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Chicago's Jackie Robinson West has been stripped of its title after cheating.

by Joe Mobley
14 replies
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"This is a heartbreaking decision. What these players accomplished on the field and the memories and lessons they have learned during the Little League World Series tournament is something the kids can be proud of, but it is unfortunate that the actions of adults have led to this outcome," Stephen D. Keener, Little League International president and CEO, said in the statement.

The U.S. championship has been awarded to Mountain Ridge Little League from Las Vegas.
Some more back story here...

Little League Strips Chicago's Jackie Robinson West Of U.S. Title : The Two-Way : NPR

Joe Mobley
  • Profile picture of the author ForumGuru
    Banned
    Yeah, I heard that earlier today. I watched quite a bit of the 2014 LLWS and loved watching Mo'ne pitch. I watched the world title game Chicago lost to Seoul...Korea pretty much put them away with 4 runs in the top of the 6th.

    Cheers

    -don
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    • Profile picture of the author discrat
      This is so ridiculous. Of course this Team does NOT deserve to be called National Champions.

      They totally broke the Rules giving them a huge unfair advantage.

      They have been rightfully stripped of their Wins and I hope this sends a loud and clear message that Cheating will not be tolerated.

      These kids can use this as a springboard into learning to grow up and take with them the notion that Integrity means everything.

      It is more important than any wins
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      • Profile picture of the author Kay King
        it's sad for the kids but the article below has quotes from a player's mother who says they should have been warned. She doesn't seem to care about unfairness to the other teams or about adults who broke the rules (and the kid's hearts)....

        Jackie Robinson West, city reel at loss of team's title - Chicago Tribune

        It's especially sad that instead of apologizing to the kids so many of the adults are justifying their actions.
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        • Profile picture of the author Joe Mobley
          Originally Posted by Kay King View Post

          It's especially sad that instead of apologizing to the kids so many of the adults are justifying their actions.

          One of the many symptoms of an entitlement mentality.


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          • Profile picture of the author discrat
            "At a news conference held at Rainbow PUSH Coalition headquarters, the Rev. Jesse Jackson called the decision untimely and inappropriately harsh. The Rev. Michael Pfleger questioned whether racism played a role in the extensive investigation.

            "I can't help but question whether the same thing would have been done with another team from another place -- another race," he said.

            Venisa Green, mother of player Brandon Green, said Little League International's decision felt like a familiar blow.

            "It is amazing to me that whenever African-Americans exceed the expectations, there is always going to be fault that is found in what we do," she said. "Little League says that they teach character and they teach courage. Well, this isn't an act of courage, and this sure isn't an act of character."


            All I can say is UNBELIEVEABLE.. Just waiting for Sharpton to come along for his own self promotion craziness
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            • Profile picture of the author HeySal
              Originally Posted by discrat View Post

              "At a news conference held at Rainbow PUSH Coalition headquarters, the Rev. Jesse Jackson called the decision untimely and inappropriately harsh. The Rev. Michael Pfleger questioned whether racism played a role in the extensive investigation.

              "I can't help but question whether the same thing would have been done with another team from another place -- another race," he said.

              Venisa Green, mother of player Brandon Green, said Little League International's decision felt like a familiar blow.

              "It is amazing to me that whenever African-Americans exceed the expectations, there is always going to be fault that is found in what we do," she said. "Little League says that they teach character and they teach courage. Well, this isn't an act of courage, and this sure isn't an act of character."


              All I can say is UNBELIEVEABLE.. Just waiting for Sharpton to come along for his own self promotion craziness
              Do these people even start to realize what image of the community they are trying to stand for they are creating? First off - they aren't " African-Americans" they are Americans. Period. Secondly - they are telling us all to just accept that Blacks are unethical cheats. That's sure not doing much for solving racism, I would think. If I were black, I'd be dead out furious with those two people right now.
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              • Profile picture of the author Mike Anthony
                Originally Posted by HeySal View Post

                If I were black, I'd be dead out furious with those two people right now.
                Well I actually am and can speak non hypothetically. I am not furious. They're entitled to their opinion and its even possible they could be right but its to me HIGHLY unlikely and I don't agree with pushing themselves into the context.

                Rules were broken and apparently lies were told so there are consequences. The argument isn't exactly no one should suffer but should the children?and Is Little League equal in other instances? However if you were speeding and got pulled over it might interesting to know if others were over looked but it does not change the fact you were speeding.

