Jackie Robinson West Players Heckled At Friday's Blackhawks Game

By Chuck Sudo in News on Feb 15, 2015 5:00PM

The Chicago Blackhawks did a classy thing Friday night and honored a prior commitment to host the Jackie Robinson West Little League baseball team during Friday night's win over the New Jersey Devils. The Blackhawks could have rescinded the offer after Little League International stripped JRW of its national championship after determining the team's managers used a false boundary map to recruit players from outside its district. Why punish the kids further for the actions of some adults?

Unfortunately, some adults didn't get the memo.

At this stage the truly adult thing JRW management (or the parents of the team's players) should do would be to sit their kids down and say "this isn't your fault." But JRW retained attorneys Thursday; manager Darold Butler, team director Bill Haley and Illinois District 4 administrator Michael Kelly weren't talking to anyone outside of Little League International officials before the lawyers arrived; and it's possible some of the parents may be aware of what JRW was doing.

But that won't stop some meatheads from painting everyone involved with the team as cheaters and it's likely those are the same meatheads who become a bit too competitive at their own children's Little League baseball games, Pop Warner football games, youth hockey and soccer contests and even Easter egg rolls.

Let the kids have their moment and try to separate the actions of a few adults from the pleasant experiences these kids had last summer. This is already stressful enough for them to process without a Greek Chorus of Idiots passing judgment on them.

[WGN TV]