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<blockquote data-quote="moreluck" data-source="post: 499563" data-attributes="member: 1246">HEROES............&nbsp;I was probably 12 when it happened. All the neighborhood boys and a few girls gathered in the lot behind the school. Soon the mob split into two opposing sides. I knew it would come to this. It always did. Some chose sticks as weapons, others pickup round projectiles and leather shields. Finally someone shouted, &quot;Play ball!&quot; and the game began.We all had our favorite professional baseball player. One would play like Willie Mays. Others chose to play like Mickey Mantle. I wanted to be like Herman &quot;The Babe&quot; Ruth. I wanted to be known as a man who could come to the plate and get hits -- especially home runs -- when the game was on the line.Oh, we loved our heroes -- and our heroes loved being heroes. They appeared on TV and told us how to play baseball, and how to live life. They lead us into a future that was bright. No, none of us ever made it to the big leagues. I don&#039;t know of a one of us who even played in college. But we learned lessons on that back yard of the school that have stayed with us through life.We learned teamwork. We could turn double plays. We could pay hit and run. We learned ecumenicalism. The teams were never the same. Sometimes we had girls on our team. Some times we didn&#039;t. We began to comprehend the value of other ethnic backgrounds. Even the almighty dollar didn&#039;t separate us from each other. Some of us were dirt poor. Others rather affluent. It didn&#039;t matter. Baseball was the unifying factor.What happened to us? Today&#039;s youth have a different set of heroes. They don&#039;t claim to be role models, but they are. They dye their hair all kinds of weird colors and patterns. They do drugs. They beat each other up. They sing of killing cops and &quot;hoes.&quot; Is it any wonder that we have lawlessness in some of our schools? </blockquote>

[QUOTE="moreluck, post: 499563, member: 1246"] HEROES............ [FONT=Times New Roman]I was probably 12 when it happened. All the neighborhood boys and a few girls gathered in the lot behind the school. Soon the mob split into two opposing sides. I knew it would come to this. It always did. Some chose sticks as weapons, others pickup round projectiles and leather shields. Finally someone shouted, "Play ball!" and the game began. We all had our favorite professional baseball player. One would play like Willie Mays. Others chose to play like Mickey Mantle. I wanted to be like Herman "The Babe" Ruth. I wanted to be known as a man who could come to the plate and get hits -- especially home runs -- when the game was on the line. Oh, we loved our heroes -- and our heroes loved being heroes. They appeared on TV and told us how to play baseball, and how to live life. They lead us into a future that was bright. No, none of us ever made it to the big leagues. I don't know of a one of us who even played in college. But we learned lessons on that back yard of the school that have stayed with us through life. We learned teamwork. We could turn double plays. We could pay hit and run. We learned ecumenicalism. The teams were never the same. Sometimes we had girls on our team. Some times we didn't. We began to comprehend the value of other ethnic backgrounds. Even the almighty dollar didn't separate us from each other. Some of us were dirt poor. Others rather affluent. It didn't matter. Baseball was the unifying factor. What happened to us? Today's youth have a different set of heroes. They don't claim to be role models, but they are. They dye their hair all kinds of weird colors and patterns. They do drugs. They beat each other up. They sing of killing cops and "hoes." Is it any wonder that we have lawlessness in some of our schools? [/FONT] [/QUOTE]

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