Blood, sweat and ...tears??

Have I mentioned a time or two how flippin annoying it is to me to see these big boys 10-13 crying on the damn field??! Last night started our "Caln Challenge"...the playoffs for our rec league. This is when every one plays their hardest...blood, sweat and ...tears? yes...lots and lots of tears. Probably the most tears I have ever seen at a game....and at our last tournament I saw a boy throw himself to the mound in tears at one point, it was even worse than that! I was trying to get over it, really I was, but I just kept thinking about it and what I would do as a parent. I guess there's only 2 options....you can laugh it off, so others see it doesn't bother you or you can get all crazy parent and demand that they be benched. Which was is going to have an effect? I'd go with the second, but that's just me. Cruel? Hell no. You're teaching the kid that you don't cry when things don't go your way.....there are going to be strike outs, you're going to pitch bad at times, you're going to miss a play or two...that is stuff that is just going to happen!!! That's life! That is one of the reasons I love baseball so much. You're going to fail (strike outs,caught balls) more than you are going to succeed, but when you succeed (getting on base, pitching a no hitter) damn does it feel good!!!
I tried to let all the crying I saw last night from both teams go, but I couldn't. My kid gets up there to pitch/hit and has TERRIBLE games sometimes....with other teams screaming with joy when he walks 5 batters in a row....and OUCH does that hurt, but you know what? He still keeps his head up [he looks annoyed, but his head IS up] and there are MANY players like him...those are the players I love to watch.
Last night was rough though. There were kids on the other team that are on The Titans and The Saints with him....I hate facing them...I hate rooting against them. At one point, his buddy from the school team was pitching and buddy from the travel team was catching! But, you better believe I yell out "good hit" or "nice pitching" to those kids I know...at the appropriate times, of course. ;)