WGBH Radio; The Callie Crossley Show

I'm Sue O'Connell. This is the Kelly Crossley Show. With baseball season in full swing we're paying tribute to the great American pastime with Little League in 1038 call thoughts. A man with a passion for playing ball thought outside the batters box. You cooked up a plan to let tykes in on the action. He came up with the little league ball park oasis for preteen boys. His goal was to make this more than a game. It was a chance to teach kids about fair play and working together. Today Little League has a super sized reach from Kansas to Kurdistan. We'll look at what this means for kids from keeping them off the street to launching them into the major leagues. From there we mark prom season with a look at how it's portrayed on the silver screen. Up next rites of passage from Little League to the big night. First the news from NPR News in Washington I'm Lakshmi saying. Music legend Donna Summer loved by

fans as the queen of disco reportedly has died. You so say to Press quoting a statement from the family says she passed away today after a battle with cancer. The five time Grammy Award winning singer and songwriter was the first artist to have three consecutive double albums reach number one on the Billboard charts. She delivered a string of hits that have remained popular for generations. Donna Summer is survived by her husband and three children. She was 63 years old. The Kennedy family is grieving for the death of Robert Kennedy Jr. is a strange wife Mary Richardson Kennedy who was found dead at her home in suburban New York. The Westchester County medical examiner's office said today that the 52 year old mother of four died of asphyxiation due to hanging. The Hague trial of former Bosnian Serb general Rockall melodic has

been indefinitely suspended due to procedural errors by the prosecution. We have details from Terry Schultz lawyers prosecuting the former Bosnian Serb commander on 11 war crimes charges. Admit they failed to disclose on time all the evidence they planned to use against it. Prosecutors say they've gone through more than a million documents and while they submitted the majority of materials by deadline they've made some errors in a document sent to the court the attorneys say despite their best efforts. Full disclosure has not yet been made. So while the presentation of the prosecution's evidence would have started May 29 a lot of his defense team insisted on a delay to study the new disclosures. Chief Judge Alphonse ory made very clear his displeasure. He said the U.N. tribunal had been unpleasantly surprised by what he called very significant errors. He suspended the trial until further notice. For NPR News I'm Teri Shultz. Almost 10 percent of all U.S. inmates were sexually assaulted while they were in prison that according to a Justice Department study out today. NPR's Laura Sullivan reports the numbers are higher than previously reported.

The study is the first to examine sexual victimization by asking former inmates about their experiences while in prison or jail. Previous studies have asked inmates while they were still locked up and the numbers this time are significantly higher. One in ten former inmates said they were salted or victimized more than 5 percent of state prisoners said the incident involved a staff member and almost half the inmates who reported the violence were then reprimanded for it according to the study. The report comes just as the Justice Department is about to announce prison standards meant to curb sexual violence behind bars. The standards were expected to be released years ago but officials have struggled to figure out how much can be asked of state and private prisons. Laura Sullivan NPR News Washington. Does down 68. This is NPR. Good afternoon from the WGBH radio newsroom in Boston I'm Christina Quinn with the local stories we're following. The office of Labor and Workforce Development released new figures today showing that the state's jobless rate dipped to 6.3 percent in April down from six point five percent in March. The biggest growth was in the professional scientific and business sector which Secretary of Labor and Workforce

Development Joanne Goldstein says it is consistent with Governor Deval Patrick's mandate to highlight the innovation economy. That's an area that we're investing in and the private sector is investing in as well. And it's an area that provides sustainable jobs both in terms of longevity and quality. Areas that lost jobs last month including manufacturing construction and government secretary Goldstein says her office is working with employers in all sectors to create jobs. A serviceman whose four year old son drowned at a town run summer camp is pushing Massachusetts lawmakers to pass a bill he says could prevent similar tragedies. The legislation which has passed the Senate and is pending in the house would require all state or town run camps to have life jackets available for children. It would also allow parents to request that their children wear flotation devices while swimming for shot son Christian drowned in Cedar Lake in 2007 for shot said he brought life jackets for Christian and his 5 year old brother but was told by staff at the camp that they were not allowed. Children's Hospital Boston is

changing its name to what everybody calls it anyway. The hospital tells The Boston Globe it is gradually making the transition to the new name Boston Children's Hospital. The change emphasizes the hospital's link to the city. Rhode Island is projected to end the current fiscal year with a one hundred two point seven million dollar budget surplus budget officer Thomas Maloney says his revised estimate this week is based on an increase in revenues and a drop in spending especially in Medicaid expenses. Sunny and breezy this afternoon with highs around 70 right now at 66 in Boston and in wester and 67 in Providence. Support for NPR comes from the Music Foundation of redone Peter Haden based in Ann Arbor honoring the passion of NPR journalists all around the world whose stories take us there every day. Good afternoon I'm Sue O'Connell in for Kelly Crossley and it's put me in coach it's not about the airline industry. No it's a baseball song by the great John

