Well, Team Mexico lost the Little League World Series Championship game today against Waipahu, Hawaii. And let us tell you, they deserved to lose. Or rather, Hawaii deserved to win. Because the Mexican team that played today was not the team that played Japan yesterday. And it certainly wasn’t the team that played Italy two weeks ago and won 12-0 in 4 innings because their pitcher, Jesus Sauceda, pitched the 9th perfect game in LLWS history. No, this was a Mexican team that went through FOUR pitchers in one game because not one of them could throw a strike to save his life. (They walked nine Hawaiians in the end.) This is a team that committed so many errors it made you wonder how the hell they got to Pennsylvania in the first place.

And at the bottom of the fifth inning, (they only play six in the LLWS), when Mexico trailed by 8 with a score of 11-3, just as we were ready to cry out in the middle of ESPN Zone, “Oh for the love of GOD, what’s the point of it all, anyway?!!!” The camera panned over to Mexico’s dugout and there was the team from Matamoros laughing and joking their way through this terrible disappointment. Not that they hadn’t looked like their dog died just a few moments earlier, but by this point, it was clear that this just wasn’t their day. And when the final score was tallied—12-3 Hawaii—the boys from Matamoros went out on that field for the traditional “good game” high five and adorable chipmunk of a fielder Eleazar Rojas hugged, yes HUGGED, one of the Hawaiian players. It was enough to make us ashamed of ourselves. Were we not so happily eating wings. And we realized, these kids are wiser than we are. At age 12 or 13 they already know that, fuck it, sometimes you have a bad day. It’s not the end of the world. And unlike the Louisianans who cried yesterday when they lost to Hawaii, the boys from Matamoros made us damn proud. And not because they put on some macho front, either, but because they were genuinely happy for their new friends from Hawaii. And most importantly, because they never forgot to have fun. When we got home later on and discovered that the Olympics were over, we were almost sad. But then we remembered we hate sports and we’re so ready to put this whole, embarrassing phase behind us.

Hawaii Wins LLWS Championship [ESPN]
Hawaii crushes Mexico in LLWS final, wins 4th straight title for U.S. [Sportscenter]