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.
Yeah, that is the case. This is how people learn if certain behavior is acceptable or not. In this case, NOT!