New Perspective on Little League Regional

Being an "Uncle" at this year's East Region has certainly changed the experience of attending the Little League East Region tournament. For starters, taking part in the first day of events (before the games started on Friday) has been quite an experience. For the players, I believe the words are stir crazy. The pool is closed on Thursday and the boys aren't allowed to even play catch. Of course, PlayStation is the outlet. Many of the players partake in the tradition of pin trading. I know I was duped a few times.

Yesterday was the first day of games for eight lucky teams. Four others were finally allowed to practice, but the anticipation of playing has to be getting to Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

The opening ceremonies were held before the night game, and seeing them from the field was interesting.

My friend and fellow uncle is a teacher, but I don't have a ton of experience as a supervisor of children. It's been a blast to deal with all the different personalities though. From the quirky kid, to the quiet ones, each player is a lot of fun to be around. Considering each of the other team's uncles are in their 80s and 90s, we have been tabbed as the "fun" ones.

After seeing our team's outlook for two days before its game, we didn't expect a victory. We do have Vermont which has never made it to the Little League World Series, but they are certainly happy to be here. Being fed to the Connecticut state champion in front of a couple thousand people after opening ceremonies didn't help. After taking a 17-0 beatdown, I expected some consoling to be done. There were a few tears on the field and everything. Before the boys made it back to the dorms, it was all about the pizza party back in the courtyard and they were already hanging out with Connecticut who just put them in their place.

Now, it's off to breakfast and a day off for the boys from Vermont. It's time to get ready for Maine on Sunday.