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Now y'all know I'm not slow to speak, but yesterday I literally didn't dare open my mouth or I might have started screaming at this coach. I did manage to control myself, but later I laid awake a long time fretting about the situation.
6th grade boys. 3rd place trophy at stake. Team B, kids quite small, but fast and good hands, couldn't shoot. Oh, and by the way, all Caucasian. Team A, all African American, average kids for 6th grade, except this one huge guy that looked like Shaq (although he dribbled better than Shaq). This big guy, A1, actually had some skill, and could shoot. He played excellent defense, but then, just standing there would have been good defense for this guy. He pushed a couple of times with his hands, but mostly kept his body under control. Still, it doesn't take much force for a 200-pounder for displace a 50-pounder in the post! First half he got one PC and one push called against him, but really played pretty well.
At half-time, Coach A comes over and starts into his little work-the-ref routine. "You know, just because he's big, doesn't mean he's fouling a lot. I mean these little guys are cutting him off at the knees. You gotta call this stuff." This is with A1 getting 1 PC call and team B getting 5 pushes or blocks against this one player. "Coach, we're calling it tight, and we definitely see what's happening out there." Coach, "Well, you know, I just really feel protective of these kids. I'm just trying to help them out, you know. I mean, if they don't get athletic scholarships, they'll never make it to college. I mean, being from North Portland and all. So just really protect them, okay? I mean they can't afford to get hurt." ("North Portland" is sort of code around here for poor, and minority, although there are lots of poor whites in North Portland, and lots of rich whites and minorities. P.S. Coach A is white.)
What I wanted to say to him but didn't: Do the parents know that you think these kids are too stupid to get into college without athletic scholarships? Does nobody from North Portland get into college without athletic scholarships? Who gets more scholarship money in the U.S. -- athletes, or poor kids who get average grades? What kind of an idiot believes that it helps a kid to coddle him, and protect him from life (eg fouls)? How many college refs are going to call things this way, so the kid can get into the NBA (since he obviously has no other job possibilities)? If we call more fouls on the other team, will that help him learn to play against bigger, tougher guys when they are all in H.S.?
I felt like tossing him for being so incredibly patronizing. What a jerk!
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