Rec softball gone too far

man, this is crazy--i'm a vetern of many softball leagues (even played on one in london)...i've seen people get upset but usually they drop it after about a minute (or as soon as another beer is handed to them)....who the hell do these people think they are? these aren't pro refs--these are guys who do this for peanuts--give them a break.

 

Ever see anyone wear 3.14?

 

Ha ha. No, that's not the kind of 'pie' the boys are after.

 

I used to love to play softball but too many incidents like that and too many guys with far too many anger issues have ruined it for me. I've taken up golf to fill my time in the summer because at least when you golf you can be out on the course by yourself and not have to deal with this kind of stuff.

And this is probably stereotyping but someone earlier said it best and I think they are right on -- the guys who wear the most combination of these accessories -- baseball pants, baseball (hi-top) spikes, Oakley's or eye-black, wrist bands that match their uniforms and pulled up over their forearms and some sort of flamboyant gold chain -- while either chewing snuff or spitting sun flower seeds -- are usually the biggest idiots.

 

This should be a rule for anyone to follow, in any league, at any age -- the quality of the officiating is in direct proportion to the quality of play. So if you're in beer-league softball, you don't get major-league umping. That's just the way it goes.

That's why at my kids' games, I don't get worked up over "blown" calls. The 13-year-old girl behind the plate at my 8-year-old daughter's softball game is most certainly not Bruce Froemming.

 

Umpires are only as good as the amount of shit they can handle ... I know some great umpires who aren't that solid on the rules, I know some terrible umpires who know the book by heart (of course, everyone's strike zone can be questionable at times).

The one word we are not permitted to use around here is 'brutal.' You use that and you're finding yourself in the parking lot.

I've only done it once ... a couple of weeks ago, in fact ... and I was shocked that I stayed in the game. But after a chat with the ump in question, I have great respect for him.

 

Not sure what's sadder -- grown men acting like babies, or that someone videotaped a men's rec softball game.

 

Would've been better if the shirt had said I <heart> 3.14.

I'd wear a shirt like that.

 

Oh, it's worse than that. I remember I had a friend in high school who would do PLAY-BY-PLAY for men's rec softball. That's so, after the game, the players would go to a nearby bar and see the tape of themselves playing, with my friend's play-by-play overlaid.

 

Dude. It was the championship game.

 

OK, that's damn funny. And a great idea for your Secret Santa this year.

 

That's it...I'm going to do it for sure now. And Flash, I'd love to send you a photo of said shirt.