Things I Learned Today

I went to the Mets/Rockies game this afternoon, along with about 5000 or so kids (with their teachers) in the upper decks for Kid Fitness Day at Shea. Here were some of the highlights for me.

Best generation-gap moment: not one of the kids knew the words or tried to follow the bouncing ball on the screen to "Meet The Mets," our erstwhile theme song of the 60's & 70's they're trying to revive with a sing-along, but most every single one of them knew the words and loudly sang along to David Wright's at-bat song "We Fly High (Ballin')."

Best unintentional comedy moment: as part of the kids' fitness theme, DiamondVision showed, one by one, the thirteen teaspoons of sugar that go into a can of soda, followed by a cartoon of how that will rot your teeth, then immediately and abruptly cut to the "Budweiser Designated Driver of the Game brought to you by Budweiser Select." Clear message to the kids: don't drink that sugary crap, try a beer!

Best teaching opportunity thrown away: about half the classes were gone by the sixth inning when the Mets were down 11-0. One of the unique joys of baseball (vis a vis other popular American sports) is that you cannot run out the clock. The Colorado Rockies were going to have to throw strikes to the Mets, and make every last out, before that game was over. Heck, 11 runs wouldn't even take third place among the biggest comebacks in baseball history, and the Mets came back to tie a game on their very last strike just last night. Even accepting that the Mets probably wouldn't make it all the way back -- they eventually lost 11-5 -- do you really want to teach these kids that they should give up just because your team probably is going to wind up losing? I mean, we're talking elementary school classes from some pretty rough neighborhoods here. The kids are certainly observant enough to notice that most of their older siblings, cousins, etc. aren't heading off to college. Should they too then give up early if the odds are bad? And even if that lesson is a bit too deep for a mere baseball game, what's wrong with just staying and enjoying the game for whatever it offers, regardless of the final score? Were there really any kids up there saying "we canceled math for this? Let's hurry and we can get back in time for social studies."