One more reason to despise profesional sports

[Murph]

Girl, 12, slugged back at Phillies slugger


Jennifer Valdivia scooped up the baseball after it sailed into the right-field stands. The 12-year-old smiled and giggled over the keepsake from her first Major League ballgame.
She'd have to sue to get the ball back.


This is the story of a baseball and the big leagues, of a young girl, a slugger and a lawsuit. It's about another stain on America's pastime -- commercialism colliding with a kid's innocent joy.
Jennifer's big catch was the 200th home run for Ryan Howard, an All-Star for the Philadelphia Phillies. The 29-year-old first baseman achieved the milestone faster than any player in Major League history, in his 658th career game, 48 fewer games than the previous record.
The ballclub wanted to give the ball to its star player.

A Phillies employee, Jennifer says, told her if she handed over the ball, she could come back after the game, meet the slugger and get him to autograph it. She gave the ball up. In exchange, she got cotton candy and a soda.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/10/09/florida.baseball.lawsuit/index.html?eref=igoogle_cnn

[tornado]

there are two sides to this story....she was invited to meet the slugger and invited to swap her ball for an autographed one and whole lot more stuff that she specifically asked for...nobody made her do anything, SHE GOT WHAT SHE WANTED AND WHAT SHE ASKED FOR...
but then later when her parents got involved and dreamed of the big payday they might have selling the original ball, the hired the lawyer to sue...

I kinda get the sense there's enough greed in this story to spread around evenly...

here's the line that was apparently the first thought in the mom's mind...
"She felt her daughter had been duped, robbed of something potentially worth thousands of dollars."
"I want the ball back."

oh- and the other line...
"The ball was promptly returned."

(that's a precise quote from the story)

so they got exactly what they asked for again....and they still want to go on CNN and make a huge stink about it....

[Beninator]

there are two sides to this story....she was invited to meet the slugger and invited to swap her ball for an autographed one and whole lot more stuff that she specifically asked for...nobody made her do anything, SHE GOT WHAT SHE WANTED AND WHAT SHE ASKED FOR...
but then later when her parents got involved and dreamed of the big payday they might have selling the original ball, the hired the lawyer to sue...

I kinda get the sense there's enough greed in this story to spread around evenly...

here's the line that was apparently the first thought in the mom's mind...
"She felt her daughter had been duped, robbed of something potentially worth thousands of dollars."
"I want the ball back."

oh- and the other line...
"The ball was promptly returned."

(that's a precise quote from the story)

so they got exactly what they asked for again....and they still want to go on CNN and make a huge stink about it....

But according to the article, the girl was invited to meet Ryan Howard but Howard was a no show! From what I have read, Ryan Howard and the Phillies did not live up to their side of the deal.

[Chico]

A kind of story CNN loves, a poor little girl being supposedly mistreated.

[tornado]

like I said....the American dream of an opportunity where hard work can lead to success has morphed into a dream of a lucky break and a big payday

[Beninator]

There are two sides to the story here. The LEAST that Ryan Howard could have done is to honor the deal and meet the family and give the girl something like an autographed team ball, a bat and a jersey. So far, Howard appears to be another mlb player with an ego problem and who doesn't care about the fans who pay the $$$ to watch the team play!

[Chico]

Girl, 12, slugged back at Phillies slugger


Jennifer Valdivia scooped up the baseball after it sailed into the right-field stands. The 12-year-old smiled and giggled over the keepsake from her first Major League ballgame.
She'd have to sue to get the ball back.


This is the story of a baseball and the big leagues, of a young girl, a slugger and a lawsuit. It's about another stain on America's pastime -- commercialism colliding with a kid's innocent joy.
Jennifer's big catch was the 200th home run for Ryan Howard, an All-Star for the Philadelphia Phillies. The 29-year-old first baseman achieved the milestone faster than any player in Major League history, in his 658th career game, 48 fewer games than the previous record.
The ballclub wanted to give the ball to its star player.

A Phillies employee, Jennifer says, told her if she handed over the ball, she could come back after the game, meet the slugger and get him to autograph it. She gave the ball up. In exchange, she got cotton candy and a soda.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/10/09/flo...ef=igoogle_cnn

Nice avatar for someone who despises professional sports.

[Murph]

Nice avatar for someone who despises professional sports.

That means a lot coming from somebody that idolizes Rush "The Junkie" Limbaugh.

[tornado]

junkies buy illicit drugs like all those liberals in Hollywood

[SFP]

Murph, Chico had some nice insight on your avatar. I thought it was funny! Let's leave Rush out of this conversation. I for one believe if Ryan Howard did not show up then the little girl regardless should get her ball back. Great PR machine those Phillies have.

[Murph]

Murph, Chico had some nice insight on your avatar. I thought it was funny! Let's leave Rush out of this conversation. I for one believe if Ryan Howard did not show up then the little girl regardless should get her ball back. Great PR machine those Phillies have.

Chico had zero insight on my post, his first post he criticizes CNN the second post he critizes me, he has nothing intelligent to say on the subject itself, just attacks on the messengers.

[Murph]

junkies buy illicit drugs like all those liberals in Hollywood

Please some how find a way to blame this on President Obama....

[Chico]

Chico had zero insight on my post, his first post he criticizes CNN the second post he critizes me, he has nothing intelligent to say on the subject itself, just attacks on the messengers.

Not attacking anyone. Just wondering if you despise professional sports, why would you have a pro football avatar?

[Braves4Life]

Not attacking anyone. Just wondering if you despise professional sports, why would you have a pro football avatar?

Maybe it's because the Bears often don't play like a pro team ............ And I'm a Bears fan