Fracas at 10-and-under rec softball game. Princesscreole cries. - UPDATED!

Re: Fracas at 10-and-under rec softball game. Princesscreole cries.

Thanks Bob. I think that with the guy who got in the club's head coach's face, he'll be cool. The others, I don't know.

Actually, the HS junior coaches along with a college junior. But unfortuneately, the college girl wasn't there.

I didn't agree with letting the 12-and-under kids coach the bases, but I didn't think it was that big of a deal either. I think they were just trying to make things a little more fun. They really try to intertwine the two teams, almost too much at times, but overall I don't think the coaches gave up.

 

Re: Fracas at 10-and-under rec softball game. Princesscreole cries.

Is the coach going to pull a Norman Dale, and tell them that if they want to stay, that the coach's word is the law?

It might really piss off the parents, but it would be real effective for the coach to start the meeting by thanking everyone for coming, whip out the checkbook, and announce, "I run the team. If you don't like it, here's your prorated money back."

In David Maraniss' book "When Pride Still Mattered," Vince Lombardi told the Packers at his very first meeting with the team that he intended to win, and that any player who didn't want to conform to his rules could walk out the door right then and there. None of the players left.

After the meeting, Lombardi went up to Max McGee to ask him what he thought of Lombardi's speech. McGee told him that he had gotten everyone's attention. Lombardi then confided that he was worried that the entire team would have walked out and left.

Whatever happens, I hope the coach lays down the law with the parents, especially after the incident at the last game.

 

Re: Fracas at 10-and-under rec softball game. Princesscreole cries.

Vince Lombardi could do that because he knew nobody was going to walk out the door. Not in a pre-free agency NFL, they weren't.

At the 12U & 10U softball level, parents can gladly accept their refunds and find another league to join. Or start their own. Thus, the coach doesn't have that kind of leverage.

Good luck, creole. At least it sounds like you have your wits about you when others have lost theirs.

 

Re: Fracas at 10-and-under rec softball game. Princesscreole cries.

Those fights are never good. But if you are paying a pretty penny to have your daughter play on this team, she should have some real base coaches. Not other players.

 

Re: Fracas at 10-and-under rec softball game. Princesscreole cries.

True. However, read the original post. They were losing 10-0 in the fourth. No one said don't try. No one said screw around. They put the 12-year-olds out. Might give them a chance to look at the game differently from the coaches box. In a 4-4 game in the seventh, of course not. In 10-0 game, you can take some liberties...

 

Re: Fracas at 10-and-under rec softball game. Princesscreole cries.

I agree with the latter part of your post, although again I must say I wasn't too bothered by it and I could see why people would be.

And the fee to play was $60, less than double a regular rec team fee. Not what it will be like next year when we will play around $125 plus tournament fees - if the team still exists.

 

Re: Fracas at 10-and-under rec softball game. Princesscreole cries.

So wait: YOUR kid slugs another kid, and when the parents give you a dirty look, YOU think about "getting into it" with them?

Perspective check, dude. Your kid was in the wrong. The apology was good, but the dirty look was warranted.

 

Re: Fracas at 10-and-under rec softball game. Princesscreole cries.

If you can write about this and share your thoughts I would.

I had a situation a couple years ago where someone in circulation had a kid in little league. They played a rival town in an "all-star" game and a riot about took place. A kid accidentally overthrew the third basemen during warm ups and the ball went into the stands and a fight nearly broke out. They had a close call at second and the next thing you knew parents were coming onto the field (these were 12 year olds by the way). The umpires called the cops before the final ending so they could get out of the park alive. They still were threatened as they went to their cars.

I found out about it and wrote a column on it in detail. I called the police chief and put in a few details. I had nearly every umpire in the league call me or come in during the next month and thank me. They said most of the bad parents were so embarassed they either quit showing up or started behaving better.

 

Re: Fracas at 10-and-under rec softball game. Princesscreole cries.

I must admit, I was waiting for someone other than me to take that one.

Bravo, and agreed. The more these idiots can be called out and embarrassed, the less it will happen.

 

Re: Fracas at 10-and-under rec softball game. Princesscreole cries.

Maybe my grammar wasn't perfect. NO, I wasn't looking to fight the other parents after my kid hit their's. I thought, by their looks as my son was saying sorry, that THEY WANTED TO FIGHT ME. And after my son apologized, and we walked back across the field, they were still giving me nasty looks.

Their kid wasn't even really hurt (these were 5-year-olds playing). He just got upset by the hit, which I don't blame him. A couple of minutes later, both our kids were on the field, playing like nothing happened. Except that the parents were still staring at me.

Like the gymnastics incident that I also referred to, I wasn't going to my kid's activity that day planning to get into a fight. Sometimes, things happen beyond my control. However, it seems like there are plenty of youth sports parents who are primed for a fight the minute they see their kid spending two minutes on a bench, or a teen umpire calling them out.

 

Re: Fracas at 10-and-under rec softball game. Princesscreole cries.

Yeah, I'm hearin' that. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

 

Re: Fracas at 10-and-under rec softball game. Princesscreole cries.

No prob. My big fear is the day the Older Scicluna gets into it with a kid who's dad is the size of Andre the Giant.