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We went to watch some Little League baseball yesterday. Our oldest grandson plays on a team for his school, a private Christian school. They play other schools, teams from surrounding counties. The teams are a mix of schools, groups, locals, etc. ages 9-12.
Some of the teams are much more "talented" due to various reasons, but it's all good because they all love the game. In all the times we've been able to go games, nothing ugly has ever taken place, it's generally good sportsmanship all around.
Not yesterday. Our team played a much more advanced team for their second game. The boys were all way bigger, and you could just tell they had more experience playing the game. That said, our team held their own and lost by just one run.
But, that other coach. What a jerk. Screaming at the home plate ump, yelling at his own team, marching out on the field screaming at the infield ump. He even dropped the F bomb, conveniently turned away from the ump as he did so. The ump finally "restricted" him, so he had to leave the diamond, the LL equivalent to be grown out of the game.
This teams spectators weren't much better, name calling, cursing, actually setting up chairs to watch the game directly in front of us, then getting huffy when asked to move. We have a player on our team who is on the bottom edge of the age requirement, so he is much smaller than some of the players. They called him a "little sh**" within earshot of most of us. The kid holds his own, is a decent batter and good at fielding.
In what world does a grown many get his jolly's acting like a fool in front of kids? It's no wonder the team's supporters were acting like jerks too. So disappointing.
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