First of all I must say that I’m happy to see people are actually visiting this blog. In Tuesday’s online edition of the Rapid City Journal there were a number of comments posted about the Post 320 versus Dickinson game. Several comments referred to something I wrote about Dickinson on this blog early this season when I called them, “fundamentally sound.” Some fans used my statement to say Dickinson was a quality opponent. Others said I wasn’t the ‘ultimate judge of young baseball talent.’ I say, thanks for reading. Ultimately, I believe, it is just another opportunity people take to debate which team is better- Post 320 or Post 22.

I have never weighed in on this debate. Not because I’m on the fence when it comes to this issue, but because as a journalist it is my job to remain balanced. I have to deal with people in both programs on a daily basis, and ultimately my opinion on which team is better is subjective and irrelevant.
I will say this, I know a lot of people want to see the two teams play during the regular season, and I very seriously doubt this will happen anytime in the near future. Who is the better team this season will be decided at only one place- Fitzgerald Stadium during the state tournament, assuming the two teams actually meet. I’ve always believed that talk is cheap, and all that matters is what happens between the lines.

I must also say that one of the perks of this job is interacting with players in both programs. I would say to people in Rapid City, these are kids, great kids, on both sides, who just want to play baseball, and yes, want to beat each other badly. But they also respect each other. I have witnessed numerous times players from the two programs interact and they have been nothing but respectful of each other. Often times they go to school together or play other sports together. The only people that undermine these efforts are a few parents and fans. I would urge these people to avoid singling out individual players, as I have often seen on Rapid Reply. If you want to criticize the coaches, so be it, they get paid, and they’re adults. (Though I don’t agree with personal attacks) It is great to see passion about baseball in Rapid City, but these aren’t professionals making millions of dollars, so don’t criticize kids who just want to play the game.

-Jake-

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 7th, 2009 at 4:40 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.