Fogarty and of course baseball season is in full swing. We're paying tribute to the American pastime with a focus today on Little League and what the game means to inner city kids. I'm joined by Harry Smith president of the Jamaica Plain Reagan youth baseball league and Mike she's the commissioner for South and baseball. You can join in the conversation at 8 7 7 3 0 1 8 9 7 0 that's 8 7 7 3 0 1 8 9 7 0. Were you a product of the Little League is your kid benefiting from one of these baseball programs. Give us a call Harry. Mike welcome to both of you. Thank you for having us. So Mike you know we work together a lot in the south and obviously over at South the news in South in baseball has been so important to the youth there. What's what. Brought you to be involved in Little League I mean where you Little League player a baseball fan huge fan and I did play as a kid where I grew up in Newton and actually the way I became involved in Southend baseball was by

answering an ad that was in the south and news and I think it was either 97 or 98. Looking for volunteers and I umpired my first year and then jumped on as a coach and kind of stepped from there is more opportunities and we grew and people needed to you know to do more to get the league to grow. So Harry one of the things I know my daughter's involved in little league in the suburbs in Canton and it's so easy in the suburbs to take these things for granted take soccer for granted in field hockey and the recreation department and in the city in the urban areas. It's a bit more complicated for kids just because of the size of the city. You don't all have you know a community newspaper or a gathering spot even within the neighborhood for you to get the information. But also just some of the challenges that the urban kids do in terms of family structure and poverty. What what are the challenges for you in your league in getting

connected to kids and getting the money that you need to do what you need to do. Well the Jamaica Plain reading youth league has 54 teams we have eight hundred fifty kids now playing and we go to local businesses and individuals who sponsor each team which is kind of the you know backbone of our whole league. It is a challenge getting field space we don't have you know a lot of suburban towns have a have a complex and a field house and they sell concessions and that kind of thing and raise money that way we are on about 10 different fields across JP. There's a lot of competition for field time. So that's a logistical headache. And like you said just getting some of the kids getting them transportation getting into the games getting them home. This is a challenge but we have a lot of volunteers a lot of people who've been doing this. Now it's our forty third year so we have a lot of people who have been really focused on it and we have a pretty good system in place. You know Mike I know in the south and it's always it's startling to me how surprising it is to new residents who moved to the neighborhood and I'm sure it's the same area in your neck of the woods

that we have a little league you know and when opening day happens there is the parade and the kids march down to the field and it makes everybody happy to see it. But there are you know real nitty gritty challenges that you have having teams and having kids in the city. Sure. When we started with the league the area around our main park which is Peter's park that we use for our 12 and under Program was there was basically no development there was a lot of empty lots. And over the years as new development has come in and it has created some challenges but I think that you know to have an urban park that sees a lot of use and a lot of life and the challenges I think the people who live near are worth it because they see sort of you know the community that is over there and. You know the building that happens so I think that you know it's a give and take but the phone numbers 8 7 7 3 0 1 8 9 7 0 We'd love to hear from you are

you a product of urban Little League or are you involved in it we'd love to talk about your experience. Harry the other challenge I think that I know firsthand in the south and league you can suddenly have a big disaster in terms of a financial issue. I remember one year one of the vans didn't work back in you know 1998 and there was a Little League appearance at one of the major competitions and suddenly you know a donor came in and bought a van for the kids. And these sort of crisis moments don't happen in the suburbs. Well we're right we're pretty much living year to year we really depend on the generosity of sponsors. And then we get we also have a lot of individual donors we do a raffle every year that is our biggest fundraiser and but we really you're right we don't have much of a cushion to deal with disasters as they come and luckily when we have had that we've had people step up and say you know I'll take care of this I'll take care of that but it is a little a little stressful every year.

And Mike this year. So then baseball is mourning the loss of Paul Ryan cool as Paul of course was a major force in south and baseball he passed away last year. A great fundraiser. You know it's amazing how many things that man could ask for. You both dreaded and love seeing him come through the door because you knew he was going to ask you for a lot and you knew it was all for a good purpose pulling together all sorts of Red Sox stars Louis Jim Rice just folks who were there and invested in seeing the kids have a great experience. Yeah Paul was such an amazing force in the community and certainly with the fund raising. But I think what what people didn't see is much about what he did was to really push kids that were at the margins of our program. The kids who maybe were. In the most dangerous spot as far as you know the choices that they could make in the directions that they could go in to stick with them and to stick by them and their kids

who Paul was really the only person that they had to turn to at times. And I think that they are on a path that they would never be on had Paul not intervened in their lives. So he's It is a huge loss from the fundraising perspective but from the south and baseball community and the kids I think it's immeasurable really you know it's funny I think when you talk about little league you talk about kids sports and grown ups being involved in kid's sports some of the bad images of you know crazy dad you know crazy moms and you know incidents that happen on the field between the parents pop up in your mind and that is you know from all of our experiences probably the tiny minority of what happens. And Paul and I'm sure this is true across the city. He didn't focus on who was winning you know how the kids were playing. He would pull in some of the kids that went on to be professional ball players to bring them in because he knew it connected with the kids but he would often call us for tickets to the ballet you know to bring the kids. You know I've got five kids

