NWLL baseball scandal

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Meaningless post. Nothing will change with the current regime. Not one of those things would be implemented or followed.

Along with several positive and productive recommendations, he explicitly called for different leadership/a new regime.

He who? Ricky and his cronies? He would have chosen to resign and have current board resign if he explicitly called for different leadership/ a new regime. To my knowledge that is not what occured at the sept board meeting, I'd have to go back to page 10 or so of this thread. I thought I heard he asked for an "independent panel" to look into the events, comprised of himself and his blinded cronies. Sound like internal cover up of the cover up...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well said. I have no patience for the insider-parents who blame Mike and Erin for "destroying the league." Don't shoot the messengers, even if they can be a bit rabid.

Ricky hanging onto NWLL is a really weird need. He needs to move on.

100%

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:He who? Ricky and his cronies? He would have chosen to resign and have current board resign if he explicitly called for different leadership/ a new regime. To my knowledge that is not what occured at the sept board meeting, I'd have to go back to page 10 or so of this thread. I thought I heard he asked for an "independent panel" to look into the events, comprised of himself and his blinded cronies. Sound like internal cover up of the cover up...

He ____. As in the poster who signed his name to his post and gave several earnest recommendations and also said:

Anonymous wrote:I think NWLL would be wise to thank Ricky, Pete, and Mike Klisch for the service to the league and to move forward without them in positions of leadership.

To which it was said:

Anonymous wrote:Meaningless post. Nothing will change with the current regime. Not one of those things would be implemented or followed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Meaningless post. Nothing will change with the current regime. Not one of those things would be implemented or followed.

Along with several positive and productive recommendations, he explicitly called for different leadership/a new regime.

Just because you call for it - doesn't make it happen. The change has to come from within and it absolutely will NOT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's clearly issues here - and the questions about financial improprieties etc.

But all sides seem to be really ramping this up beyond all proportion -- youth sports are full of things like king-like coaches and directors, trying to stack teams with certain players (lots of parent coaches have done the same in different ways with forming co-coaching situations so their kids can play together, juking no-shows at the tryouts to get better players, etc), parent alliances, teams folding and player poaching coups, paying coaches for lessons for extra playing time, hiring umpire that he might get pressured or expected to by local authorities (DCPR), etc. DC Soccer Club is having all sorts of drama right now too.

Ricky is a moderately paid employee and middling coach and manager.... The questions are real, but the attacks and the overstated-ness as though he is the axis of evil and the 40+ attack just seem over the top. He has spent years doing a job that isn't the most glamourous or powerful, especially by many NW standards.

He wasn't like he built or tried to rig an entire powerhouse team for NWLL - if that was what we he was trying to do, he did a poor job of it. The semi-finals and finals were so close, it could've gone either way. The understanding of many close to the situation about the one player was that there was a legitimate waiver. The kids and families all know each other, including the player in question, and had for years. If the Cap Hill families really wanted to file an objection, they could easily have. They also knew the family had been in the various little leagues and schools, too.

It may seem naive to feel there's a benefit of the doubt situation here that people involved thought it was legit. But honestly that is what I think happened for this one charge of the 40 pages.... The benefit of the doubt may extend to Ricky ... or may not. But also keep in mind, at the end of the day, there is also questionable language that gives directors lots of discretion (which makes the problem circular, but not criminal).

There's always all sorts of rumors. But in the over the top parent drama and mudslinging for people who didn't do hard crime on either side seems a little much and not focused on where to go from here.

Also, kind of cheating on your taxes or your spouse or your school exam, is, well, ok, I guess.

And most all of what is posted here and in the wapo is focused on where to go from here. That is forward, without ricky.

Except for a couple of folks who just can't seem to break up with him, and, so, try to diminish the issue and those harmed by it. Kind of like what you are doing.

A question for you. You cool with nwll taking the best kid from another, lesser talented little league and community so nwll can maybe get on tv? I'm not.

If he really thought it was a legit waiver situation - and he may really have - you are extremely angry for having no real proof either way on this one matter. NWLL had lost lots the summers many times on Ricky’s watch and he’s just moved on to the next season. The one kid was not so astounding a player. The finals came down to the last at bat. Cap city, cap hill and NWLL are pretty similar - vs if they were taking the spot from Ward 8 and Mamie J. I honestly think the guy made a mistake and not an intentional one. But they can investigate not on DCUm.

Fine to fire Ricky if there’s evidence - but much of what’s been on these threads and in the memo are not founded and based on hearsay or “someone said” and “the people I know” - and just saying to remember this has been this guy’s life.

