Looking for THE REPORT? We've Moved...

Yep we moved on out of the blog into a real website.  just follow the link and when you get there, just look for the green and white....hope you enjoy it

jp

Somehow We're back in action

After intense negotiations it was agreed that not covering the all star squads this summer could prove to be a mistake of epic proportions both historically and financially speaking. Therefore I have been given permission to cover the progress of both squads over the summer, but in a much more limited capacity.

So if you're getting this through a subscribed feed, you need to add the following link to your favorites: http://bonusbaseball.blogspot.com

All those individual awards I'm sure some of you are still worried about will be presented to the winners over the course of the summer. For now, its time to start getting familiar with the people you'll be seeing every single day through hopefully the end of August.

To the followers of the Ribbons Report,

It is with great regret and my sincere apologies that I must write this. At the conclusion of this Article, The Ribbons Report will cease to produce articles, statistics, scores, photos, humor or encouragement any longer. The Regular Season is done, and so I am sad to say is this blog.

I want to take a second and thank everyone who ever visited the site, found some interest in it and passed it along for the enjoyment of others. The original intention was for it to be a way to preoccupy myself, get my mind off of work and follow the entire leagues progress. I later added motivator to the Reports Resume as I met and heard the stories of so many of you whom had found something in reading the report. Eventually, the Report turned into a source of entertainment and debate for many of you and in turn provided me some confidence for the first time in a long time. I gave my complete attention to developing quality stories that would show as many of our kids as possible how much they mattered and how important they were in the world. I took extra steps to create a place where parents and players alike could share laughs about the characters, characters they all knew and somehow recognized my words to be humorous and to fit the person I was paying tribute to by using as the butt of my jokes. I saw how I was connecting players with the game, the game with the coaches, coaches with their players/sons and those sons with their own self confidence. It has been a dream come true.

But in the biggest instance of do as I say not as I do, over the course of this baseball season and partly due to my commitment to THE REPORT, I have walked away from a relationship with my parents, now sit staring at the very likely possibility that I will have again failed in marriage and have let my son sit deep in a slump, both at the plate and in his ability to see how important he is to me. I used to always want to be as good as my teammates that my father always praised, here I am putting my praise on line. I removed myself from the field this year, let others work with him on his hitting, as well as all other aspects of his game. I took a step back and our relationship has fallen a flight of stairs from where it once was.

It is far worse to watch your own child play through a season long slump than it ever has been to go through one. I have plenty of experience in the latter of the two, but this season I sat for the first time just hoping for one single, one weak grounder hit perfectly between short and third. Just one blooper off the end of the bat to put a smile on Vision's face, occasionally it happened, but for the most part, I learned to find the positives in ground outs, or much as my father did with me, I avoided talk about at -bats and focused on the good defensive game he had played.

As the season wore on and the struggles continued, where did I find myself? At the Dodgers game, or the Padres game, not at home working with my son, but out reporting on all of yours. Don't get me wrong, artistically this was the most enjoyable of my life... But we live in reality and the reality was I should have been working with my son, he should have been the focus. As we sit on the verge of all star selections I am confident that if his skill in the outfield, his speed and brains on the base paths and his attitude are not enough to afford him a spot this year, he has me, his father to blame. Regardless of the outcome, I promise this will be a lesson learned and Vision will never be in such a position again. I obviously struggle with predictions so I'll simply say that you will see the old Vision next season, a much improved Vision and one hungry to prove his worth. By some miracle if he is to make the team, he will revisit the days when he had to earn a spot, rather than more recently when he and I assumed it to be a foregone conclusion.

Above all else, I am pulling the plug because my lack of concern and my failure to give either my wife or my children the amount of attention they deserve has by itself created a hole in my relationship with my wife. This is further compounded now as my wife continues to find things on the computer, things I haven't the knowledge nor the time for, but things that seem to develop only when I am on line. I have no defense and that defense is appearing to be more incriminating than anything. Therefore, I am simply going to hold myself to a limited amount of time checking my Facebook and Emails as I prepare for the launch of a new company's partnership with Facebook. I've invested in eFusjon Energy Club and hope to use this to spring board me into a place where I can find the time to be a good Postmaster, a great writer and an exceptional father and husband.