or six kids do you have any tickets for me. And it was so much about. More than just playing on the field but just about being connected to this great city that we all live in that you know we all know that urban kids sometimes don't feel connected to. Absolutely. But Paul I guess I think it is hard. He wasn't you know he wasn't on the field guy. He wasn't a baseball guy. You know he loved the game. But I think it was the opportunity to really make a difference for kids. That was what pushed him. And he's he's sorely missed at the field. We're talking a little league 8 7 7 3 0 1 8 9 7 0. You're listening to eighty nine point seven WGBH online in WGBH dot org. Harry what are the lessons you know I mean I'm a huge baseball fan and I'm thrilled that my daughter after you know 10 years on this earth has finally decided to play some softball you know and what in your viewpoint are the lessons that baseball can teach kids that are different from some of the other organized

sports. Well I have three daughters are two of them are playing baseball one is playing softball and and what I really want them to get out of this experience is it is both you know athletic. Challenge the discipline that you that it takes to play and excel at a sport but also in a neighborhood like Jamaica Plain that is so diverse it's really an opportunity to to learn to play and work with other other kids and we have kids come from not just Jamaica Plain but Roxbury Dorchester matchup in Rossendale And and it's really a place where there is true diversity and that that doesn't happen very much in Boston I think still to this day and I think it's a place where kids are really learning to work things out. And and the parents and the volunteer coaches are really encouraging that and building it using baseball as a vehicle but it really is something that kids carry with them and we hear back from people during our Opening Day parade we had a police officer running the helping run the parade this year. And he said you know I played in the Reagan league when I was till I was 12 years old and you know

I never forget my coach he named his coach I mean it's the kind of experience that if it's done well kids really will remember. Mike what are some of the success stories in terms of professional ball players I know there's a couple that have come out of the South that league we have had a couple we. Manny Delcarmen did play with us and with you guys yeah we all claim him you know. I mean you know Juan Carlos Porto has played with us is all along and was drafted by Minnesota. But and as great as those stories are I think what really makes us happy because it's so few and far between that you're going to see someone get drafted at that level. But to see our kids go on to college to see them succeed in other ways is really a lot more gratifying because it's it is such a small percentage chance that you're going to make it to professional baseball. And you know we've

had a coach bring a scholarship fund. He and his wife brought a scholarship fund up that they've now given over $100000 to kids that have gone to college from our program and so that's really. That's really the end game that really really makes us happy. 8 7 7 3 0 1 8 9 7 0 the number to dial. Joining us in the conversation we're talking about little league. Are you involved or are your kids involved do you want to be involved. How has baseball Little League changed your life. Harry what are you know the major challenges you have with reaching the kids and reaching the families to get them connected and is it for you in the Reagan league is it is it an all year sort of process or is it just kind of a ramp up when it gets to be winter and spring and then and then dormant for the rest of the year. No it goes on all year I recognize there is about a two week period in early December where no one called me about Reagan league and I didn't know what was going on. We we ran a summer program as well for teenagers 13 to 18. This year we started

doing some fall tournaments and and a little internal league and so it really goes on all year and I think that. You know the real the real challenge in reaching the families and the kids is when you get to the older kids at the younger level a lot of parents are involved and come to all the games. So when you get to the Pony League which is 13 to 15 years old and then we call it the show which is our 16 to 18 year old Summer League. That's where you're really hitting the kids that that would be making different choices and. And you're trying to get them out and you're trying to go find them and what's going on and sometimes you have to go track him down or remind him they have a game tonight and and and we've definitely had kids who have come back and said You know I wasn't a very good baseball player but I wanted to play because it kept me out of trouble. We've heard that more than once and that's both the challenge and the huge reward of the work. You know Mike I've heard this said by several educators who I know and it's not just about urban kids it's about all all teenagers especially to Harry's point that in those

teen years they have to join something you know and you need to present them with opportunities to make good choices in joining. Can't force them to join something. But if you're giving them a good a good couple of choices and they join their lives will be so much better. Absolutely in our I think our kids these days are pulled in so many different directions certainly so many more than than any of us when we were their age. And you know I think that more and more you see kids. Moving away from outdoor activities and and just to get out on the field and to to you know to mix with people that they wouldn't necessarily be with to you know build relationships that that really last a lifetime with people that they wouldn't necessarily ever meet if it weren't for the leagues because as you said the diversity and the opportunity to compete and to work with and to you know to just go out and have fun with you know at that age especially when you're really starting to

figure out where you're going and building your future is extremely important. I'm Sue O'Connell I'm sitting in for Kelly Crossley. We're talking of course about little league I'm speaking with Harry Smith president of Jamaica Plain Reagan youth baseball league and Mike who dish the commissioner of the South and baseball we'd love to hear from you. 8 7 7 3 0 1 8 9 7 0. Coaches parents folks whose lives were changed by Little League. We're at 8 7 7 3 0 1 8 9 7 0. The conversation continues on WGBH Boston Public Radio. This program is on WGBH thanks to you and direct Tire and Auto Service providing Tire and Auto Repair since 1974 in Watertown Norwood Peabody and Natick direct hire probably supports the take away weekday mornings on WGBH radio. And SNH construction offering residential

