[devil58]

I will have to say that my use of "joke" is probably an overstatement... If you read the rest of my post you would see that I did say,

"I'm not knocking any of the kids who made the list... I'm sure they all can play..."

BUT, to say that this is a true all-state team is a stretch that I'm sure you all can agree with... Not that all these kids aren't talented but not ALL kids in the state are represented... It's more of an all tournament team than what most of us think of when you say someone made the all-state team...

As for my son hardworktoday, I don't have a dog in the fight... My son finished middle school in 2001... He was an extremely hard worker and a good football player and baseball player... Would he have have been "all-state"?? Maybe, had they had this tournament back then...Who knows?? He played on the freshman team as an 8th grader so I guess not... Because of how hard he worked combined with the god-given abilities he was given, he had a shot at eventually becoming all-state in both sports had he not been hit by a car an killed right before his sophmore year... Would he have been all-state?? Again, who knows?? Odds are, probably not because so few from our area, let alone one school, ever make the list... That's the reality...

To me, in every sport, at EVERY level up to professional we are adding more and more tournaments, bowls, etc to where everything is watered down... It's like little league all over again... Just give everybody a trophy and call it a day...

I really hope that this does not come across negatively because I don't mean to be... I wish every kid on every all-star team out there nothing but the best... My main message is to the parents... Enjoy your kids, let them BE kids, & realize that when it's all said and done the memories are the most important thing you take away from it all... I have at least 100 trophies/awards in my basement collecting dust... My memories of the joy of watching my kids play will never get dusty...