SYD KRONISH | Stamps Team spirit: Set features kids' sports

Yogi Berra once said, "It ain't a game unless kids play it first."
And children all over the country this summer are participating in a variety of outdoor team sports.
Recognizing the importance of promoting such endeavors for our youth, the U.S. Postal Service issued a special four-stamp set of 33-centers in 2000 featuring color photos of children enjoying the action and excitement of sports -- baseball, football, basketball and soccer.
The Postal Service says that team sports promote socialization, encourage a healthy lifestyle and provide opportunities for young people to learn cooperation and teamwork, not to mention that playing is lots of fun, too.
Education and athletic experts claim that team sports involve a willingness to play by the rules, be responsible and reliable, and work with others toward a common goal. These are attributes that will help youngsters to do well when they become adults.
Team sports offer year-round opportunities not only in the summer season but in every season as well. Most important, boys and girls learn good sportsmanship, individual skills and the desire to win. Nevertheless, coaches tell young athletes that winning isn't everything.
It's how you play the game and learn to accept defeat too.
The 2000 Youth Sports stamps send a message to kids everywhere and to their parents.
The Youth stamps are available at your local dealer or call (800) STAMP-24.
Errors
An error is an error, no matter how minor. When it involves errors on postage stamps, however, it gets the interest of collectors everywhere.
This time the error is on a new U.S. stamp. The U.S. Postal Service announced a "minor error" in one of the designs of the new set of five Southeastern Lighthouse commemorative stamps issued June 13.
The minor error involves a slight misalignment of the 37-cent denomination on the Cape Lookout, N.C., design. It occurs on the stamp that appears in the top row of the pane of 20 stamps formatted in four rows and five columns. The other three designs on the pane depicting the Cape Lookout Lighthouse do not show the misalignment.
David Failor, executive director of stamp services for the USPS, says, "Although this error is very minor, we are disappointed because the Postal Service strives to achieve the highest quality in the design and manufacture of our postage stamps. The misalignment occurred in the prepress color correction process that takes place immediately before printing."
Besides the Cape Lookout stamp with the error, the others in the set featured in the pane were Old Cape Henry, Va.; Morris Island, S.C.; Tybee Island, Ga., and Hillsboro Inlet, Fla.
You can purchase the stamps at your local post office. Or you can call (800) STAMP-24.