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even a brand new Toyota Prius donated by your New England Toyota dealer. Every winning bid supports WGBH radio and television. So not only will you get a great deal you'll feel great while you're doing it. But act fast. The spring auction ends on May 30 first place your bids now at auction. WGBH dot org. Welcome back to the Kelly Crossley Show I'm Sue O'Connell sitting in for Kelly. If you're just joining us we're talking about Little Lee with a focus on what it means for inner city kids. I'm joined by Harry Smith president of the Jamaica Plain Reagan youth baseball league and my KU dish of the south end of the South and baseball. He's the

commissioner. Must be fun being the commissioner. It must be like a great title. You can join us at 8 7 7 3 0 1 8 9 7 0 a couple of our callers don't want to be on the air but they have sent us some questions so I'll do my host duty and relate them to you one caller wanted to know is little league more about the parents than the kids the kids get bored and the parents get to bond. Which I think is true I mean if anyone is I have my friends my my daughter's parents friends and I have my own little clic at soccer and baseball but we were talking during the break about how. Involved you need to have grown ups be and some of the lessons that baseball teaches that other sports don't care you want to get back at I think. I think there are. I played little league I played sports and there are definitely times when it was more about the parents I think when it's done well it's it can be both you have the parents bonding but you also have the kids learning and being together and I think it really just depends on how things are are

organized. I think that we're talking in the break about baseball and softball being you know a game of failure and you know you have to you fail more than you succeed and that's a great life lesson it's also a lesson when it's a team sport but you're also up there alone batting or pitching. And it's you in the pitcher and that's that's something that that other sports don't always offer and it's more of a group activities and one kid breaks away every once in a while but right baseball really has a lot of those lessons for you and Mike the next caller wanted to know with kids being so over scheduled and hyperactive is baseball too slow a sport to sell them on. Now from my experience with my daughter she didn't play any of the the little tyke stuff. She went right in at 11 which is a very different time but I mean I am grateful after her forays into soccer and basketball to really slow it down and it's a thinking game and a strategy game. Which I think totally is a full body and mind involvement. I mean what do you do with the little kids how do you keep them

together. It can be tough there is certainly a difference about the pace of baseball than with you know the other popular sports basketball and soccer and now lacrosse and it can be a challenge let's rock. Where did that come from. If they would have lacrosse when we were kids I don't know. It can be a challenge I think engaging kids in baseball when you know in those in those slow quiet moments especially when you know you're not in the field and you've got 11 12 13 kids on the bench can be difficult but you know there is a collectiveness. I'm sure you guys there's cheering on your benches and kids getting involved and I think you know we it's something that we have such an amazing network of volunteers and they the coaches the other league officials it's something that we're all committed to to really engaging our kids. And you know whether it's small jobs that kids may have on the bench during the games you know just you know making sure the line up is in order making sure that the benches is clear.

You know where kids are positioned and sharing I think that while baseball does at times maybe is not for everyone because it is a slower game. I think there are definitely opportunities and avenues to engage kids. It is you know it is an interesting brain game too and as I said you know entering into the mix with someone who's already played sports my daughter she didn't realize how many how many coaches there were. You know also that it's so quiet that everyone coaches you including the people in the stands you know which is not an experience you have on the soccer field because you can't hear anybody which is they're happy about but it really does you know sort of fire up their brains in a different way that and I love the you know as we talked about earlier off air. I always when I was a sales manager I used to tell salespeople that you know the best batter in in in the world is failing 70 percent of the time you know that Babe Ruth lead the league in strikeouts the year he led the league in home runs and that dealing with

failure and dealing with it being a team sport as well as an individual sport is it's a complicated game and it's great to see little kids be able to embrace that. I think the other thing with especially with the little kids that a lot of adults. Are surprised at when they first see it is how practices are run and how things are done now they have this image of how they used to be a lot of times which was one kid batting an 18 kids out in the field shagging balls and now you've got multiple parents involved stations kids running from place to place with the little T-ball or the first thing we do is we just started running bases and getting you know the right around it and in the right direction that's a big that's a big step forward. I have a friend who actually he ran he's five you ran to first base after he made a hit and then his teammate got up and he fielded that ball threw him out and then went back to first base. So it worked out really well. So parents are surprised by how tired their kids are by the end of the day. Always it's always a plus. And so it's great. Mike I want to talk to you about the scheduling over scheduling of kids in the play thing. You

know it's a very different I mean every generation says this but you know I don't. I don't see kids anywhere going out and just doing pickup games. You know I don't see it in the south and I don't see it in the suburbs. And I'm wondering what it's like to get kids of all sorts who are used to organized play or supervised play I mean even their video games in their we and everything they play has rules you know has a has a way of keeping score. And I'm just wondering you know from your experience as when you were a kid and there wasn't that much supervision to now where even in the inner city there's a lot what are the kids like I mean if if the coach didn't show up one day would they know what to do. I mean I think I mean a little thing I mean right you know. Yes. I mean as as Harry pointed out we have you know there is a lot of structure and practices and games and. And you know I I think that that while kids are stretched thin I think that you know

they're forced in this day and age to confront things that maybe we didn't when we were kids just because of of all the various directions that they're pulled in and. Just from that perspective I think that they would be able to get by if coach wasn't there. But to reach kids and you know we get so many different various types of kids so much diversity from a from a you know a sociological aspect every but also from a baseball aspect. We have kids that you know this is just something to do and it's not the most important thing in their life and then there are kids who you know they wear their uniform to bed the night before the game and you know they're up at 5:00 in the morning waiting to go to the field so I mean I think that it's such an amazing melting pot that we have and I know the Reagan league has as well. So it's you know it's a really it's a really cool interesting dynamic.

