for Track & Field in maybe the shotput or the hammer. That way he can learn athleticism on inanimate objects without having to fear hurting someone or being hurt by them. This will also get him into proper shape and give his future coaches an idea of his capabilities when he gets older. And if he then wants to play football he'll be in a much better position to do so.; 8/17/12, 12:38 AM
rcommal said...: Chip S: A great, large, loud huzzah for your good common sense. And thank you for it in this thread.; 8/17/12, 12:52 AM
Chip S. said...: rcommal: inspired by your 12:04 comment, actually.; 8/17/12, 1:16 AM
Bender said...: Sometimes the capricious fickle finger of fate is unjust and causes pain to one individual or another

OK, he is big. So what about all the real "pee wees," the kids that are tiny and short, 3-feet tall and 50 pounds? They don't get to play either.

Or what about the normal size kids with no talent? They don't get to play.

And even if the too-small and no-skills kids make the team, they never actually get put in the game.

Yes, fate dealt them a terrible blow. That's life.; 8/17/12, 1:24 AM
edutcher said...: A picture really would be worth 10,000 words in this case.; 8/17/12, 5:31 AM
rhhardin said...: Consider a piano career.; 8/17/12, 5:40 AM
Mel said...: They grow boys big in Texas, I know, but I think I'd put that kid in a basketball league if I were his mom. I certainly wouldn't want him playing football against much smaller kids.

Send him to play with the big boys in the school league; he'll learn more and feel less guilt about hitting them. If football is his dream, I mean. If playing with his friends is his dream, then find a time outside football practice.

Also, given what we're learning about repetitive brain injury and football, I'm coming around to the idea that no kid should play in any league before 7th grade. How many hits can a head take in one lifetime?; 8/17/12, 6:06 AM
AllenS said...: The kid needs to join a Weight Watchers League. I don't care if he's 20 or 30 years old, 300 pounds at 6 feet tall is too heavy.; 8/17/12, 6:28 AM
lemondog said...: Pleeeze..stop exaggerating......he's only 297 pounds...

A picture really would be worth 10,000 words in this case

picture; 8/17/12, 6:35 AM
Humperdink said...: Well, poor Elijah can count on no help from Michelle O or Nanny Doomberg. Left up to them, Elijah's mom would be facing 20 years to life.; 8/17/12, 6:36 AM
KCFleming said...: Move to Japan.

Sumo.

Be a 12 year old god.; 8/17/12, 6:37 AM
KCFleming said...: Let him play, but he counts as 3 players when on the field. See if coach thinks that's fair.

Pee Wee.
They keep using that word...; 8/17/12, 6:42 AM
Freeman Hunt said...: Physics, it's not just for classes.; 8/17/12, 6:48 AM
KCFleming said...: I sense the absence of a father, teaching him how to be a man.

That would include:
1. Do not hurt people smaller than yourself.
2. Follow the rules.
3. Man up and accept life's many disappointments.

Mom wants to save him from these.
The result is an uncontrollable giant of a teenager.; 8/17/12, 7:18 AM
Scott said...: The kid is being taught that his size is a handicap and not a gift. That's sad.; 8/17/12, 7:22 AM
lemondog said...: The kid is being taught that his size is a handicap and not a gift. That's sad.

Will he grow several more inches? Who knows.

Show him that he needs to take advantage and capitalize on what he has.

He has many years ahead. There are many other dreams to be explored and, yes, many disappointments along the way.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.; 8/17/12, 7:47 AM
lemondog said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 8/17/12, 7:49 AM
Bill said...: I thought for sure this going to be about Biden.; 8/17/12, 7:51 AM
Almost Ali said...: I'd tell 'em, "Grow down already!"; 8/17/12, 7:57 AM
lemondog said...: And miles to go before I sleep.

Robert Frost; 8/17/12, 7:59 AM
Freeman Hunt said...: Why don't they just put him in the next league up?; 8/17/12, 8:02 AM
wild chicken said...: I used to live across the street from where Mesquite Peewee practiced..I remember the first bunch on Saturday looked to be 5 years old, tiny tots all decked out with shoulder pads and everything, parents lined up with stereo blasting, girls cheerleading.

It would surprise me if some kids were sidelined by injury before the age of 7.; 8/17/12, 8:03 AM
madAsHell said...: I think this kid is older than 12. I'll bet his birth certificate looks like Obama's.

Mama has visions of a football scholarship.

We became acquainted with parents that held their kids out of kindergarten for an extra year. The idea was that the kid would be more mature, and more capable. The boy did become the starting fullback on the football team.....but that's about it!!; 8/17/12, 8:34 AM
Stoutcat said...: I have to somewhat agree with what ed at 12:38 said.

This kid is 12 years old, for pete's sake! That's 6th grade. And they're suggesting he play with the bigger high-schoolers? No, no, and no.

When I was finishing 2nd grade (lo, these many many years ago), my mother had me tested, and I ended up testing out of the 3rd grade year. (Go figure.) My parents and I discussed with my teachers what to do: go directly from 2nd grade to 4th grade, or stick with the curriculum and go to 3rd grade.

After about a week of talking about it, my mother, God bless her, asked me which I wanted to do: skip 3rd grade or take it. I really had given it some hard thought... for a 6-year-old. I decided to take third grade, not because all my friends were there (they were) but because at that time, 3rd grade was the year you learned how to write cursive. And I didn't want to be in with a bunch of bigger kids not knowing some of the stuff they knew. It was as simple as that. So I went through 3rd grade and learned penmanship.

