For the fan in the crib, a Wolverines pacifier

These hard economic times haven't touched one well-conceived company. The Sports Business Journal reports that sales are booming at Babyfans.com, a one-stop Internet shop for licensed infant and toddler team gear. Sales leaped 81 per cent last summer (over summer 08) and company founder Todd Wilson told SBJ, "We're trying to forge a niche, particularly as it relates to getting multiple teams in one location, and think we've really struck on something."

There's a lot to choose from here. Notables include Pepperdine University newborn booties, the Georgia Bulldogs burp cloth and - a personal favorite - the Michigan Wolverines pacifier.

While we're on the subject, adidas and Disney recently rolled out a "sporty and fashionable" line of Mickey and Goofey sneakers for little ones. The press release notes that the athletic shoes combine "adidas Kids top performance products with classic Disney characters."

Top performance in a baby bootie meaning what, exactly?

A high school golf team and a 10-minute flight

One more look back at 2009. The Washington Post ran this amusing (or sobering) piece on the past year's "Wildest Moments in High School Sports."

I am trying to imagine the creativity that would be needed to make these up. And I can't.

Here are a few for the record books.

Allentown, Pa. -- A girls' basketball coach, angered by the heckling of a player's father, was found not guilty of disorderly conduct after he went into the crowd during a game and allegedly placed his hands around the man's neck. "As long as you're yelling, your daughter doesn't play," the coach told the dad.

Greenwich, Conn. -- A golf team, fearful of missing a tournament because of major gridlock on Interstate 95, hopped a six-passenger plane to the event -- a 10-minute flight -- and won the invitational.

Lake Wales, Fla. -- A junior varsity football coach, who also was a police officer, was arrested for biting a player's nose at halftime as a motivational technique.

The coach explained that he wasn't biting. Because he was talking. And you can't bite and talk at the same time.

Dusty Baker to sports parents: Less is more

Now and then, we salute pro athletes doing something needed, important and too rare: calling out overly invested sports parents.

The list grows by one today. Here's Reds manager Dusty Baker, speaking at an event sponsored by the Positive Coaching Alliance, reminding parents that it's not a great idea to pull your child aside to offer a batting tip or pitching secret during a game.

Others pro athletes, coaches, executives who've recently offered similarly sage advice: Wayne Gretzky, Phil Jackson and Joe Dumars.

A very special "Twelve Days of Christmas"

Have a great day.

All my best, Mark

New - and recommended - youth sports Web sites

Two new kids' sports Web sites to point out and, if you're like me, to bookmark. Both provide excellent information about sports safety and injury prevention.

Just launched by the American Academy of Pediatrics, Healthychildren.org. Many topics covered, from Body Checking in Hockey - it causes 86 percent of all hockey injuries in kids nine and 15 - to Common Finger Injuries in Athletes to Exercise-Induced Asthma. The site also links to short AAP-produced audio pieces such as this one on how parents can avoid being lousy sports.

Next month, the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine launches its Stop Sports Injuries Web site. For now, the url is a static page with a few facts about AOSSM, headed this year by the surgeon for about every pro athlete you can think of, Dr. James Andrews. I'll be checking back soon for the official site unveiling.

Ten Myths of Youth Sports, by someone very wise

I received this from a friend who wasn't able to tell me the source. Clearly, someone with much wisdom.

TEN MYTHS OF YOUTH SPORTS

1. The earlier the participation in sports the more likely to be an elite athlete and/or to earn a scholarship.

2. Specializing in one sport early on will increase chance of a scholarship or Olympic level achievements.

3. If a parent loves a specific sport and/or excels at a certain sport, his/her child will have similar genetics and should be directed to that same sport.

4. If a parent was not a good athlete and wishes s/he was, then living that dream through his child is a winning prescription.

5. Children have unlimited energy and can play forever, including multiple teams at once without getting tired.

6. Children are very flexible and bounce back quickly so they are not at risk for overuse injuries like tendonitis, stress fractures, etc.

7. Kids would rather sit on the bench and let the star players win the game rather than playing and losing.

8. Playing time is not important to kids.

9. Kids learn from being yelled at by coaches like a professional or collegiate coach.

10. Negative feedback on mistakes is a better teacher in kids than positive feedback for effort, for doing best, and for achieving a new skill, no matter how small it may seem.

Anyone care to add to the list?

A contender for "Youth Sports Quote of the Year"

This is definitely in the running for the most inspired youth sports line of 2009. It comes from an article about a woman just taking over as coach of a boys' high school basketball team in Minnesota. Women coaching men's teams at any level is highly unusual. And the job picture for women seeking to coach women's teams isn't even that great. Surprisingly, less than half of women's teams at the college level are led by women.

Kelly Anderson, coach of the Ulen-Hitterdal High School boys' team in Ulen, Minnesota, was speaking with the Forum of Fargo-Moorhead about her first months on the job. And she said this:

“When I first got up here, one student said basketball was ‘a man’s game,’ So I played him one-on-one, even though I was five or six months pregnant at the time. Let’s just say it hasn’t been a problem since.”

Thanks Nicole LaVoi