You're listening to eighty nine point seven WGBH an online at WGBH dot org I'm Sue O'Connell in for Kelly Crossley we're talking about the Little League with Harry Smith And Mike you can join the conversation at 8 7 7 3 0 1 8 9 7 0. We're going to go to Chris who's calling us from Boston Chris welcome to the galley Crosley show what's on your mind. Hi thanks. This is been a great discussion one of my questions is literally the organization little league there recognizes the importance of the volunteer coach. And I think you guys have done a great job. Sort of logging the volunteer coach and I wonder how what your respective perspectives are on the notion that Little League also calls the volunteer coach the kind of Achilles Heel of Little League in that you know these are volunteers. They're untrained volunteers and and that so much kind of the experience for some of these young kids rests on the ability of coaches to come

in and kind of teach baseball to these kids yet they are untrained some of them may have played baseball. Some of them may have played through high school or college but by and large they're volunteers so I just wonder what your perspective is on that. That's a great call Chris thanks so much. I think I think there's a lot of difference between a volunteer and an untrained volunteer our volunteer coaches actually do get a lot of training we have a partnership with champs Boston which is a program of the Boston Foundation that's trained about 50 or 60 of our coaches over the last couple years in. In a whole range of areas not so much on field coaching because of the whole approach to the game how to work with the kids how to work with the parents and then we also have Coach orientations and we mentor new coaches and old coaches. And so I think I think the caller's right that when it's an untrained situation you just kind of throw them out there. It can be a real challenge and we try to do everything we can to provide as much structure and training so that the coaches do feel comfortable because it's about them as well we want to have volunteers

coming back. And Mike that's one of the things that parents should look for I know from my own experience that you know some some leagues not just little league but sub sports leagues are better at training the coaches sometimes it's hard to get coaches and sometimes you know unfortunately for all good intentions you sometimes just have a warm body there and it's something parents should be shopper aware about right. Well certainly. But I think we're extremely lucky to have the you know the volunteers that we do and we work with them as well but we have you know some coaches who have been around for you know a decade 20 years and you know we're all learning as we go along and we start at one level and I mean I was a terrible coach when I started. And you know marginally better now. The thing that we're seeing now which is amazing is we actually have kids who have come up through our program and gone from you know who I can remember playing when they were seven years old and who are now

coaching our inner 13 to 15 year old program. And I mean I think that that part of it as well is you know you're not going to like every coach that you have parents are going to like their coaches necessarily. Kids might not like their coaches and I think that's one of the lessons as well. You know we go through life and we're going to have jobs we're going to be in situations where you know perhaps were not blessed with with the greatest of people that we work with. And you make the best of it. And while we do our best certainly to make sure that our coaches and our volunteers are doing the best job they can. You know it's that's part of the lessons of I think the program as well. Pamela is joining us on the phone. Pamela Welcome to the Kelly Crossley Show having to have each said I just wanted Colleen to just think tank you Jim I can hear it I'm sure you don't get enough people who pat you on the back but we we spent two years. And the JP lake and renowned suburbs and as I was telling your screener I think those two years were some of the

most memorable and some of the moments from my kids in there. You know sports baseball career if you will. And I think part of it was for us as a family it was you know I think going in the city I think there's a level of parents that stay in the city who aren't always just kind of we've got to win we've got to win. So it was it was a nice equalizing experience both on and off the field and also Dicko ching. I know my son when he was 9 10 and 11. He's coach was a Boston City policeman and when I was talking to the coach I was asking why how does credit you end up you know doing this you know coaching and he said well you and Harry could probably speak to this more or more formally if you if it if it is a formal program with the boxes they policed. But he said that they had been encouraged to do that so that they could. Kind of get to know the kids as they were coming up you know coming of age to kind of capture them before you know they make the wrong choices down the road and I know my son was like so like you know him because he was like a rock star here Sam.