My (rather long-winded) point is this: this kid knows that he doesn't know stuff yet. He wants to learn the things he should be learning at that age before he's promoted upstairs to play with the big kids. I don't blame him one single bit.

That said, he clearly can't play with the pee wee team--the size difference is just too great. If I were the coach, I'd pull out all the other oversized kids and form a new "Pee Wee Plus"-sized team and let those kids learn to play the game in relative safety with each other.

Plus, his mom is a jerk.; 8/17/12, 8:51 AM
exhelodrvr1 said...: When I saw the title of the post, I thought it was going to be about Michelle comforting Barack after seeing the poll trends.; 8/17/12, 9:00 AM
Tim said...: "I don't want to play in school right now because it's people that's had experience and I want to get some experience first and then start playing," Elijah Earnhardt told the website. "I just want to play because my teammates are my friends -- I know them. I don't want to go play for somebody else I don't know."

Sadly, the kid is a misfit.

If he wants to play football, he needs to suck it up and play in the school league that allows outsized kids and play with kids that already have experience.

Playing down to the lesser experienced kids' league in which he outweighs the league limit by more than twice is weak; his mommy needs to help him grow up and do the thing he doesn't want to do: play with kids his own size.; 8/17/12, 9:06 AM
pdug said...: Correct me if I'm wrong, but the video report on him never shows him standing up next to any of the other players, or even a full length shot of him. Its always sitting down, or cropped.

if they showed his relative size, it would be obvious why he's banned from a PEE WEE LEAGUE!; 8/17/12, 9:12 AM
dbp said...: From the pictures, he doesn't seem overweight--or at least not terribly so. Still, almost 300 lbs in a league with a limit of 135? No. He will hurt the smaller kids.

Plus, his team won't be able to use him in any league games. Surely any other team would protest his inclusion on a team they face.

If he is serious about football, he will learn more and learn faster playing with older more experienced kids.; 8/17/12, 9:24 AM
edutcher said...: lemondog said...

A picture really would be worth 10,000 words in this case

picture

Thanx. Big kid, and, if the weight limit otherwise is 135, he'll flatten anybody he hits.

This kid should be on a school team where he can go against kids his own size.

I smell lawsuit. Or, madAsHell may be right, too.; 8/17/12, 9:31 AM
lemondog said...: Pic with him next to mom.

This video is wild and had me laughing. Check out the bulk of some of the parents of those pee wee players.

Kids, this is you in 30 years!

Scroll down for vid.

2006: Pee Wee football parents attack; 8/17/12, 9:44 AM
Christy said...: Boys in my family tend to run big and I've always thought it stinks that they have to wear a special jersey and cannot touch the ball. What's football if you can't throw or catch? Unfortunately the biggest are also the brightest and I'm not okay with them eagerly bashing their brains in playing the line.

I hate football but spent the summer driving various nephews to morning football practice, to kicking camp, to passing camp, and videotaping them for analysis.; 8/17/12, 10:07 AM
wyo sis said...: This reminds me of a story from 2nd grade. A little boy was trying to explain why a girl can't play on a Pee Wee team. The teacher say's "Yes, girls are allowed to participate." The little guy, totally exasperated says, "No, she can't play, she hasn't got a pee wee!"; 8/17/12, 11:25 AM
Methadras said...: Lady, the fact that your little boy is a human bean bag at this point is more disturbing that you fighting his battles to get into a pee-wee league so he can turn his opponents and probably his teammates into bowling pins. Will someone please buy this woman a fucking clue?; 8/17/12, 11:41 AM
paul a'barge said...: 12 years old
6 foot tall
300 lbs

good grief.; 8/17/12, 12:45 PM
David said...: Freeman Hunt said...
Why don't they just put him in the next league up?

Far too sensible.; 8/17/12, 4:17 PM
Deb said...: No crying in football!

He should take up rasslin'.; 8/17/12, 4:35 PM
rcommal said...: Bender 1:24:

That was the point.; 8/17/12, 8:04 PM
DADvocate said...: 135 lbs is not that much in the 7th grade. My son weighed abut 175-180 at about 5' 10". He played against a few kids bigger than him. 300 lbs is heavy! Let him play with 8th graders. Plus, get him to lose some weight. He obviously needs to.; 8/17/12, 9:48 PM
Penny said...: Why is it that so many of us understand the the 6' 300 pound 12 year old does not belong in the Pee Wee league, while at the same time we insist as a nation that the 120 plus IQ kids need to share the same classroom with those who have an IQ of 80?; 8/17/12, 9:55 PM
Penny said...: On my!; 8/17/12, 9:59 PM
Penny said...: God help us!; 8/17/12, 10:00 PM
I Have Misplaced My Pants said...: My husband serves on the board of our local Little League. Based on his experience, I can almost guarantee that there is zero wiggle room here (not that I think there should be) for insurance and liability reasons. Has the mother even considered that if her son crushes some kid 1/3 his size, and he was allowed to play in violation of the rules (which would have been written in consultation with lawyers and insurance people) then the parents of the crushee would almost certainly sue both Pee Wee football and her personally into oblivion?

Also, what Pogo said.

And, what the kid says, "I don't want to play at school, blah blah blah." Tough bananas. Lesson at hand: choose from the available permissible options, or do without. Take it or leave it. Better to learn this at 12 than at 22 or 32.; 8/18/12, 1:11 AM