trick play or poor sportsmanship?

[BallHawk]

anyway, what if this took place (i'm not sure if it did or not) in the ninth inning and their were runners on 2nd and third with 1 out? would it only matter if the kid following was a cancer patient? isn't this a fundemental strategy?

That is what the whole commotion over the even was. It was the bottom of the 6th (we're talking little league) and there was a runner on 3rd with two outs. The coach ordered his pitcher to walk the big hitter coming to the plate and then the pitcher proceeded to strike out the cancer kid.

I know there is a strategical side to this event, and that's what the coaches argument was. However, this is little league, not the MLB. You play for fun, not to win.

It doesn't surprise me, though. I've had some pretty crazy Little League events happen in my life.

[Jimx29]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hpOnoD_LEQ&NR=1

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=wrong+ball&search=Search

[LEWCWA]

You don't play to win in little league? If your playing a game and they keep score you play to win. Thats why you play games and keep score. To determine a winner and loser. Along the way, hopefully the kids learn to win with some dignity and lose with grace. But the idea that you don't play to win is absurd!

[FritzDontBlitz]

i would put all of that in the referees' lap. they could have negated the touchdown by saying it created an unfair advantage, just make them do the play over. its kiddie ball, save the morale crushing tactics for high school.

besides, i never heard the whistle blow to start the play but i assume it was already blown since every play in football starts and ends with a whistle. arent coaches still telling their players to play until the whistle blows?

[swede]

You don't play to win in little league? If your playing a game and they keep score you play to win. Thats why you play games and keep score. To determine a winner and loser. Along the way, hopefully the kids learn to win with some dignity and lose with grace. But the idea that you don't play to win is absurd!

I felt the same way when that story came out last summer. The victory for that little boy was that he had beaten down the cancer and had become well enough to play with his friends. Why would the other team have to give up its chance to win a league championship in order to provide a storybook ending for the other guys?

There are Goliaths among the youth that bat about .750 in little league. I don't think it is unsportsmanlike to intentionally walk a good hitter--even at the little league level.

Intentionally walking a good batter is nowhere near as unsporting as the deception practiced by the football coach with the "wrong ball" trick. Were I the opposing coach I'd still shake the guy's hand after the game, but I'd mention how his play had given me an opportunity to teach my young men how not to play the game.

[packinpatland]

After seeing the Letterman clip, I'm amazed. Didn't realize it was high school football that was being discussed. The QB was a senior!
Coach and team should have been penalized.

[NewsBruin]

At any level of the game, refs are aware of trick plays. Coaches meet with the refs before the start of the game and go over any plays they might be using, so that the refs don't blow a fake play dead while it's still legal. The refs will tell the coaches how the plays can and can't be run.

What both YouTube plays had in common was this:
--The ball was whistled in play
--The offense was set for >1 second
--No one on offense moved while set
--The ball was delivered from the center to the quarterback
--There were no ineligible receivers downfield (i.e. the O-line stayed in place until after the ballcarrier crossed the LOS).

Depending on the league rules, the center may have to snap the ball between his legs, but I've never heard of that before.

I think it's tacky for a little-kid league and shouldn't be run. Trick plays are still tacky at the high-school level, but by then, we're dealing with talent mismatches, players who want to compete, and enough experience to know that if the whistle is blown, everything and everyone is live.

In high school, I've seen the fake bad punt (ball snapped to a back while the punter acts as though the snap has flown way over his head), the "wrong player" (WR is split off to his sideline, and the QB keeps motioning him to get off the field, so the defense doesn't cover him), and the wrong ball plays. I think they're pretty cheesy when the game is on the line, but teams will pull one out once a season, if they believe it will swing their momentum.

As far as bigger leagues:

Under Kevin Steele, every Baylor extra point attempt started in the swinging gate formation. If the PAT blocking team didn't respect the formation, we'd run it in for two. Except that we never did run the swinging gate. Once. Ever.

I've seen a side/shovel snap in the NFL about 2-3 years back. I think the Giants had run everyone up to the line after a long gain, and the officials whistled the ball in play. The O-line was set, but gapped -- not the usual 5-wide formation. The receivers and backs were standing around. The center picked up the ball, stood up, and gave a casual one-hand shovel toss to someone in the backfield, who swept around with the rest of the line blocking.

There was also the yank-my-chinstrap-I-can't-hear-this-play-sucks trick play that Kordell Stewart ran with the Steelers. The refs must have known completely about this, or that play would have failed in the backfield.

[Little Whiskey]

and the dan marino fake ball spike against the jets

[dt2121]

One other thing to add about the intentional walk situation is that the kid who had survived cancer was on the Dan Patrick show and said that it was the correct move to intentionally walk the guy ahead of him (who had 2 HR's already in the game) and that he wouldn't want the other team to not do what they would've done because he was a cancer patient. He said they probably would've walked the stud no matter who was batting after him. He said that he loves situations like that and that he should've responded with a hit. Also, it made him feel like an average, everyday, normal kid to be in that situation.