And I thought that was just so strategic and he was he was an amazing amazing coach and he really Parry my critique might have some of the kids get really bored or whatever throughout the game. You could see a significant shift from the beginning of the season to where that season and those kids who would come just for snacks in the beginning of the season they were out like one in their hearts out for by to get you know when they're in the outfield by the end of the season. Great to have I don't want to say Thank You think thank you so much for your call I mean you know it's it's. It's an all volunteer organization for the most part most a little league. You guys get enough love do you think it's. That's great to hear. We don't get enough love. Last Saturday a parent came up and said oh I just want to thank you for everything you're doing and I said but she goes No no but I just want to thank you I said that because most of the days it's something's gone wrong with the porta john or the garden show up or something but I really appreciate it I think in terms of the police we do have the locally 13 police who have been really supportive donated gloves to this year they sponsored a team by holding a

raffle in order to raise the $500 sponsorship and and it's really officers it's not just coming down from above it's saying we really believe in this so. So that's a great example that the caller gave and about the kind of local support. Like what can parents do for all their coaches. I mean what's one thing that coaches like other than the Dunkin Donuts you know $10 card that you all get. I think our parents are tremendous you know you had mentioned earlier in the program about some of the bad stories that you hear and we've been blessed over the years and have never really had problems like that I think our parents are generally supportive of the coaches and of their players. I mean I think that one of the things that we try to build and I see it in other city programs is different than the suburbs is it's really a community it's really a family. And are our coaches our parents. We know the players on the other teams we coach the players on the other teams before games that are practices they might show up with a player might show up with a friend who plays on a

different team and. And I think the parents are an extension of that. I think that that you know they'll come down and they know kids on the team there. Their son is playing against her that their daughter is playing against and. It's just it's a it's a very collective different sort of feeling and certainly what I grew up with. Yeah and it's also you know to the point to Harry about the police involvement it's so important especially in urban communities because of the way we live and don't interact you know for adults to know who the kids are. You know that knowing that this kid is you know that this is a a resident of your neighborhood you know and just being able to recognize who is who is such a way to bring people together. And I absolutely I think that that's the the most positive feedback we get in our parents surveys at the end of the year is just that this is a real opportunity where we're kids. It sounds corny but it's where kids and families of all different backgrounds are are not just coming together to sit next to each other but they're actually interacting they're coaching together they're

playing on other teams as Mike said we scramble the teams up a lot so that there's kids who've you know they're playing against each other but they were teammates last year and they and there's a certain just warmth about it and and to send a nice spirit in the holy. And what do you need most when you need both this year Mike. Well besides you know a left handed pitcher What do you think. Well we're always you know we're always looking for help whether you want to volunteer or if there are you know any donations that people want to make or or just come down to the field and see the kids you know that we do get a good following in the field the community tends to be pretty well involved. But you know the kids love when there's life in the park. That is the best thing because the baseball is is fun especially on the small dime and I think the speed of the game is just it's great and to see the community out and following the kids and cheering for the kids is just it's

really on a weeknight or or all day Sunday or Saturday just come out to Peters park or rice field Carter field in the south and I know you guys play it behind Agassi school daisy field all over Jamaica way you drive down the Jamaica way you'll see three or four games going on. Harry what do you need what do you need. We always need volunteer volunteer coaches other volunteers to help with events and activities. And we're we're running a summer program this year like we do every year and we're trying to expand it to kids who are 13 to 18 year olds so we're looking for. We're looking for team sponsors who are looking for donations. You know good equipment we're looking for a financial contribution to anything we can get that will help us keep keep the kids on the field all summer. And who's your pick for the Red Sox going to do this year. I think that's a much more difficult question. You know I'm sure and I'm sure your kids are probably an better shape than they are apparently. Yeah I mean you better fit this training.

Well we've been talking about little league I've been speaking with Harry Smith the president of Jamaica Plain riggin youth baseball league. And Mike Kodesh the commissioner of South in baseball. Coming up it's another rite of passage problem. Film critic Karen Daly joins us to talk about how the big night is portrayed on the big screen. You're listening to 9.7 WGBH Boston Public Radio. Funding for our programs comes from you. And Hannaford and Dumas commercial printers offset and digital printing finishing and mailing from one source. You can find more information at Hanaford Dumas dot com or by calling 8 6 6 quote HD and UMass Memorial Health care and its gynecologic surgeons providing minimally invasive and robotic techniques for cancer fibroids infertility and more. You can ask questions on line at UMass Memorial dot org slash GYN surgery and innuendo in Natick with the hundred Douglas

celebration of light spring event featuring the new cordless light ra a silhouette shades as well as duet arc a Tele and Lumen at shading systems innuendo dot com both so-called Underwear plots to down American planes originated in Yemen. So did the foiled plot to send parcel bombs to the U.S. The U.S. has increased its drone attacks against militants in Yemen. The next FRESH AIR we talk about Yemen with Jeremy Scahill the national security correspondent for The Nation joining us. This afternoon to cure an eighty nine point seven WGBH. This summer you'll count on public radio to keep you connected to stories like that with Mitt Romney all but certain to be the party's nominee. Many voters President Obama is rolling out an economic message that's squarely aimed at college student athletes journalists and fans are getting ready to converge on London. Help lady 9.7 get to the stories you care about and give a little bit more in support of a lot more coverage to go above

and beyond with an additional gift. Just click the donate button at WGBH or software developer innovation is where we are in Massachusetts. Our it's our pharmaceutical The WGBH an ex-con amid reports Friday during MORNING EDITION The partnership between X company dot com and eighty nine point seven WGBH there's a special place in the lives of all of us. I'm not to be beauty could be desirable. How might we can break golden rule America. Welcome back to the Kelly crushed me show I'm Sue O'Connell sitting in for Kelly. Joining me in the studio is our contributor film critic Guerin daily He's here to talk about the problem and how it's portrayed at the movies guaranteed. Welcome. My pleasure to be here as always is so much fun. Yeah. You know I I'm wondering how much of prom and prom culture is you know is it an it's a chicken and egg thing. You know that the