So I aired a lot more of my dirty laundry than most of you ever would consider doing. There is one thing I believe in and that is that I am meant to help those youth who've found themselves lacking confidence, feeling lost or ultimately losing hope. I've always believed my life's episodes no matter what they cost me, could help others if I shared the situation. In this case, should there be any ballplayers reading this, you each need to know that your parents love you very much, and that they honestly beat themselves up for every moment they've missed in your life nothing is as important Unfortunately we aren't always correct in our actions and how you interpret them. The same holds true with wives, I cannot begin to explain how half of what was discovered got where it is but had I not lost sight of her needs and her desire to be as important as the Ribbons Report, I wouldn't be writing this. So the lesson learned is how the family within the walls of your home should always be of the most importance. I lost that concept some time back .

So that's it, I've had my Doctor Phil moment, I hope to still see u at the park, hope to see your sons leading us to another d49 title. Hope somehow my son is in the duggout with them. Hope all of you understand how important you are and that I am not a great writer just a writer reporting on greatness.

As for all those awards, they'll eventually get where they need to go somehow. As for now, I'd simply like to end this with THE REPORTS pick as the most important player, Vision Pluma. Vision you have always been and will always be my favorite story to tell. You try your best and never give up, I am sorry to have unintentionally let you, your brother and Erica down. There is no excuse for it and all I can say is that I was simply trying to help a couple others who needed it. They're back on track, they're confident and they're gonna be fine now. I'm sorry I was gone so long. I love you.

Thank you all. I wish only for the best for you and your families.

jp

START WITH THIS ONE:Ladies and Gentlemen May I present to you the RIBBY'S!!!

Yes we're back and ready to do our best to make up for a week without.  Several sets of circumstances created the void on the ribbons report of the past week, rather than tell you how difficult it is to survive in the amazon after a plane crash, explain to you how small prison cells are in Bolivia or begin to instruct you how to perform CPR on a ranchers favorite pig, let me instead get back to providing what it is each of you has come to expect out of the report, the thing you'd pay top dollar for if only i knew how to do that....

Sorry for the delay, especially to Reggie who I know is, as we speak, putting out a contract on this reporter for its failure to produce an article on the "Muhammed Ali" of High Desert Little League.  Reggie, I am quite sure you will be very pleased with the piece I've put together for your Player of the Week achievement.

We also have every award of note to present to the readers at home tonight in this the first annual Ribbons Report Regular Season Awards Show......We call them the "RIBBY's" and we hope the show is everything you've been expecting it to be.  So get in off the red carpet, let the usher show you to your seat and get ready for a musical opening with Tye, Owen and Ken doing their best impression of Dolly Parton, Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda in 9-5.   Younger readers may not get that, but it's funny, trust me.

OK, Show starts at 5:15  I hope if you get these sent to your email you begin with this one and work your way up the screen.  And there's pictures accompanying them so make sure and visit the actual site.  We'll try and wrap things up by midnight!

Now

Rest up parents, in another week or so many of you will begin the annual Ribbons road trip, a trip that last year concluded in late July in beautiful San Diego. This year?? Who knows, but the 11-12 and 9-10 squad look to be as solid as ever. Stay tuned for details.

This is when it becomes REALLY FUN!!!

McIntosh, Padres finish season with 8-7 loss in TOC

Early reports indicate the Padres, Representing VVRLL, in the District 49 tournament of champions was victim to a sixth inning rally Tuesday night by the Apple Valley North  team that is the self proclaimed best team by far in the high desert as far as major boys go.  Funny how a team that allegedly carries ten of the AV north all-stars alone would find themselves trailing 7-1 in the bottom of the sixth inning, to a team of 10,11 and 12 year olds of varying levels of skill and interest. Unable to attend, it is my belief that Bates hit his pitch count, Owen was making the attempt to hold off on using Kaleyl and some bats ran into some pitches from possibly Kade or Joey or Davonte.  In any event, we'll get the facts and put the full report together,  but we at THE REPORT want to express our congratulations on an outstanding season to the Padres.  

The positive bit of information we can take from this is that once again, Ribbons will be given no respect, no due appreciation, no matter what happened the past two years, lets use that to blow right through this tourney as we have each of the past two seasons.  I love being the villin, that's why I'm a Yankee fan.

All other regular season articles, player of the week write ups and end of year awards will be finalized and posted no later than this Sunday.  Be sure to check the team pages for new updates as well between now and then.

See you at the ballpark