You must have a boring life to write a story on this really?? Your fact checking is off too, these kids are 13U not eleven, you should have checked more than the website. Oh, but that would have actually taken work. To get to the point, your very left leaning ideology is really taking you away from what your title says, “sports columnist”. Instead your degrading a name of a team, for what your ideology? Whatever! Have you actually listened to any lyrics to any rap songs that these children listen to at a far younger age than eleven? Ummm…its a little worse than the name Rockford Young Guns. So are you going to write a story on rap music now as a so called “sports writer”, probably not. How about when a thirteen year old goes to the doctor for a physical and they ask these children if they have done drugs,drank alcohol,or smoked in life yet? Is that not promoting all of that activity too? That’s coming from a doctor, should we not stop those progressive steps too? Bottom line is that if you raise your children right they will not have the tendency to play with guns, or will not have a tendency after reading or hearing the word gun. Maybe for you, Doug, we can call them the Rockford Flowers or something,or Rockford Climate Change. After every game they could get together and plant flowers, ones without mildew, that would make men out of them. This is a group of some of the finest kids I have known, and their name has nothing to do with violence. You should keep your personal ideology out of it and stick to sports if thats what you do, instead of bashing a kids baseball team name. And then one last thing because this whole story is so obsurd,Doug, in your fact finding you should have noticed the kids are going to a city called Battle Creek, Michigan, and you say what! Children going to a city called Battle Creek. Battle Creek that in itself is pretty violent. So you have the Rockford Young Guns going to a city called Battle Creek,that city should change their name. Maybe the kids think there’s going to be a battle,using their guns. The whole story is pathetic. And I think you should write a story apologizing to these kids on how you should keep your own opinion to yourself,congratulate them and their coaches for the hard work, along with many hours of practice it took them to get them where there going for the city of Rockford. Good luck Rockford YOUNG GUNS!!

GO YOUNG GUNS!!!!!

Since these boys are all young and hard throwing I think the name is clever and befitting of a championship baseball team. Good luck to them, and represent our city well by bringing home a world series trophy.