Poor sportsmanship

[NorthMS]

I've looked at some discussions on the Houston Chronicle.

It appears there were plenty of villains here, most of them adults.

One person claimed that, in the past, the Texas softball authorities used umpire evaluations to determine who umped the championship games, but recently stopped that. This person claimed that is why the umpires were so bad in this game. If that is true, there are several villains outside of both teams.

The umps, and the Texas softball authorities who chose them to work this game. The umps clearly lost control of the game. One parent claimed on the Chronicle forum that (A) the catcher did nothing wrong and (B) the other side was playing dirty too, so they deserved it.

The parents fighting in the stands, and probably egging on their DDs to retaliate, etc. C'mon, this is NOT Yankee Stadium*. Softball is supposed to be civilized.

The coaches. The onus is on the coaches to keep their players under control. This was not happening.

Other random adults: the catcher's TB coach posted on the Chronicle that the catcher was a great sportsman, and did nothing wrong on this play. Lovely. Sounds like a really classy organization. I really hope the TB coach was trying to protect her player in public, and rips her a new one in private.

Yes, the catcher made 2 really thuggish plays, the second even worse than the first. She bears responsibility for her actions. But, it seems like there was more than a little bit of encouragement for her to play that way.




* Note: I chose Yankee Stadium because that is where I have seen the most boorish fan behavior. And yes, I have been to Shea Stadium and Veterans' Stadium. The most polite fans I've seen were in Lambeau Field, where the crew evicted fans for being mean to Bears fans. Bear baiting is NOT permitted in Lambeau Field.

I have not seen that, but if the her TB coach actually went on record with that statement, he should be banned from softball. I can understand taking up for your players to a certain extent, but to not hold her responsible for her actions is in fact condoning them.

 

[Eric F]

I do not condone the actions of the catcher in any way, but...

...the girl can throw a body check.

 

[SoCalASABlue]

I do not condone the actions of the catcher in any way, but...

...the girl can throw a body check.

I wonder if she can skate...Team USA Women's Hockey is looking for a new defense-woman...

 

[BobInMadison]

I'm guessing not the 700 level.....

I've been in the nosebleed seats in Veteran's Stadium.

I've even been in the very, very last row at Veteran's Stadium. October 15, 1980, Phillies beat Royals, 6-4, Lefty got the win.


1980 World Series Game 2 Box Score

 

[SoCalASABlue]

Where's Taylor Hoagland when you need her?

Softball Thug Hall of Fame

 

[SoCalASABlue]

Maybe the middle finger...

You stole my sign

 

[SoCalASABlue]

The unfortunate thing is that this action might move her name UP on the list for some colleges!

She's probably received 10-20 additional offers since yesterday...

 

[DmystifieD]

Maybe they were trying to get back for a play like this?

View attachment 8325
but then again what do you expect the runner to do when you are blocking the bag without the ball...although I would not gripe about this play since it's obviously going to be close. This pic is from the second inning.

From an article about the game looks like the biggest issue the Blue team had was being up by 3 runs and the last collision being the last two of a five run fifth inning.

It appears to me this was a scrappy game from the onset. I have only seen the shortened video with the 2 knockdowns, and this full highlight video. I am only stating the conclusion "I" have drawn based on the videos. I believe, based on initial slide into home by blue team, that all of these tactics were coached, yet, the acts were performed by the teenagers. Aggression at home and on the base paths. Start at :28....i froze the frame when the catcher caught the ball at home, THREE full steps later the runner takes out the catcher who is traveling UP the first base line trying to turn 2. This, in addition to the plays at home tells me the problem doesnt START with a 17 year old girl.

Huffman Returns, Conquers 4A Title - VYPE SE TEXAS – The Leader in High School Sports

 

[NoVA Softball]

Crap happens.

LOL! There I was, minding my own business and my elbow, of its own accord, just happened to fly backwards into the chest of a passing player knocking them to the ground... twice! Man, that was some bad luck that just 'happened' to this catcher. And also just bad luck to the two players who got clocked. Good thing this is all just something that 'happened' and not anything anyone 'DID,' because then someone might have to take responsibility for their actions.



As for how this affects me - of course it doesn't immediately affect me or my DD, but given that this board attracts softball players, parents, coaches, and officials from across the country, the responses to softball issues raised here absolutely have an effect the way the sport is played and coached. If the response here was "hey, just aggressive softball, nothing to see" then this sort of thing becomes that much closer to the new normal. On the other hand, when people read posts here and see near universal condemnation, it reinforces that standard of sportsmanship. Those who might think of this sort of play as acceptable hard-nosed softball may think twice about that assessment. Those who don't care if it's thuggery and would do it anyway may realize how quickly they can become Internet infamous. Either way, that makes for a more enjoyable and safer sport for all those who love softball.

 

[SoCalASABlue]

As for the umpires, I don't know how this particular crew was assigned to this game...

I know in SoCal we use Arbiter...which supposedly selects umpires for games at random...that being said, it sure is peculiar that whenever DD's HS team played the big private school powerhouse over the last 4 years, the same self-righteous arrogant POS was always one of the umpiring crew...who always made it a point to ignore our coach and go over and hug the powerhouse coach...

Having attended a CIF final this year, I thought it was rather "coincidental" that each member of the three-man crew was an officer of the HS association...