Little Giants

Its late August. The baseball season is winding down and teams are fighting for the opportunity to play deep into October. I was flipping through the ESPN's expecting to see grown men in uniforms getting paid a king's ransom to play a child's game and instead I see children in a king's spotlight.
Everytime I see the Little League World Series being televised it annoys me. Here are 11, 12, and 13 year old kids playing a game thats supposed to be about friendship and sportmanship, but comes off as a live or die situation. I am sure kids today can deal with the pain of lossing on a national stage in front of millions of viewers and they can handle the pressure of representing a region of the United States. The only thing I hate more than watching grown coaches scheming to win is watching kids crying because of small mistakes that might let the nation down. I know children are sensitive when they make errors, but this has to be magnified because their errors are being broadcast across the country. This much emphasis should not be placed on 12 year olds playing baseball.
Seeing these young kids playing little league on ESPN makes me think of the continuing trend of the exploitation of underage kids playing sports. So much money is being made by advertisers and television executives through the broadcast of everything from weekly college football to high school basketball games to march madness to the Little League World Series of baseball and softball. No wonder high school basketball players are trying hard to find ways to enter the NBA early while bypassing college. Thousands of games are broadcast nationally with the players not making a dime from it. If child actors can make money from their performance why can't child athletes? I know a pandora's box would be opened if child athletes made money from playing sports, but why should adults make so much money from their "fun."
As long as the children are having fun and making lifelong memories let them continue to play in the Little League World Series. (I'm too tired to think of a wittier ending)