kids and the young adults want to have the prom like that like as in the movies and at the same time the movie is throwing it back from the kids and it just turns into this monster. Yeah you're right I mean you look at it and you start looking at the numbers it's real numbers. Yeah. OK. Like two years ago my family would spend about $800 on their kid for prom. Now it's like twelve hundred dollars. It's getting worse and worse and worse. And I remember when I went to my primary. All right you rent a tux and you buy a corsage. OK you get out of it for less than 50 bucks. But. Nowadays forget about it. And it just it starts younger and younger too. Just a test does it now they have the semi formal at sixth grade and the social and the little I mean the boys are just wearing their khakis and their white shirts and a tie but the girls are going all out. So yeah I guess it has become more of a rite of passage I mean I don't remember it being that way for me but I guess that's what it is in the movies you kind of kind of reflect that.

I mean I was going back and trying to figure out when was the earliest film that actually had a prominent and the only one that I really came up with was it's a wonderful life. You know I saw that on your list and I one of my favorite movies in is if you remember the scene when they are getting ready to go to the dance that that's a graduation dance Yash prom. That's where he re meets Mary and they have a disaster like they're fluoro in the shower opens up and they get wet and that's how they're going to the pool be at the dance floors over I didn't know that was your right it's a problem it's an education project that's great well I want to play a clip from one of our a little one of our favorite prom movies which you can't talk about prom without referencing we're going to listen to of course one of the great horror films of all time about a prom. This is Carrie. It's the night of the senior prom the beach high school's gym is alive with excitement. Check it out. But he is there. Even

Carrie White the girl who lives in that creepy house with her crazy mother the girl with the strange power it would concentrate on the book and move things. But tonight no one will laugh at Carrie. You have addition from next Friday to hers. She's with the best looking boy in the senior class. Has she changed. She'll be voted queen of the prong Carol. It will be a dream come true for everyone else. It would be unlike me. Now this is to be the perfect prom movie because it's got all the great themes. It does. Well it got the ugly duckling right. Then I got the ugly duckling are coming out. You know you've got the and I have to say I've never seen I've never been to a prominent gym but in the movies they're always in the gym. Wow. RS I think ours wasn't my mom. I mean you know I mean let's let's back up. What I love about that trailer. OK did you catch the name of the high school. No. Bates

Oh right right. OK. Did you hear the music. Yeah yeah. When he says that I lot of homages to Hitchcock. But you know it was one of the things about prawns. Excuse me is that there is a danger there that it is a rite of passage that you're going from a very comfortable lifestyle of being a teenager and being in school for what 12 years and you know that and all of a sudden you're going into adult so there's always danger kind of lurking there. That's what the Palm A does very very nicely in Cary of course Stephen King wrote the book to begin with but you know there is that danger there is that tension and there are other films where the danger that you can have really bad prime nights you can have really things that destroy your life. Gross Point Blank Something About Mary is all about 10 years after the prom trying to go back and reclaim some of that innocence. We're going to listen to a little bit of another one of my favorite movies which is mean girls and the theme of atonement. Here's the clip from Mean Girls.

You know I've never been to one of these things before. And when I think about how many people wanted this. And how many people credit over and stuff. I mean. I think everybody looks like royalty tonight. Look at Jessica Lopez. The dress is amazing. And Emma Gerber I mean that hairdo was taken hours. And you look really pretty. So. Why is everybody stressing over this thing. I mean it's just plastic really just. Sharing. A piece for Gretchen Wieners a partial Spring Fling queen. A piece for Janice and. Thank. Her she must. Take. Another Girl. And a piece for Gina George. She fractured spine and she still looks like a rock star.

Everybody asks. Me Girl Gone right there she is accepting her her crown and atoning for all of her prior high school. Yes but remember this is Lindsay Lohan at a time when she wasn't wearing an ankle bracelet. That's true and that she actually is an actress when you have to. She had a promise that she was a great act she was a very good actress at that you know and one of these days she'll hopefully come back we can only hope. But you know the simple idea of there's a couple things that are going to mean girls in my life the first one is this is very much a product of its particular time where there seemed to be this movement in the world where everybody had to get an award. Everyone had to be the prom queen everyone had to win the race or get an award for just showing up. So there was this kind of empowerment going on within that film. The other part of it bugs is the fact that there was this click of women who were running that school which seems to be another theme that you see in a lot of these these films who are

trying to control what was going on. They were in control at a time when that was the last moment in their careers that they would probably be in control that that was I thought one of the nicer things about mean girls. It's it's always a it is great to hear Lindsey Lowe and again I as a real person and not a caricature of herself so there you go there. Another great moment I think in instant Symon Samina Yasmeen Mohamed how is the movie American Pie which a great classic and another great theme which is about the as you were talking about the pressures and the expectation Here's the prom scene where the guys are talking about how high the stakes are. Kevin what's with the attitude and. Attitude. Me. Really. I mean I think you guys should be a little bit more enthusiastic. This is the one we've been waiting for that we need to give you guys can't back out. You don't eat us to get laid or you're afraid or something. Now.

