I’m currently managing my tenth Little League team. We’re 1-10 this year, and we had one game that ended in a tie. Those ten losses are a bit deceiving. We’ve lost a couple of games by one run, and played a couple of more where we mounted a comeback at the end. We’re not as bad as our record indicates.Although we lost our last game 17-1, so maybe we are as bad as our record. With six games to go I’d like to say we could finish 7-10, but I’m not holding my breath.Last night I watched Bad News Bears with my kids. The classic one with Walter Mathau, not the Billy Bob Thornton one. I’ll believe Billy Bob as a drunk Santa. I draw the line at believing he’d ever coach baseball.The film takes place in 1976 and centers on a group of rag tag kids and their gruff, drunk, but basically good-hearted manager, Buttermaker, who’s played by Mathau. I’ve seen the movie at least half a dozen times in my life, but not since 2012. I was surprised by how much I didn’t remember.My kids loved it. I loved it.And although I doubt it’s representative of most Little League teams at that time, it is interesting to compare that era of youth baseball with the era in which I played Little League (the late 80s and early 90s), and with Little League baseball today.The way the kids dressed struck me right away. During practice there are no baseball pants or basketball warmups, or even gym shorts. These kids are playing baseball in blue jeans and corduroy pants. I remember doing so a few times when I was a kid, but I think that was the tail end of that era.Everything’s more specialized and custom today. None of the Bears strapped equipment bags to their backs to carry their glove, helmet, bat, batting gloves, and cleats (because apparently cleats are now so uncomfortable that kids need to wear sandals to the field and only wear the cleats when necessary).And they definitely didn’t have a bag with wheels that they could drag behind them.I suspect the idea of each kid having their own helmet and bat would have seemed ridiculous to the Bears.That’s not all that’s different from then to now though.Buttermaker constantly has beer in the dugout, and during one practice he drinks so much that he passes out next to the pitcher’s mound, prompting one kid to say, “I think he’s dead!” To which another responds, “He’s not dead, he’s drunk!”After the final game of the season Buttermaker gives each kid a beer. One of the parents says something like, “You can’t give kids beer,” but pushes it no further when Buttermaker shows he doesn’t care what the man says. A Little League coach who handed beer to kids in the dugout today would literally be a national story!That does remind me of a similarity between my own Little League experience, and the Bad News Bears though.In the film, the managers have to find their own team sponsors to pay for the uniforms. (Incidentally, I think this is a great idea!) While some teams are sponsored by Pizza Hut or Kentucky Fried Chicken, Buttermaker secures a sponsorship from Chico’s Bail Bonds.When I was ten years old our team sponsor was Dunes Den, which was a hole-in-the-wall tavern. We wore maroon hats that read Dunes Den on them. I wish I still had one of those hats.We finished in second place that year and got a trophy. My dad was the team manager and we had an extra trophy so we drove to Dunes Den to give it them. The tavern was on the second floor of a building up a steep staircase and so rundown that my dad said he ran in and out as quickly as he could!One thing that hasn’t changed from the Bad News Bears, to my childhood, to present day is the ability of parents to ruin the game for kids. Most of the kids I’ve coached have never forgotten that they’re playing a game. It’s not life or death. Whether they win or lose will have zero effect on the rest of their lives. As long as they get to go to the concession stand after the game they’re happy.Parents on the other hand…well it never hurts to remember that it’s little kids playing a game.So times have changed, but the greatness of Bad News Bears has not. The team is a collection of oddball, ne’er-do-well kids who come together under a cranky old guy. And although it contains language that would probably prevent it from receiving a PG rating today, I think every kid should see it, especially if they play Little League.And every parent should watch it as well, because the film has much to say about competitive youth sports in America, with which I mostly agree.Plus, it’s just entertaining to hear one kid say about another, “That booger-eatin’ spaz makes me want to puke.” Or to hear Buttermaker say to one of the kids, “I don’t know who the hell you are, so sit down and shutup!” Or to hear one of the kids tell Buttermaker, “Don’t give me any of your honky bullshit.”Track it down. Watch it. Think about it. And just sit back and enjoy a time when Little League coaches could pile an entire team into a convertible, and also teach one of the kids to make a decent martini.Wasn't that well-written and fun to read? You should subscribe to my blog and we'll send you an e-mail every time I write a new one. 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