[http://active.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/vid_game_kids.jpg]British newspaper 'The Daily Telegraph' published an open letter from 110 psychologists, teachers, and children's authors declaring that children surrounded by processed food and technological stimulation may be losing a very important part of their life--their childhood.

MS NBC has a fascinating article on how kids need things like real physical activity--not video games to help their developing brains. Very interesting stuff.

What do you think? Are kids being made into mini-adults...or is this how it's always been?

[http://active.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/brent_orel_2.jpg]So above the press box at Lamade Stadium here at the Little League World Series is a large suspended caged area littered with camera gear and famous people like former Dodger ace Orel Hersheiser and Brent Musberger. (I hear Orel is a very nice man--despite his predilection for beating up on my Padres.)

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For the rest of this blog post check out our Little League World Series spec section....

[http://active.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/jason_bay.jpg]Jason Bay is one of the most exciting young players in Major League Baseball. As an outfielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates he was named ���Rookie of the Year��� in 2004 and has already been named to the National League All-Star team twice in his young career. We spoke with him recently to get his thoughts on playing baseball in Canada and what it was like at the Little League World Series in 1990.

How does a kid from Trail, B.C. end up playing baseball���and not the great sport of hockey? I actually played both (hockey and baseball) until I was about 12 or 13. After that I just played baseball because I like it more.

What���s the Little League scene like in Canada? It's certainly not what it's like in the states. There are teams and fields, but just not all over the place. Obviously there is more hockey played than baseball. But I think baseball is gaining more popularity in Canada due to the fact that more major league players are from there.

What was it like playing in the Little League World Series? It was awesome. Coming from a small town like Trail BC, and then playing in front of all those people at 11 years old was just amazing. It's something I'll never forget.

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For the rest of this interview check out our Little League World Series special section.....

[http://active.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/sten_6_1.jpg]Mike Stenhouse was a Major League outfielder with the Minnesota Twins, Montreal Expos, and the 1986 Boston Red Sox World Series team. We talked to him about his experience as a pro baseball player as well as his fond memories of being a Little League state champion. This is Part I of our conversation. Be sure to look for Part II next week as well as Mike's blogging for the Active.com Little League World Series Special Section.

Let���s start with the tough question first���do you think the Sox have enough to pass the Yankees for the AL East?

Sure they have enough. I didn���t like the fact they lost catcher Jason Varitek and the Yankees added some very good players. But sure they have enough���cos they have better pitching than the Yankees.

You���re a former major leaguer who played for the Expos, Twins, and Red Sox. It must have been cool for a Harvard grad to play at Fenway Park.

Certainly unusual���especially coming out of Harvard. I can remember those little meetings in the dorm hallway where people would talk about what they wanted to be. There were a lot of ���I���m gonna be a doctor or lawyer.��� But when I said ���I wanted to be a baseball player��� everybody pretty much laughed. Until I hit .480 my freshman year.

Your dad was a pitcher for the Washington Senators. Did he help you in your early baseball development?

Of course. Even as a pitcher he learned enough about hitting to be helpful to me and gave me a general knowledge of the game. Both myself and my brother���who got to triple-A with the Blue Jays���learned a ton from my father about how to play the game right.

Did he ever mention what it was like playing for Gil Hodges?

He loved Gil Hodges. Gil was known as tough but my dad loved him. Because he was fair and treated everyone the same.

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For the rest of this article check out our Little League World Series Special Section.

[http://blogs.active.com/eteamz/uploaded_images/floyd-755910.jpg]I know it's not technically a team sport but what Floyd Landis did this weekend was simply amazing! Some people believe that for Landis to come from eight minutes behind to WIN the Tour De France was equal to any cycling accomplishment done in the last 50 years.

Even more impressive was the fact that Landis did it all on ONE HIP! (He is scheduled to have a hip replacement in a few weeks.)

So I open it to all of you members of the eteamz community. Can you think of a feat in team sports that rivals that of Floyd Landis

[http://active.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/amanda_freed.jpg](Brian McCall is the Communications Director for the ASA. We sat down with him to talk about the organization, the U.S. National Softball team, and the upcoming World Cup of Softball in Oklahoma City, OK July 13th-17th.)

So how do you select players to try out for the national team?

Athletes were invited to our camp in late November/early December, and 24 players were chosen for the national training team. That designates you as one of the top 24 softball players in the country and gives you the benefits of monthly training camps as well as training stipends that can really help out. From that group of 24 we selected the group of seventeen we have now.

Of the seventeen players selected how many pitchers will be taken to the World Cup?

Typically we have four on the roster. But we have a few pitchers this year that can do more than just pitch. Amanda Freed is somebody who through the Olympic process in 2004 had really moved onto the outfield. She was an All-American pitcher at UCLA but didn���t fit that role when she first got on the team. Then during last year���s Japan Cup she was used as a pitcher. So she can pretty much do it all. We have a lot of players who provide some flexibility.

And how many games will they play during world cup?

Six. A round robin tournament in which they compete against everyone--with the top two teams playing in the finals.

That���s a lot of pitching for four players.

Actually it���s not. Alicia Hollowell who just won the NCAA championship for the University of Arizona is on the team. She went 5-1 during the Softball World Series and pitched six complete games from Thursday to Monday. And that���s just for one pitcher. So really the struggle a lot of times for us with carrying that amount of pitchers is getting enough innings for people on the roster. It���s definitely not the baseball model.

For the rest of this interview check out the Active [World Cup of Softball Special Section|http://active.typepad.com/

(Jeff Agoos is an American soccer legend. Having won more MLS championships (five) than any other player and among the leaders in US National team appearences we thought it'd be great to chat with this "MLS Defender of the Year" and get his thoughts on the upcoming World Cup.)

So how did a kid growing up in a football haven like Texas get involved in soccer?

Good question. Even though Texas is considered one of the football capitals of the world, most of my friends played soccer. I lived in an area of dallas (N. dallas) where a lot of people played soccer instead of football.

You've had a phenomenal career. What was the most important lesson you learned as a young player that helped pave the way for your eventual success?

The biggest thing I learned as a kid, not only about soccer but about life in general, was that you have to work harder than the next person to achieve success. I was never a gifted player or a gifted student, but I had a strong work ethic and I had passion. The ability to persevere is a very important character trait.

What was playing in Germany for SV Wehen like? Any tips on Germany you could give the current team?

SV Wehen was an eye- opening experience. It was a very tough time but it taught me the lesson that soccer as a business is a tough business. I had always viewed soccer as a game. Coming back from Wehen made me realize that at the next level it's much more than just a game. My experience in Wehen and the national team experience in Germany will be very different. I would tell the team to enjoy the experience and soak up the atmosphere. It will hopefully be the best time of their lives.

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(+For the rest of this interview check out the [Active World Cup Special Section|http://active.typepad.com/worl