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Petty coach steals kid's moment in the sun

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scott91575;1486922; said:
Most of this is in reply to Wingate's post...

I umpired when I was about 12-16 (I also played baseball...pretty easy to play a game and while at the park umpire one and pick up some easy cash). I think I was 13 at the time when the following happened....

I umpired a game with 10 or 11 years olds. Needless to say they were pretty bad. I learned from my year before that a real strikezone was a waste of time. With a real strike zone walks just pile up and the game lasts 3 hours (then other games back up). So I had a pretty wide strike zone. Well, some jackass stands right behing the backstop fence and decides to critisize every call. At this time I was still pretty leary about throwing people out. After a while I finally warn the team if they do not control the guy I will throw him out. Well, the coach pretty much does nothing, and I have to tell the guy myself. He gets all ticked off and the rest of the fans start screaming at me (mind you I am about 13, and the only one who will umpire these games....mostly because of these idiots). After the game is over I start walking home, and this idiot comes up to me and starts threatening to kick my ass. All the other adults were behind him too, backing him up. So not only is it a whole crown of adults, but they were threatening a 13 year old over a little league game. I walked away, and they didn't do anything. Yet kept yelling at me while I walked home.
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Wow, that reminds me of a similar incident I had my first year umping (I was 14). I'm behind the plate, it's about 90 degrees, and I'm getting paid 6 dollars to do this game (30 years ago, but still). Anyway, like you said, if you call a tight zone you'll end up with a 4 hour, 32-30 game with 68 walks - make the kids swing the bats. We only had 2 umps working the game (10-11 year olds) so the home plate umps gets 3rd base, too. Sure enough, there's a play and I'm running down the line to make the call. The ball beats the runner but the kid slides and the tag is nowhere near him - he's safe. The manager of the defensive team goes apeshit, storms out of the first base dugout - because he, of course, could see clearly from there and had no bias in him - and yells "I want that ump removed from the field!". Funny thing is, as home plate ump I'm in charge once the game starts so I tell him to get back in the dugout, NOW. He starts appealing to the crowd with mixed results - both teams had parents there - then finally goes back to the dugout where he continues his verbal barrage towards me.

Play continues and this idiot is now distracting the batter, catcher, and pitcher to the point they can barely play. I call time, walk over to the dugout and tell him if he doesn't stop, he's gone. He dares me to toss him, so I throw him out (and made sure it was apparent to everyone). Now he really goes nuts - bear in mind this guy is old enough to be my dad and had kids who went to school with me - starts cussing and threatening "you don't know who you're fucking with", etc. - great example for the kids. A couple parents lead him away so the game can continue but at the end of the inning here comes the league commissioner over to talk to me while Captain Jackass stands behind him with some smug smile on his face - he's going to teach this 14 year old a lesson...until the other umpire, several parents, and people who were just hanging around start telling the commish what REALLY happened.

I should've hung it up after that first year because the older the kids got the dumber their adults got. :shake:
 
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1. Once had a summer job as the recreation leader/gopher/commish/head ump/chalk line drawer for a daytime park and an evening Little League program on Dayton's West Side. Once drove a kid home in the pitch dark because his parents made him walk because he'd sruck out with the winning run on third. Once had to break up a fight between two parents, once a fight between two kids and a nasty nose to nose confrontation between two moms. Once looked up to see a team sitting on their keisters and a coach running to me. Kid from single parent home and not much money had shown me his first baseman's mitt that his mom had just bought him. Gets into game, bases loaded, two out and a high fly ball hit to him in left field, he backs up, pats the mitt and catches the ball in his BARE hand. Other coach immediately is on me screaming, "You can't play in the outfield with THAT glove! Has to be an outfielder's glove. Tells team to sit down until the rule is changed." I point out that the glove never came into play so therefore the play stands as called. Then I get the rule book and discover that it only states how many inches long a glove can be from wrist to end of webbing/fingers and how many inches it can be across from tip of thump to tip of final portion. Says nothing about padding, web construction or number of fingers. Ergo you play the outfield with a firstbaseman's glove or a catcher's mitt at your own risk.

