[Fan10]

Last year, in an NCAA game that I was watching, the right fielder and the first baseman were both trying to catch a pop fly when there was a horrible collision between the two of them. The right fielder got up and stayed in the game, but the first baseman stayed down as there was great concern about injury to the head/neck area. There was about a 20 minute delay while his neck was immobilized, and he was taken off the field by ambulance. Fortunately, it turned out that he had no injuries to the head/neck area and had a bad shoulder injury.

While they waited for the ambulance, he was conscious. The whole team gathered around him, and they said a prayer. The head coach was the second person to arrive on the scene (beaten only by the trainer), and the head coach immediately got down on his knees, and all the way up until the first baseman was put on the stretcher, he was talking to him the whole time. I know most head coaches would have done the same. After all, he recruited the kid, and I know he felt a duty to be there for him during what was probably one of the scariest moments of his life.

After the dust settled, I started thinking about something: What if earlier in the game, the head coach had been ejected and then this happened? I know that an ejection carries with it that a coach has to leave the sights and sounds of the game. If he comes back out to be with his kid, and then as soon as the kid is wheeled off, he goes right back to the locker room, I know that he would be in violation of the rules. But, is this a situation where it could be overlooked? Is there ever a legitimate reason for an ejected coach to come back--even if he leaves before the game resumes?