The Good, The Bad, and The Assholes

Since we've been on a pet-peeve kick, here I go...

I was recently at a softball game to watch my niece, Ashlee, kick some major butt as an incredible catcher for a city team of 9 and 10 year-old girls. I could go on for pages and pages about her amazing innate abilities, but ya'll probably wouldn't believe me cuz of the Auntie-Bias, so suffice it to say that she is a softball phenom.

Her team played a double-header. The first game was a lot of fun. The coaches and parents on both teams were calm and collected and full of nothing but encouragement for the girls on the team. It's one of those where they only play 3 innings (cuz most girls walk) and the teams switch at-bats every 5 points or 3 outs - whichever comes first. The girls seemed to have fun and there was some real budding talent from many of them. Then came the second game. The team that they played second was coached by a couple of the biggest assholes I've ever experienced. They constantly chastised their girls and blatantly attempted to cheat. They screamed and belittled and pretty soon their animosity was picked up by parents. It happened that both teams were tied for 1st place in the city league, so it was a big grudge match. The coaches argued every call, screamed at the players, belittled the girls as they stood in the batters box or if they missed a throw or a catch. I was absolutely astonished. I had to leave after 1 inning. I sat in the car talking to Essbee (I was in Tejas, she was in Colorado) on my cell phone and heard the hollering from parents getting louder and louder. The game ended in a tie, and the opposing team's coaches challenged the outcome of the game (it turned out they challenged every game they lost). I don't know what I would have done if I was a parent. I would be so angry that my kid had to be exposed to such unsportsmanlike conduct. What a shame those coaches were to up-and-coming athletes.