Come on I mean we made a pact. You can break that because you're just going to have to after what Kevin. I don't have to do. You know forget it already I. Am so sick and tired of all this pressure I mean I I've never even had sex and already I can't stand it. I hate sex. You know it's definitely Prom night is one of those sort of New Year's Eve where sometimes it's for rookies you know when everybody else is just too cool for school so to speak but you know that really captures again to your point about the in-between being a kid in a grown up in what's expected and what's expected is that there's this idea was in the male culture that you've got a loser if you haven't lost your virginity you have to lose your virginity that night and that is an important time to do that. So there's all this intense pressure and this peer pressure to perform which obviously it drives that movie American Pie and it's many many many sequels. But it's again it's funny that you would say that today you can just talk to any guy and just say two words and they know exactly

what you're talking about. It comes from are American Pie and you say stiff. God is like you and automatically does exactly what you do you start by thinking about it. There's also the great tradition I mean there are so many bad prime mover over the years too. But the great tradition of the dancing you know that you know I what I love about one of the things I love about movies is that if there's a crowd scene everybody is happy to be there. You know there's nobody who's been dragged to a concert everybody is full and you know and at the prom everybody is a great dancer. Well you know unless they're not supposed to be. Well and that's right. But also I mean when you go to these dances a kid hardly anybody is a good dancer I mean there are a couple of kids. But it seems that all of the best prom dancers migrated to Hollywood and got jobs in the industry so that they could be in prime movies dancing because you take a look at something Footloose. You take a look at Greece and there are a bunch of them were you get these great choreographed

scenes where people are really really dancing well and of course all the guys are really really have great moves and all and all the girls are dancing and long legs with high heels on. It's amazing you know it's but it is part of that fantasy of what a prom is as we see on the screen. Because what they do show on the screen is a fantasy much like a Fred and Ginger Rogers Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire movies and many of the other dance movies that you see out there. So that dance sequence with in a prom is usually a fantasy. And I think that's part of the attraction. Well speaking about fantasy there's there's no group that is immune from the problem infection especially werewolves and vampires we're going to take a little listen to a scene from twilight where Bella and Edward are dancing at the prom. So that's what you dream about. Becoming a monster. And you're really right now. Yes.

So it's not enough. Just to have a long and happy life. And then they went on to live happily ever after and didn't have to go to a prom again. But if you remember the movie there's there's I did see it yeah ok. Do you remember as they say it causes beautiful shot on this little guy Coppola. And they're just the camera backs out and tracks back and up and then there is a nother woman there the priest séjour of danger a future. So that goes back to what I was talking about before that there is danger because there is change coming up and you're no longer safe and secure in your high school world. You're now going out into the world of being adult so that rite of passage is portrayed in just about every single film that we see when we're talking about proms movies from Hollywood What's your favorite what you know I know you've got a couple for different you know a couple different categories but what's up there even if it's just a scene. I tell you there is one that I really really like and I get it what I like about this particular film is

first of all it's based on Shakespeare. And second that's always a good source. And second it stars a young Heath Ledger and a young Julia Stiles It's called 10 Things I Hate About You And it has all those themes where you know a guy a cool guy is supposed to go out and get a a very cold girl and make her into this swan that we've talked about the princess and in the course of the action she loosens up. He becomes more of a real man. But the final scene when can I get this again that tracking back the final scene of them kissing in the parking lot when they realize they actually like and love each other is a pullback and you see all these other people in that area also going through that transition and all of a sudden their little story becomes a very very little story. What's the worst What's the one that you when you have to think about to night. Prom night yeah it's just a bad horror film and when when a bad horror film is bad. It really is bad.

Well there are some improvements you would you would add to to say to a director you've got a movie coming out you want to put a prom scene in it. What's missing what has it what haven't we seen what what conflict has not occurred. I'm not sure about conflicts but I think that any director who's making a prime scene movie needs to try and capture a little bit like Napoleon Dynamite and some of that awkwardness some of that you know you don't know what you're doing kind of thing but you're trying. And I think that is more closely to what kids go through because you don't know. I mean you know the first time you've had a tux on is the first time you may have had a really expensive dress on. You don't know what the manners are you don't really feel comfortable. It takes practice to be an adult. It does. And yes it's all of us are still working at it. It is amazing no just having gone through the prom season with my my nieces and nephew. How how they change when they put the clothing on though you know as if you know the power of costume and the power of expectations really makes you know we all talk about how old they look but. It really does change them at least for a few hours.

Well I can tell you this I have a tuxedo that I keep in my closet and I love putting it on because it does make me feel like an adult. There you go Karen daily we've been talking about prom on the big screen with film critic Karen Daley. Thank you so much for joining us. I'm so well call I'm in for Kelli Crossley I'll be back tomorrow for the week in review. The Kelley cross Leigh show is a production of WGBH Boston Public Radio.