Gear Grinding 9: I Need a Wine!

[leswp1]

Re: Gear Grinding 9: I Need a Wine!

Hence my first reaction. I don't know the context of the history of this fellow. Is he a known hot-head? Was this possibly a one time deal? Only Raceboarder can answer that. My answer would possibly change depending on that.

I never played sports but have lived with mr les who works in sports and had a kid who played plenty. I read this and was curious what difference would that make? THat is so far over the line that there is no excuse. When people do that kind of stuff they are so far out there people question their reactions and start to try to figure out if they over reacted to the person or try to figure out what motivates them. These are the guys that end up getting away with stuff- it is so extreme no one reports them because they aren't sure they heard it right or someone might not believe them.

Report him to the league/powers that be with a detailed report. Blow him up on social media only if they don't do something. You blow him up and then he can use that as an excuse to say you cross lines too

[The Rube]

Re: Gear Grinding 9: I Need a Wine!

I never played sports but have lived with mr les who works in sports and had a kid who played plenty. I read this and was curious what difference would that make? THat is so far over the line that there is no excuse. When people do that kind of stuff they are so far out there people question their reactions and start to try to figure out if they over reacted to the person or try to figure out what motivates them. These are the guys that end up getting away with stuff- it is so extreme no one reports them because they aren't sure they heard it right or someone might not believe them.

Report him to the league/powers that be with a detailed report. Blow him up on social media only if they don't do something. You blow him up and then he can use that as an excuse to say you cross lines too

I can forgive one meltdown. Everyone makes mistakes. Twice? You done. Reputation of having a temper? You done. That sorta thing.

[FadeToBlack&Gold]

Re: Gear Grinding 9: I Need a Wine!

I sort of agree with Brent, but I would report it to the league so that it's on record in case it happens again. Can't be acting like that around kids.

[joecct]

Dude you absolutely should make a formal complaint. I got a guy banned from coaching after he prevented me from leaving after a game by getting in front of my car and screaming at me.

I second this. He has to get gone.

[The Rube]

Re: Gear Grinding 9: I Need a Wine!

I sort of agree with Brent, but I would report it to the league so that it's on record in case it happens again. Can't be acting like that around kids.

Looking back and reviewing, I think we are on the same page.

[dxmnkd316]

Re: Gear Grinding 9: I Need a Wine!

I sort of agree with Brent, but I would report it to the league so that it's on record in case it happens again. Can't be acting like that around kids.

The dude literally used horrible racist language in front of two teams of kids. How on earth is that not a one strike offense?

[The Rube]

Re: Gear Grinding 9: I Need a Wine!

The dude literally used horrible racist language in front of two teams of kids. How on earth is that not a one strike offense?

Did you ever majorly eff up? I have. I would guess the majority of the posters here, and well, the people on earth have. I'm willing to forgive if there is no rep or history, give a second chance.

[dxmnkd316]

Re: Gear Grinding 9: I Need a Wine!

Did you ever majorly eff up? I have. I would guess the majority of the posters here, and well, the people on earth have. I'm willing to forgive if there is no rep or history, give a second chance.

Not that bad. One strike. You don’t get a do over when you call someone a halfbreed **********.

[The Rube]

Re: Gear Grinding 9: I Need a Wine!

Not that bad. One strike. You don’t get a do over when you call someone a halfbreed **********.

You never said anything that bad. As a kid, as an adult, as a teen....I kinda doubt that. Heat of the moment, I think we all said some stupid sh* at some point.

[Spartanforlife4]

You never said anything that bad. As a kid, as an adult, as a teen....I kinda doubt that. Heat of the moment, I think we all said some stupid sh* at some point.

It’s an amateur baseball game where he’s supposed to be a role model for kids. Presumably because they had four batting helmets this isn’t some baseball academy, so the guy’s main job isn’t even attached to the game. There is no reason to act like that.

[Slap Shot]

Re: Gear Grinding 9: I Need a Wine!

You never said anything that bad. As a kid, as an adult, as a teen....I kinda doubt that. Heat of the moment, I think we all said some stupid sh* at some point.

I've never had a moment in any of the years I coached my kids in baseball or hockey (or the years as a parent sitting on the sideline) that would be ban worthy or even game suspension worthy and I've never seen another parent/coach do anything like this either. We're not talking about a speeding ticket and not every infraction deserves a second chance. This eff up was pretty gross.

[aparch]

Re: Gear Grinding 9: I Need a Wine!

I assisted my brother's youth summer league growing up. He was 8 or 10 or so. It was a fun summer county funded league made just to keep the mediocre at sports kids entertained for a few weeks that some coaches thought was a stepping stone to the MLB. The actual travel ball league had already scooped up the good kids before this league starts.

In a 20+ to 4ish losing effort, around the third/fourth inning (at that point if I remember the score) my brothers coach and the umpire were asked by the opposing coach to have me stop base coaching third and to be thrown out because "I was talking to my teams players too much," causing his players to "not be able to focus on the game."

