Little League Baseball Has Many Media Restrictions In Place

Little League Baseball is a very controlling organization, not unlike the NCAA, with many, many rules and media restrictions.

Among them: no media access to the dormitories, dining hall and recreation center. In addition, all interviews with  players must be conducted in the presence of a coach.

Little League Baseball must think that the big, bad media is going to bully and intimidate the little tykes.

Of course, it has no problem exploiting them by allowing the regional championships and World Series games to be  televised by ESPN (Does the World Wide Leader play by the same set of restrictions?)

There's more pressure on the kids playing on television than answering a few fluff ball questions. It's hard to imagine even the most hardened media person grilling a 12-year-old after a tough loss. If someone does, his credentials should be immediately yanked.

But I wonder: Is this another way for Little League Baseball to control the dissemination of information?  Still, this isn't even my biggest problem.

According to Little League Baseball's rules and regulations, no member of a losing team will be interviewed by the media. That's my biggest problem.

If I was a manager of a Little League team in the New England Regionals,  one step away from Williamsport, I would want my players to talk to the media after a loss. In fact, I would encourage it.

Why? Because losing is a part of sports and I would want my impressionable youngsters to learn how to deal with defeat. If kids don't learn how to deal with losing, they won't go far in sports.

Professional athletes can get fined for skipping press conferences. Obviously, you can't fine a 12- or 13-year-old kid, nor can you force them to talk to the media.

But Little League Baseball's policy teaches a terrible lesson. It tells kids that they should be embarrassed or ashamed by losing.

Of course, it doesn't stop there. Little League Baseball says "only the manager of the losing team will attend the press conference if she/he decides to do such."

The last part of that statement basically says that a coach has Little League Baseball's blessing to blow off the media.

Again, you can't force a Little League manager to talk to the media. But if I was in change, at this level, I would suspend for one game any manager who elected not to talk to the media And if that is too harsh, I would issue a strongly worded public reprimand.

It's low class and shows poor sportsmanship. Think if you're a writer from Bangor, Maine, traveling 300 miles to cover the regionals, and you have no one to talk to.

Let's hope the eight managers in the New England Regional show enough class and integrity that such a situation doesn't arise. But you never can tell because some Little  League  managers take themselves way too seriously.