Scoop Jackson's Piece On The Jackie Robinson West Little League Team Is A Great Read

(CLICK HERE FOR FULL STORY) Sometimes we all need a break. As a city — one that has been in an epic and almost historic internal battle with itself for public reputation and universal perception — Chicago needed a major story rooted in something other than Chiraq-ness to lift our spirit. And again along comes a sports-related episode to change the narrative of our lives.

The Jackie Robinson West Little League team of Morgan Park will play Lynnwood Pacific in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, on Thursday (2 p.m. CT, ESPN). Sounds simple. Even with it being the opening round of the Little League World Series, it seems pretty normal. But for Chicago, it isn’t. It is one of those small watershed moments that grab a city by its shoulders for a short period of time to take away the pain and help rebuild its name.

The whole black badge of honor of Obama/Oprah/Jordan “representin’ the Chi” has lost whatever meaning it used to have. Eighty-two people shot, 14 fatally, over July Fourth weekend; two teens shot during the Bud Billiken Parade near the parade route, a first in the event’s 85-year history; 1,118 homicide victims under the age of 25 between 2008 and 2012; “Gang ‘Interrupters’ Fight Chicago’s Cycle of Violence” is a headline on NPR.org; Hadiya Pendleton and Yummy Sandifer having Wikipedia pages and Blair Holt becoming a household name have made it almost impossible for Chicago to be looked at — or see itself — as anything but the “Chicagoland” CNN painted the city out to be in its recent documentary series. That’s why the Jackie Robinson West team reaching the LLWS, the first Chicago team since 1983 to do so, and the significance behind it is so … necessary.

Thought I would share this on a slow Friday afternoon. I’m sure everyone in Chicago has been following the story of JRW but those outside of the city/state may not. Awesome group of kids trying to take home the Little League World Series when the perception of Chicago to the outside world is at an all time low. And the kid who hit 3 home runs yesterday, Pierce Jones, both of his parents are Chicago Police Officers who work on the South Side combating gang violence, that’s why they were interviewing his grandfather yesterday and not his parents. If you don’t have a team this LLWS you now do. Plenty of room on the bandwagon.

PS

The game yesterday had a higher tv rating than most Cubs/White Sox games, which is probably appropriate because JRW is the best baseball team this city has seen in about 5 years.