I remember reading it one day on the subway and having to put it away because Charlotte's death was coming up, and I knew there would be tears, and I couldn't stand to think of them coming at rush hour. Thank you to Peter Trachtenberg for reminding people of a book that I know I will never forget. V irginia Moran's article demonstrates how to suck the life out of sport. Children do not acquire a love of a game, or any sort of passion, in an anodyne, non-confrontational surrounding with sympathetic coaches and doting parents looking on. You can be quite certain that they do keep score, are fiercely competitive and care about the game.
Kids are tough.
They play on their own, without coaches telling them all they did a great job, without parents leaping up and down on the sidelines, without uniforms, without being driven around in minivans. Not everyone does a great job, not everyone gets to bat and not everyone wins. That's what makes a game worth playing. Abandon the minivan. All rights reserved.