This is a relatively calm, measured take, and you make a lot of sense. Is it possible that it was an unintentional mistake? Absolutely. Is it likely that it was unintentional? No, not on Ricky's part, and there are many reasons why any objective parent should be concerned. The waiver at issue still has not been produced, and as others have noted, that waiver contains a justification--residence, school registration, or seasons played in NWLL. It would have been presented to DCLL and then submitted under signatures of Ricky and Rico (the DC District Administrator). It is either consistent with CHLL's records and LLI's database, or it is not--but until it is produced, it is unknown, and it creates a hearsay situation in large part. . .unless CHLL and/or LLI produce evidence contrary to a valid eligibility waiver claim. (Why haven't they produced it by now, so we can all move on with our lives!?!)

If Ricky told the Board and the parents of the 2022 team that every player's eligibility had been verified, especially if he did so as forcefully as he and Rico performed in the September 10 Board meeting, then it is understandable that parents would believe him--or at least give him the benefit of the doubt. Everyone relied upon Ricky's word--the parents, likely the Board as a whole, DCLL, and without question LLI (there are literal thousands of local Little Leagues, which make it impossible for LLI's central office to confirm individual eligibility of every player--they have to rely upon the local and District boards to behave diligently and honestly).

Why is this a big deal, and causing such an explosive battle between the sides? A finding that the player was ineligible would reflect poorly (at best) on NWLL--raising questions of Board misfeasance--and would draw into question the validity of NWLL's 2022 DCLL title. That possibility alone would explain the fervent defense of Ricky by parents of the 2022 AST players (including several board members and a partner in one major. . .pro-bono. . .DC law firm). In the wild Sept. 10 board meeting, there was argument over the Board's prior 10-3 vote to impose no consequences (or some such) on Ricky, and that the vote was forced by a number of parents of the 2022 team demanding the issue be dropped, and refusing to leave until/unless the Board acted.

As to the temperature of the Board members who sent the August 13 memo that opened all of this to the outside, anyone who was at the Sept 10 meeting got a peek at the personal nature of the rhetorical attacks/counterattacks. One of the Board members asked Mike what it would take for him to be satisfied, and Mike didn't offer a clear response--he demanded an independent investigation, doesn't appear to be giving up.

So here we sit, as a league, waiting for the adults to do some adulting.

Finally, as to the "not so astounding" player: those who were able to see him play know that he was a very good player. Per GameChanger statistics, he was a top-3 hitter on Ricky's Grays team and the top pitcher. He simply shut down teams when he pitched, including in the playoffs--and the CHLL people said he was one of their best, which is believable. He was on their 2021 All-Stars team that eliminated NWLL.

Go on, look at GameChanger. Look at the rosters, look at the box scores. The answers you seek. . .they're all there!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's clearly issues here - and the questions about financial improprieties etc.

But all sides seem to be really ramping this up beyond all proportion -- youth sports are full of things like king-like coaches and directors, trying to stack teams with certain players (lots of parent coaches have done the same in different ways with forming co-coaching situations so their kids can play together, juking no-shows at the tryouts to get better players, etc), parent alliances, teams folding and player poaching coups, paying coaches for lessons for extra playing time, hiring umpire that he might get pressured or expected to by local authorities (DCPR), etc. DC Soccer Club is having all sorts of drama right now too.

Ricky is a moderately paid employee and middling coach and manager.... The questions are real, but the attacks and the overstated-ness as though he is the axis of evil and the 40+ attack just seem over the top. He has spent years doing a job that isn't the most glamourous or powerful, especially by many NW standards.

He wasn't like he built or tried to rig an entire powerhouse team for NWLL - if that was what we he was trying to do, he did a poor job of it. The semi-finals and finals were so close, it could've gone either way. The understanding of many close to the situation about the one player was that there was a legitimate waiver. The kids and families all know each other, including the player in question, and had for years. If the Cap Hill families really wanted to file an objection, they could easily have. They also knew the family had been in the various little leagues and schools, too.

It may seem naive to feel there's a benefit of the doubt situation here that people involved thought it was legit. But honestly that is what I think happened for this one charge of the 40 pages.... The benefit of the doubt may extend to Ricky ... or may not. But also keep in mind, at the end of the day, there is also questionable language that gives directors lots of discretion (which makes the problem circular, but not criminal).

There's always all sorts of rumors. But in the over the top parent drama and mudslinging for people who didn't do hard crime on either side seems a little much and not focused on where to go from here.

Also, kind of cheating on your taxes or your spouse or your school exam, is, well, ok, I guess.

And most all of what is posted here and in the wapo is focused on where to go from here. That is forward, without ricky.

Except for a couple of folks who just can't seem to break up with him, and, so, try to diminish the issue and those harmed by it. Kind of like what you are doing.

A question for you. You cool with nwll taking the best kid from another, lesser talented little league and community so nwll can maybe get on tv? I'm not.

