Sportsmanship....is it gone?

[Ken Krause]

Absolutely shameful on that other team's part, particularly their coaches. Fish rot from the head down. It's obvious who the fish head is.

I think you're doing the right thing with your team. Use this as incentive to keep them working. If they start to slack off or get bored, remind them that they may see this team again, and will want to be in the best possible position to defeat them when they do.

I'm always amazed that parents will allow their kids to play for idiots like that. It's no wonder reality TV is so popular.

 

[mkral]

One thing I love about TB is that these young ladies get to meet peers from all over the country and sometimes they strike up a friendship that lasts a lifetime. That is just one of the truly awesome things this sport offers.
It is important, IMO, that the girls on our team realize that this is just one team and does not reflect where they come from. I do not want our kids to think that this teams home town is all full of people like them. It is just another one of life's lessons that this sport offers and in that respect it is a good thing when you can make or take as many good things out of bad experiences.

 

[jacketsfan]

In the heat of battle, all sorts of things happen, like being pushed down, that may or may not be intentional. Same with the elbowq on the run-down. They feel that way when you're the pushee, but it's hard for an umpire to do much. As another poster said, it's unlikely that an umpire can do anything about a coach telling his players to run to the white bag, other than telling him that's unnecessary, and if acted upon, could lead to ejection. Most umpires I've seen would wait, though, until something actually happened, before doing anything.

It's unfortunate, but it happens. Luckily, only 1 out of 100 teams are like that, and today was your day. The teams that I've seen that were like that usually disintegrated before too long. In fact, we ran into a team like that in 12U, and my DD later played with a girl from that team in 14U, and liked her quite a bit.

As for the coaches of that team, they are rotten, but there isn't much you can do. Complain to the UIC all day along about them jerks, but so what? What is he going to do? Call them jerks, too?

I have said it before - I remember lots of these sorts of stories. But, through softball, my DD and I have also met 100 great, quality people that we are proud to call friends for every 1 person that is an idiot.

Not so much unlike life in general.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

I am not certain what good it does to tell a girl to run through the first baseman. 90% of the time, I catch the ball, touch the bag and get off the bag.

I can honestly say that no one has ever ran into me. I guess if I was in the stretch, you could run through my leg, but again, I am in fair territory and only touching the bag a smigin.

I wouldn't have let my DD play for someone that is promoting violence, in any form.

 

[chinamigarden]

Sportsmanship is not dead. Its just that situations like this burn into your brain and sort of cloud out the thousands of acts of good sportsmanship that happen every year. The fielder who helps the runner up, the first baseman who says nice hit, the shared pizza after a doubleheader. Last year our 14U team played a team in pool play and then wound up playing them in the final. Due to double elimination rule they ended up playing twice for the championship. 3 games in 2 days can build up animosity, but in this case it ended up with combined team pictures and facebook friends being made.

I will always remember the team whose coach went nuts at the end of a game because he didn't like a call by the umps, and then told his girls to not shake our team's hands. Unfortunately when it comes to sportsmanship good or bad. This will probably be the more lasting memory.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

I saw a man from my church, once, that stood in his dugout and yelled at my 12 YO baseball pitcher. This kid's dad taught marshall arts and the boy was an international champion. They didn't waste their time messing with the other coach, thankfully.

I don't know what comes over people sometimes.

I don't want to imply that it is only men causing the problems. Men just do a majority of the coaching. Women can be just as bad.

 

[softballphreak]

It sounds like sportsmanship may be lacking a little on both teams from the first post.

 

[SoCalSoftballdad]

It sounds like sportsmanship may be lacking a little on both teams from the first post.

Can you explain what the original poster's team did that you thought unsportsmanlike?

 

[coachtucc]

Sportsmamship starts from the coach on day one telling the ladies how they will act..they don't act like I tell them, they sit!! I had one umpire call a strike 3 on a ball that hit the dirt right behind home plate...my player looked at me , I shook my head and she walked to the dugout! After the game I brought her to the umpire and we talked about it calmly. Not going into specifics both the umpire and the parenst were impressed! Sportmanship...it starts with you!!

 

[sluggers]

I had one umpire call a strike 3 on a ball that hit the dirt right behind home plate...my player looked at me , I shook my head and she walked to the dugout!

The problem with even discussing this with an umpire is that you, as a coach, are implying to your team that the umpire is the reason she struck out. This indicates to the girls that they are not in control of their destiny, but rather that someone else is.

Bad calls happen. People make mistakes. Live with it and move on. If the guy is terrible, then get the guy fired. If he isn't bad enough to be permanently banned from umping, then forget it.

The funniest thing I've ever heard at a game:

The batter swung at a pitch that was chin high. The batter took a shoulder high pitch that the umpire called a strike. The batter looked down at the the 3B coach with one of those "Can you believe he called that a strike?" looks, and the coach yells, "Don't look at me....he's got better judgment than you do. Now hit the ball."