well I just could not do it

I have heard many people give a lot of excuses about why they were late or why they did not do the assignment they were supposed to do, myself included. But it is really funny that this topic comes up in such a time for me. I have been helping this 16 and under travel baseball team for the past few weeks now, and these kids have these ideas of defending the self in everything they do. " I could not get the bunt down becuase it was a curveball" (Excuses) or "I did not catch the ball because the sun was in my eyes" , (which could be an excuse but we had told the kids to get glasses for this weekend becuase the field is a "sun field"). But always the one that comes up is the missed practice. How they missed the last practice becaue their mom had a hair appointment and did not get out in time. The justification for these kids are in high gear as well. "I dropped the ball but it was a foul ball so it does not matter". For those who do not know a foul ball means the ball was in the air and it was not inside the chalked field of play, the kids droppped the foul ball and the next pitch the batter hit a base hit. If the kids would have just said sorry coach i missed it, that would have been great. But there is always a reason for messing up. Just take credit for what you do and if you mess up you take the blame. they all want to save face and find a way to blame something else for their failure at that certian point trying to keep a positive face.