Queen does Little League

I'm going to cheat a little with this today. I typed out a long story on a message board this morning, and I'm going to cut and paste it here. Forgive me if you're reading it a second time.



A couple of years ago, my son played little league, and ended up on this team of all the "leftover" kids. They didn't even have a coach, just a bunch of kids most of who had never even played baseball. One of the parents stepped up and offered to coach, and they started practices.
It seemed hopeless that they'd ever be organized enough to even play a game, much less win one. Those kids were determined, though. One of the kids started bringing a CD player to practices with him and playing Queen. They'd get all pumped up and try their butts off to be the best they could be.

I'm ashamed to say that most of us parents had prepared ourselves for the "you don't have to win to be a winner" speech, when lo and behold, they won their first game. We figured it was a fluke until they won the next game, and the one after that. Word started spreading between the other coaches. They tried to prove our misfit kids were cheating. There was no cheating, just a bunch of kids who believed in themselves.

The team had only lost one game that season. It was to a team that was tough, with tough kids and tough coaches. They intimidated all of us, including the kids. It was the last game of the season, and we were up against that team again. They had also lost only one game. This last and final game was for the championship. The kids were nervous for a week. They wanted so badly to win, but knew that this team could beat them, because they already had once.

I'll never forget what happened in the minutes before the game that day. The coach had them all in the dugout, giving them their pep talk. The kid with the CD player turned on "We Will Rock You" at a low volume while the coach was talking. Slowly and quietly throughout his speech, the kids started doing the stomp-stomp-clap. The coach, bless his heart, didn't discourage them. He turned the volume up louder and stomped right along with them. I've never seen a group of 10 year olds so excited in my life.

That game went into overtime, and we won it in the last few seconds. Every single one of us was jumping and screaming and cheering, so proud of the group of kids that everyone laughed at when the season started. Before they left the dugout to run across the field to give the other team their high-fives, someone turned on that CD player again. Every single one of us sang "We Are the Champions" at the top of our lungs, even the parents from the other team. It was one of those days that will be forever imprinted in my mind, and forever associated with both of those songs.

I learned two lessons from this experience. Never underestimate the power of music, and never ever underestimate the power of children.