Quote:
Originally posted by wolfpup27
I agree with all of your stories, and we all have different reference points. In Washington there is zero tolerance in all sports. This past spring one of our high school players slid into home and was tagged hard in the face with the catcher's mit, split his lip. Upon being tagged he said in a low voice (no one in the dugout or stands heard it), "What the hell?" He was immediately ejected. The manager went ballistic, asking the ump how he could apply such a double standard, as this ump talks to the players at bat, saying things like, "STRIKE... c'mon kid, swing that chicken sh** bat!" The ump threw the manager and cleared the stands that had erupted. Our team refused to come out of the dugout and the game was forfeited, not prior to stating that the game was under protest. Of course, the league would not hear the protest because the judgement of the umpire was above appeal, and the player & coach sat out for their ejections. BUT, most importantly of all, the umpire was reprimanded and suspended for the remainder of the season for his conduct. All participants need to be accountable for their actions, and justification for calls, or non-calls, need to be above reproach. Sound judgment is paramount to respect; lack of respect usually comes from bad judgment. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and sometimes it is hard to see the inner beauty that someone has until they do something outwardly to show their true character.
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I am curious, if this ump had not ejected this player, was your team still going to complain about the ump's conduct towards players at the plate or was the complaint made only after he made what your team considered a bad call? I don't mean to start anything by refering to the call that way, if he has been instructed to enforce "zero tolerance" then the call was justified. Regardless of "zero tolerance" or the call, if any official speaks to youth athletes that way, the coaches should address it professionally at the game and then report it to the state afterwards, even if all the calls go their way.
Officials are gonna make bad calls, they can miss things, mispercieve things, forget things or misapply things. That is why in football we always communicate so that regardless of the initial signal, we strive to get the call right. Unless there is some bias though, these mistakes should break even over time. Teams that "protest" and refuse to continue play, prevent themselves from winning despite a bad call. They focus on the bad call and not on a strategy to win. I hope the state chewed on the coach and/or AD that decided not to continue play for his/her lack of professionalism and leadership of the youth. Around here, such an act by a coach or an AD would be the same as them submitting their resignation.