                I will object to Discrats claim that the children are culpable as WAY over the top though (and this has nothing to do with other disagreements my man). Kids are not into the politics of where lines are drawn or whether its permissible to use another address where you might stay or not sometimes. They trust parents to have that down.We have No way of knowing if they did ask questions and object but asking kids to then go around their parents to report to the media is a bit much.

                Some thought should be put into it and give the rightful participants a certificate or something but the title belongs to the team who they would have forfeited to. First African American team has nothing to do with it. Infact if you believe racism abounds in Little League then you were even more responsible as the adults to play by therules and cross your Ts and dot your "I"s.

                As for African American as a term? nothing wrong with it as long as the base noun as it is is American. People talk about

                Italian American
                Chinese American
                Indian American
                Latin American

                Shucks on Election nights you hear about White American vote and no one jumps up and down on how thats wrong.
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                • Profile picture of the author Joe Mobley
                  This message is hidden because Mike Anthony is on your ignore list.
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                  • Profile picture of the author Mike Anthony
                    Originally Posted by Joe Mobley View Post

                    This message is hidden because Mike Anthony is on your ignore list.
                    flame bait (apparently) side stepped

                    However.........I've always wondered why people think thats a bad thing for the person thereby guaranteed an unrebutted point. Its more of a reward.Less time consumption too.
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  • Profile picture of the author HeySal
    Totally agree, Robert. Teach kids integrity early as possible. We don't need a new generation of crooks. One is enough.
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  • Profile picture of the author ForumGuru
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    Teams have been suspected of sneaking older or illegal players onto their rosters for years. I remember the phenom "Little Unit" Danny Almonte playing for the Bronx back in 2001. He was the big media story but nobody could prove anything during the tourney. His real age was revealed a few weeks after the LLWS was over.

    Danny Almonte still trying to live down reputation as cheater | New York Post

    Danny Almonte - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    I believe this is the late Stuart Scott with the no-hitter recap... Little Unit had not allowed a run all season at this point, and he ended up striking out 62 of the 72 batters he faced in LLWS competition.


    30 for 30 Shorts: Kid Danny

    It's the coaches and/or sponsors that stretch the rules and/or break them....

    ...and supposedly it was a coach of a team that Chicago had smashed 43-2 in a little over 4 innings that reported them to LLWS officials.

    According to Evergreen Park officials -- the neighboring league which caught on to the illegal roster -- Jackie Robinson West spent their 2014 "manipulating, bending and blatantly breaking the rules for the sole purpose of winning at all costs." This resulted in a 43-2 beatdown for Evergreen Park over just four innings at the hands of Jackie Robinson West during the sectional playoffs portion of the Little League season.
    U.S. Little League champs stripped of title thanks to coach they beat, 43-2

    It's not a good thing by any means, but teams in leagues all across the countries are bringing in ringers... FWIW, except for a couple of good Juco years, Almonte never did big things baseball. Apparently his 2 year age advantage was a really, really big difference maker at the time.

    Cheers

    -don
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  • Profile picture of the author TLTheLiberator
    Sorry for the kids - thank you adults.
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    • Profile picture of the author Kay King
      "I can't help but question whether the same thing would have been done with another team from another place -- another race," he said.
      Too bad he didn't research before he talked - it has been done before. In fact, this is the third time in this particular playoff that a team has been "erased".

      I feel so sorry for these boys - as much for the reactions as for the event itself. What could be a (rather harsh) lesson in honesty and fair play could end up as a memory of "racism" for some of the players due to adult reactions. That is sad and the blame goes directly to the adults/parents/coaches involved.
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      • Profile picture of the author discrat
        Originally Posted by Kay King View Post

        Too bad he didn't research before he talked - it has been done before. In fact, this is the third time in this particular playoff that a team has been "erased".

        I feel so sorry for these boys - as much for the reactions as for the event itself. What could be a (rather harsh) lesson in honesty and fair play could end up as a memory of "racism" for some of the players due to adult reactions. That is sad and the blame goes directly to the adults/parents/coaches involved.
        Yeah, I do not know whether I feel so sorry for them.

        These kids are in 5th and 6th grade.

        They all knew who was coming from where. Believe me these kids know that stuff. They are NOT dumb and clueless.They talk to each other

        When their parents tell them to use their Cousin bobby's address instead of their actual real one...well they know something is up.

        That being said maybe they could not understand the implications of it all. The adults sure did or at least they should have.

        I guess instead of feeling sorry for them I think as a Society we should encourage them to do the right thing and develop some backbone and character and use this incident as a learning tool to realize that Cheating is NEVER the answer to anything in Life..
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