If he really thought it was a legit waiver situation - and he may really have - you are extremely angry for having no real proof either way on this one matter. NWLL had lost lots the summers many times on Ricky’s watch and he’s just moved on to the next season. The one kid was not so astounding a player. The finals came down to the last at bat. Cap city, cap hill and NWLL are pretty similar - vs if they were taking the spot from Ward 8 and Mamie J. I honestly think the guy made a mistake and not an intentional one. But they can investigate not on DCUm.

Fine to fire Ricky if there’s evidence - but much of what’s been on these threads and in the memo are not founded and based on hearsay or “someone said” and “the people I know” - and just saying to remember this has been this guy’s life.

This is a relatively calm, measured take, and you make a lot of sense. Is it possible that it was an unintentional mistake? Absolutely. Is it likely that it was unintentional? No, not on Ricky's part, and there are many reasons why any objective parent should be concerned. The waiver at issue still has not been produced, and as others have noted, that waiver contains a justification--residence, school registration, or seasons played in NWLL. It would have been presented to DCLL and then submitted under signatures of Ricky and Rico (the DC District Administrator). It is either consistent with CHLL's records and LLI's database, or it is not--but until it is produced, it is unknown, and it creates a hearsay situation in large part. . .unless CHLL and/or LLI produce evidence contrary to a valid eligibility waiver claim. (Why haven't they produced it by now, so we can all move on with our lives!?!)

If Ricky told the Board and the parents of the 2022 team that every player's eligibility had been verified, especially if he did so as forcefully as he and Rico performed in the September 10 Board meeting, then it is understandable that parents would believe him--or at least give him the benefit of the doubt. Everyone relied upon Ricky's word--the parents, likely the Board as a whole, DCLL, and without question LLI (there are literal thousands of local Little Leagues, which make it impossible for LLI's central office to confirm individual eligibility of every player--they have to rely upon the local and District boards to behave diligently and honestly).

Why is this a big deal, and causing such an explosive battle between the sides? A finding that the player was ineligible would reflect poorly (at best) on NWLL--raising questions of Board misfeasance--and would draw into question the validity of NWLL's 2022 DCLL title. That possibility alone would explain the fervent defense of Ricky by parents of the 2022 AST players (including several board members and a partner in one major. . .pro-bono. . .DC law firm). In the wild Sept. 10 board meeting, there was argument over the Board's prior 10-3 vote to impose no consequences (or some such) on Ricky, and that the vote was forced by a number of parents of the 2022 team demanding the issue be dropped, and refusing to leave until/unless the Board acted.

As to the temperature of the Board members who sent the August 13 memo that opened all of this to the outside, anyone who was at the Sept 10 meeting got a peek at the personal nature of the rhetorical attacks/counterattacks. One of the Board members asked Mike what it would take for him to be satisfied, and Mike didn't offer a clear response--he demanded an independent investigation, doesn't appear to be giving up.

So here we sit, as a league, waiting for the adults to do some adulting.

Finally, as to the "not so astounding" player: those who were able to see him play know that he was a very good player. Per GameChanger statistics, he was a top-3 hitter on Ricky's Grays team and the top pitcher. He simply shut down teams when he pitched, including in the playoffs--and the CHLL people said he was one of their best, which is believable. He was on their 2021 All-Stars team that eliminated NWLL.

Go on, look at GameChanger. Look at the rosters, look at the box scores. The answers you seek. . .they're all there!

Ricky did seem to think that because the kids sibling went to Hardy and he had played on the 2021 all stars the kids was ok to play for the league. He may have been wrong and sounds like he was. Is it possible he was intentionally cheating vs he messed up. Sure. But he knows everyone on the teams (NWLL and CHLL) knew this kid and family and people would object if there was a problem. So if he did intentionally cheat he’s really not very bright. The CHLL team objected to tons of calls in the semis game and the LL officials were there.

People whose kids have played with these kids - not hearsay but we were there - know he’s a very good player. He was not the best on the team. He was a relatively consistent strike thrower at that time - which in u12 teams helps. Better players turned down slots on the team due to summer plans.

[Anonymous]