What was I telling our players over at third? (By the opposing coach dugout) That we were right back in it with that base hit (even though they really weren't). Apparently it was causing his players to keep asking him the score and it made a few of them think they were actually going to lose.

Game was called after the fifth on a mercy rule.

[RaceBoarder]

Re: Gear Grinding 9: I Need a Wine!

Just to clarify this situation a bit based on the discussion going on:

- There is no "league" that this clown can be reported to. The clown coaches for an independent development team/program. The incident took place through an independent tournament organization. In both cases, these are "pay to play" deals. Both are for-profit companies in both cases. Parents pay $$$ to the program to get their kid ready for high school & college ball. Even possibly beyond if the talent is there. The programs then pay $$$ to enter these tournaments ($800-1000/weekend) to get "exposure" for these kids. They typically play on college fields, so college coaches can see the kids that are brought to their doorstep (oh, and the tournament pays the college $$$ to use the field. So they make money while skimming for recruits on the deal as well.)

- The issue at hand is I am on the very bottom rung of this pile. The tournament organization doesn't want to do much to tick off these multi-team development organizations. My deal was with an 18u team. But this organization has 10-12 other teams that also pay to play these tournaments. Tick off one team and the organization decides as a whole to not come back next year and beyond because there are dozens of other tournament outlets like this one within 2-3 hours of Chicago. My incident could result in $10-$20k in lost entry fees for the tournament company. This organization does a decent enough job of protecting us, but at the same time, is defending a single umpire worth a loss of $10k+ in entry fees?

This is the dark world of "pay to play" athletics. On it's face, as an official, you are expendable. Which is why using social media is my nuke option here. Obviously today's political climate is one of both acceptance and scorching the earth of people that use language like this. There will always be White, Suburban Yuppie kids playing baseball at a high level. But will this organization want to survive on just that? That's the question at hand.

Edit: And for the record, profit is simply the reason I'm involved. These games pay $65/each and I can cover between 8-15 games over a weekend. Using vacation time at work to make this cash is where my "beer money" for the year comes from. But then again, tournament organizations sometimes feel that since they are writing a check for $1000+ to officials for a single weekend of work, that they can't tick off the paying customers, so

[SJHovey]

Re: Gear Grinding 9: I Need a Wine!

Just to clarify this situation a bit based on the discussion going on:

- There is no "league" that this clown can be reported to. The clown coaches for an independent development team/program. The incident took place through an independent tournament organization. In both cases, these are "pay to play" deals. Both are for-profit companies in both cases. Parents pay $$$ to the program to get their kid ready for high school & college ball. Even possibly beyond if the talent is there. The programs then pay $$$ to enter these tournaments ($800-1000/weekend) to get "exposure" for these kids. They typically play on college fields, so college coaches can see the kids that are brought to their doorstep (oh, and the tournament pays the college $$$ to use the field. So they make money while skimming for recruits on the deal as well.)

- The issue at hand is I am on the very bottom rung of this pile. The tournament organization doesn't want to do much to tick off these multi-team development organizations. My deal was with an 18u team. But this organization has 10-12 other teams that also pay to play these tournaments. Tick off one team and the organization decides as a whole to not come back next year and beyond because there are dozens of other tournament outlets like this one within 2-3 hours of Chicago. My incident could result in $10-$20k in lost entry fees for the tournament company. This organization does a decent enough job of protecting us, but at the same time, is defending a single umpire worth a loss of $10k+ in entry fees?

This is the dark world of "pay to play" athletics. On it's face, as an official, you are expendable. Which is why using social media is my nuke option here. Obviously today's political climate is one of both acceptance and scorching the earth of people that use language like this. There will always be White, Suburban Yuppie kids playing baseball at a high level. But will this organization want to survive on just that? That's the question at hand.

Edit: And for the record, profit is simply the reason I'm involved. These games pay $65/each and I can cover between 8-15 games over a weekend. Using vacation time at work to make this cash is where my "beer money" for the year comes from. But then again, tournament organizations sometimes feel that since they are writing a check for $1000+ to officials for a single weekend of work, that they can't tick off the paying customers, so

Yeah, you're in a bind, with limited options, but it sounds like you handled it the correct, and adult, way. If the money is worth it to you, which it sounds like it should be, I think all you can do is act exactly like you did. A coach gets out of hand, eject him and move on.

If it happened to you, it's happening to other umpires, and sooner or later the $65/game isn't going to be enough to get people to put up with that crap.

[MissThundercat]

Re: Gear Grinding 9: I Need a Wine!

I almost ran into 5 people today at Meijer because they were on their phone and not paying attention.

Also, before surgery, grocery shopping didn't annoy me. Today, almost two weeks later, it was an effort. I came home and took a nap.