yeah, but only some of them. That ass should be shot.

The world is a wicked place so long as it hosts us.

shot? nah. but he needs the crap beat out of him.

People who hurt the weak over something as inconsequential as a tee-ball game have a fucking screw loose and need a good ass kicking. It's a game, it's supposed to be fun.

I don't even know what t-ball is but it doesn't really matter. Jeez, this is far beyond the sideline parentnazis that scream at their kids.
There's perhaps a bigger lesson in there about hypercompetetivism or obsessional thinking or something. Not to mention basic dignity to others let alone the less fortunate. I don't wish violence (although I kind of thought that way at first) on him but he should do some serious community service helping the disabled. And not coach again.

watuc, I'll give you $25 to do it.

No, peacay, not the kids, not at first, at least, because God only knows what he'd do to them in the form of reciprocal punishment.

The first stage should be with the parents of disabled children. It's probably spare his daughters a world of harm as well.

Well I wasn't really even thinking of kids actually. Point taken though. I was thinking of his working supervised in nursing homes or yard work at houses of people who need assistance and the such like.
I didn't think of the possible revenge angle though.

If we were on a jury, the deliberations might take a wee while.

Nothing is more important than sports.

What an ass.

peacay, "t-ball" stands for "tetherball", which is played much like baseball. In place of a pitcher, the ball rests on an upright tube at home plate; the batter tries to hit the ball off without hitting the tether, or missing both entirely.

This is usually for kids (or overly-concerned parents) who don't want their youngster to get hit by the ball while trying to hit the ball.

In any case, this incident recalls the adage about little leagues being adults' sports, as children who aren't "winners" generally play on their own.

Cases like this test the pacifist... (and I'm not one)

That's a crazy story. On so many levels. I've got to have some more ice cream.

Don't trust ice cream unless you make it yourself.

I have to wonder about the kid who did what the coach asked. Was he naturally a bully? Or intimidated himself by the coach?

And to get into olde fart mode: Whatever happened to just playing in the neighborhood with kids? Not Play Dates. Not organized sports [organized by obssessive adults]. Just getting together with some kids and having pickup games?

What a concept, eh? Kids doing their own thing, learning how to interact with their peers *on their own.*

[Of course, I'm so old, I don't think there were that many organized sports for girls in small towns like the one I grew up in.]

You hear a lot of strange stories these days about adults involved in kids' sports. Has anyone followed the Bravo TV show about sports parents? I couldn't bear to watch after the first episode, but read synopses and discussions of later episodes on a figure skating board I frequent.

My gawd, the pushy cheerleading mother, the snide skating mom, the insane football dad. After I read how hard the latter was pushing his *EIGHT*-year-old son, I wondered - at what point does the way some sports *parents* behave become child abuse.

Often. Every day in fact. And here's a "? minus the white space...."

Some advice: when derinking at a bar during your laundry's dry cycle, don't play "Jack & Diane" followed by "Piano Man," and then talk to a kid just back from Iraq in desert fatigues. It'll only depress you.

Man, what an abysmal lack of any moral fiber. I just hope he feels as guilty as he should.

invitiaphore: I told him flat out that I had marched against the war, but that I (as the son of a Vietnam veteran) still cared what happened to him and guys like him. He said that the war wasn't to popular with the guys out in the field either, that he had joined up as a messup kid just after 9/11. So why don't you keep your knee-jerk judgementalism to yousrelf, ok?

Whoa, jonmc, sorry for the misunderstanding but I was talking about the guy linked to in the article above. I have nothing but respect for the people risking their lives over there for something they have no say in.

OK. Sorry man. you seemed like a decent guy in every other interaction we've had, so I reacted strongly.

I'm just trying to do my part to keep veterans of this war from feeling like the Vets from that insane Asian war (as one wise songwriter put it).

Peace?

Let me add: I've met several people (including a couple of fellow mefites) who have said that their fathers dodged the draft, and I respect that as a moral choice, it takes courage (I'm talking the Bill Clinton type who dodged and spoke out against it, not the Dan Quayle/GW Bush type who were in favor of it, but wanted some other guy to fight it). I even got into a brief argument with the guy onthe next barstool who considerds reagan the last great president who got offended when I offered Clinton as an great one. I eventually said that I didn't argue politics in bars since it fucked up pleaseant afternoons.Especially when pretty young girls are singing along to the "Don't tp Believin'" that you've just put on the jukebox.

Back to the coach story...I think the kid who took the money and committed the assault should also be up for some punishment. Nominal, but punishment none the less. I'm pretty sure it's a crime to take money to hurt someone, even if you are a kid. Not that I'm suggesting the kid should be involved with the justice system, because I'm not...but I think he should be removed from the team/league, whatever, so that he understands the error of his actions.

If he were my kid, I would yank him off the team so fast his head would spin.

As for the coach, I'm pretty sure that conspiracy to commit assault is a pretty big crime. Just because the assaulted is a child, shouldn't reduce the crime level. I'm not a lawyer, so I have no idea what the laws are regarding assault, but I know that if I had hired someone to throw baseballs at my ex-husband, I'd probably be in trouble for it. ('Cause if it were legal...dude, I'da hired the Rangers for a day, I tell you what...) Hee.

jonmc: no problem. I just recently read a book called The Things They Carried, and you reminded me of it, because the writer of the story writes about how he came very close to evading the draft, but instead of having the courage to brave the disapproval of his family and friends, he went with the "cowardly" option of going to war instead. I think going in the face of death takes some sort of balls, but at the same time, yes, speaking out is gutsy too. But, like you said, enough of politics...

PsychoKitty, I imagine that conspiracy to commit assault against a minor would be an even bigger crime...and the (rightful) stigma against the abuse of the disabled probably won't be working in his favor either.

it's OK, ivitaphore, my dad spent his tour burning shitters and guarding ammo dumps. He never got his CIB and he thanks god for it, his zip code in Queens lost more people in Vietnam than any other one in the country.

These days, he listens to bot NPR and Limbaugh and snickers aloud at both. I guess I inherited my perspective from the ol' bastard.

Mrs. jonmc was thinking of teaching The Things They Carried in her high school class in the South Bronx, where military recruiters have been hitting with a vengeance. She convinced most of her students to say "leave me alone," but she has a few who are JROTC, who get certain things (discipline, reward for effort) that they didn't get at home. But she taught All Quiet On The Western Front so hopefully they have an idea of what they might be in for.

What about a charge of corruption of a minor? I don't see why that one always has to have a sexual context.

yeah, people suck, but I didn't need to read the article to know that.

Whatever happened to just playing in the neighborhood with kids? Not Play Dates. Not organized sports [organized by obssessive adults]. Just getting together with some kids and having pickup games?
Because you can't let your kids out on their own for fear of some sick fuck driving by in a car and dragging them off for his/her sick games, that's why. I don't know any parents who don't wish their kids could just hang out with other kids in the neighbourhood the way we did when we were growing up, but it is quite simply not safe out there. Because people suck.