Another Little League parent gone amok

I recently agreed to coach a youth basketball team. It is a travel team and all the kids had to try out for it (one of my conditions to coach was that I had nothing to do with evaluating the try-outs). On the same day the organization let all the kids know who made the team and who did not I got three e-mails from parents asking me what my playing time policy is going to be and wanting to know if they can help as "assistant coaches."

I am scared to death.

I can't make this up.

 

This is the time of year where many of us are thanking God -- or Allah or whoever else -- that we work at metros and don't have to deal with that bullshit.

That was always the most frustrating part of working at small-town papers. Probably always will be, too.

 

Add to that -- the "politics are determing the tournament baseball teams so we'll start our own with the kids who didn't make it" crowd calling every night to get your paper to write a paper exposing this scandal.

Another scandal that always made me laugh -- I once worked in a town where the woman who ran the little league had no job yet drove around in a brand new Navigator. It was not-so-affectionately known as the "Candy-Mobile" because every one in the town was convinced she was paying for it from the proceeds of all of the fundraisers -- most of them selling candy bars -- the league used to demand the players partake in.....

 

Gee, an imprecise anecdote in which a woman is the villain.
Who'd have guessed that was coming?

 

Geez ... and this was an interesting thread for a little while ... it doesn't take long for these things to run amok.

 

To return to the original topic for a second . . .

It sounds like the dad in Minnesota was a screwball (ha ha, Little League humor) to begin with. From the way the story sounded, he went haywire at the game because of the strikeout, but he seemed like the type of person who could have lost it after a fender-bender or getting short-changed at the supermarket.

My point, and I'm saying this as a father of two baseball-playing boys, is that there are a lot of decent people who are Little League volunteers. Yes, I know first-hand there are a lot of overbearing parents, too, but I don't think this guy snapping was indicative of a Little League trend at large. I don't think these "Little League parent" stories are exactly representative.

I also don't think from looking at his mug that he was the team's base-stealing coach.

 

Just because they asked about playing time, and offered to help, doesn't automatically make these parents nothing more than water-carriers for their kids. Some parents are genuinely interested in helping, and they might want to know what to expect so they aren't scratching their heads over why Johnny isn't playing. It's a reasonable question.

Then again, they could be evil and conniving. You don't know unless you talk to them.

(I speak from experience as a coach as well as parent.)

 

Bob's right, and the only way to tell the difference is to have a meeting and give everyone a short rundown of your rules and policies.

After that, it becomes much easier to tell the nuts from the merely helpful and concerned parents.

 

The money quote in one of the articles I read was the dad saying that he practices with his kid every night, and he has been playing since he was two years old.

The kid's performance and playing time did not reflect all the work DAD put in with the kid, therefor the dad explodes.


We are Doomed, example 2098.

 

Bob - I don't disagree they could have well intentions (though, judging from the shenanigans around this league I've heard about the past three years, I'm not sure they merit the benefit of the doubt though I will give it to them), but you think they could have waited, oh I don't know, more than say an hour after the cyber-ink dried on the announcement on the league web-site before they started asking about playing time?

That's all.

And yes, you caught me Fenian, my purpose in telling that mostly meant to be humorous story about a town up in arms about a "little league fundraising scandal" was to bash women and show what a sexist I am. There is nothing getting by you.

 

[blue] Sure wish I was Campbell's kid. He has be a real fun to live with.[/blue]

 

that dude looks like he's blown a few gaskets in his day.