I have no patience for outsiders who don't know what they're talking about. You don't know the facts and fail to appreciate the level of disdain for Klisch/Sweeney among league members. They are phonies. Klisch's kid was on the 2021 & 2022 Grays (the team that supposedly cheated and crushed everyone). In fact, Klisch was an assistant coach on that team. Klisch was also the league commissioner at the time. Yet Klisch said nothing – for two full seasons (not as a parent, not as a coach, not as commissioner) – while the team was supposedly pounding everyone. Sweeney's son was also on the 2022 Grays, but not a word from her either while winning. They began complaining only after their kids didn't make summer teams and Klisch had to start coaching his own team and compete against others. They whined so much the Board let them run the tryouts and draft. The results? The same! And now they're pointing fingers at everyone else? Cry me a river.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have no patience for outsiders who don't know what they're talking about. You don't know the facts and fail to appreciate the level of disdain for Klisch/Sweeney among league members. They are phonies. Klisch's kid was on the 2021 & 2022 Grays (the team that supposedly cheated and crushed everyone). In fact, Klisch was an assistant coach on that team. Klisch was also the league commissioner at the time. Yet Klisch said nothing – for two full seasons (not as a parent, not as a coach, not as commissioner) – while the team was supposedly pounding everyone. Sweeney's son was also on the 2022 Grays, but not a word from her either while winning. They began complaining only after their kids didn't make summer teams and Klisch had to start coaching his own team and compete against others. They whined so much the Board let them run the tryouts and draft. The results? The same! And now they're pointing fingers at everyone else? Cry me a river.

Sorry, what does any of what you wrote have to do with the cheating by Ricky and NWLL Board?

Also, where are the NWLL financials? Why are they not shared among active Board members? In fact, why are they not shared with parents and sponsors who provide the revenue?

And why are adults without participating kids running nwll?

Finally, you are clearly a NWLL parent, how could you possibly stand by during all this and enable it? No shame in stealing kids from other leagues?

Lots of questions. No one really cares though about the river you are crying.

[Anonymous]

That's a lot of blather from someone who plainly knows nothing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That's a lot of blather from someone who plainly knows nothing.

You need to be much more specific. We're 36 pages in now.

[Anonymous]

Heard that before, Little Mike, and still haven't received a response to the points above.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have no patience for outsiders who don't know what they're talking about. You don't know the facts and fail to appreciate the level of disdain for Klisch/Sweeney among league members. They are phonies. Klisch's kid was on the 2021 & 2022 Grays (the team that supposedly cheated and crushed everyone). In fact, Klisch was an assistant coach on that team. Klisch was also the league commissioner at the time. Yet Klisch said nothing – for two full seasons (not as a parent, not as a coach, not as commissioner) – while the team was supposedly pounding everyone. Sweeney's son was also on the 2022 Grays, but not a word from her either while winning. They began complaining only after their kids didn't make summer teams and Klisch had to start coaching his own team and compete against others. They whined so much the Board let them run the tryouts and draft. The results? The same! And now they're pointing fingers at everyone else? Cry me a river.

Wrong on so many levels. Will Young was the Majors commissioner in 2021. Klisch didn't become the majors commissioner until 2022 and IMMEDIATELY started blowing the whistle on Ricky as soon as his team started running over teams in Spring/22 - nobody would listen. Klisch went to 5 different board members to complain about the stacked team (even though Ricky drafted his kid to try and keep him quiet). Read the letter. He immediately started asking Ricky how he got 3 top players on his team and Ricky hid the rules from him. Read the letter!

Whining? His kid wasn't even eligible for the 12u team because he wasn't elected an all star. Those are the rules. Klisch never complained about his kid not making the team.

People like you never address the cheating. They just attack others as a distraction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have no patience for outsiders who don't know what they're talking about. You don't know the facts and fail to appreciate the level of disdain for Klisch/Sweeney among league members. They are phonies. Klisch's kid was on the 2021 & 2022 Grays (the team that supposedly cheated and crushed everyone). In fact, Klisch was an assistant coach on that team. Klisch was also the league commissioner at the time. Yet Klisch said nothing – for two full seasons (not as a parent, not as a coach, not as commissioner) – while the team was supposedly pounding everyone. Sweeney's son was also on the 2022 Grays, but not a word from her either while winning. They began complaining only after their kids didn't make summer teams and Klisch had to start coaching his own team and compete against others. They whined so much the Board let them run the tryouts and draft. The results? The same! And now they're pointing fingers at everyone else? Cry me a river.

Get your facts straight. Bradley Baseball ran the 2023 draft. That's what Klisch and Sweeney made happen. Ricky's team was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. Stars won the championship. Sounds like a different result than 2022 don't ya think?? Get your facts straight.

[Anonymous]

Laughing about how Game Changer is the final arbiter of stats…you know GC stats are easily manipulated depending on what goal you’re trying to accomplish, right??

[Anonymous]

Another revision suggestion, this one for the draft, is change the local rule where a manager w/o a child in the draft gets to auto draft/protect two or even one or any players. That method means that if a manager has a child who is not a top caliber pick, they are disadvantaged/a manager with no child is advantaged by choosing a top player as if the player was their son or daughter.

What my league does is designate what round a manager’s protected child should be drafted at. Might be Round 1, might be Round 5 or 8, etc. A manager without a player in the draft isn’t unduly hindered or benefited.


(You don’t need to say it will never happen with the current guy in place, I get your point).