2. Had a PE course at OSU with an outstanding prof who pointed out the need to remove adults from children's play, that left on their own kids will pick even sides, settle disputes, learn about the differece between rules and fairness, and have fun whereas adults will direct the play toward winning. He was NOT oppossed to introducing competition at the high school level, but maintained that it had no business beneath that level.

3. While this case is certainly one of win-by-whatever-means-are-open-to-you, the-end-justifies-the-means- it is at a high level of competition and the George Brett's pine tarred bat, shoe polish on the baseball, invisible touch of second by the middle man in the double play, the runner who goes way outside the baseline to force an errant throw all come into play in games played at the HS, college and pro levels. It's not umpire's job to teach the rules to the players. Years ago eagles versus jets on MNF, jets punt from their endzone with two seconds on the clock in the first half, eagles receiver calls for fair catch and they run the kicker out all by himself even though time has expired. Turns out there's a little known rule that says a team is entitled to a free kick for points following a fair catch even though time may have run out during the preceeding play. Ball set on the forty. Kicker tees it up, splits the uprights, give the eagles 3. Jet's coach has a shit hemmorage. Point is, it's the job of the coaches and the players to know the rules.
 
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Four words: Malibu Little League Parents.

Development and fun were absolutely the furthest thing from the minds of the folks who ran the league/managed the top teams/paid the umpires. It's all about "Making All Stars" now.

Tangent: When I was playing little league growing up in Indiana sometime in the Mesozoic age the try outs were in April and the season ran from May through July. Now, as I understand it, the tryouts are in March and the season runs from March through May so that the top kids can travel around the state with the All Stars, and their folks can put white shoe polish on the windows of the minivan.

I've got nothing against All Stars ("without winners, there would be no civilization"), but I do think that youth sports should be for everyone. It's no surprise to me that we have an obesity epidemic when the kids who aren't very good at sports are denied the opportunity to play and learn more about the game so that the "chosen" can participate in All Star Games and their parents can pat themselves on the back.

/rant
:)
 
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You guys must have been shitty umpires.. I never had any problems :tongue2:

I umped from 14-17, doing HS and travel games.. a few rec league games but always the older kids. I would listen to a dumbass coach or parent try to tell me the rules and I would smile and put my mask back on.

I never had any crazy parents like you guys did - that sucks and I wouldn't ump another game if I was treated that way.
 
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The pussification of America continues. :lol:

It's funny to me that whenever a story is about a [team that gets banned for winning too much][tee-ball league not keeping score][etc.]....the moral of the story is that winning and losing is part of life and you can't always win and the kids need to learn that. But now, this thread is about what a petty whiny cheater this coach is for asking that a rule be enforced that will help the team get the win. Shouldn't the moral of this thread be to teach the losing kids that you can't always win, even if it is because of a technicality and that life usually isn't "fair"?

I mean, I know the situations aren't the same. Score SHOULD be kept. Winning DOES matter. The coach in this story IS an ass.

It just makes me chuckle a bit how suddenly concerned we all are about the losing team's feelings. :biggrin:
 
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I couldn't care less about Minnesota Junior College Women's Softball. And I'm wondering why the [censored] Jake does.

There are stories about assclowns every day in the Columbus Dipsatch; no need to go quite so far afield.
 
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Originally Posted by cincibuck
Point is, it's the job of the coaches and the players to know the rules.

BUCKYLE;1487325; said:
:lol: No. It's the job of the officials to know the rules. That's pretty much their only purpose.
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Sorry, what I meant was that as an official you know the rules. The test to be certified as an official is basically an ability to recall any given rule. What I found as a certified official for HS football and basketball was that many coaches had not studied the rule book. If you ask me, it's their job to know the rules to the same level as the officials -- which is why Brett gets called out for pine tar and this kid has a homer taken away and why the Eagles scored a field goal on a free kick after time had run out.
 
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NextBuck;1487380; said:
Seriously guys if parents ever talked to me like they talked to you outside of the park I wouldn't have just walked home or stuff. Guess you guys are bigger men than me.
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Or much smaller men. I'd have flipped someone's car over and lit it on fire.
 
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MaxBuck;1487364; said:
I couldn't care less about Minnesota Junior College Women's Softball. And I'm wondering why the [censored] Jake does.
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I thought it was an interesting story. If it doesn't interest you, ignore it...as I do with 98% of the shit you post.
 
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