http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,162680,00.html

what a freakin psycho. I'd like to meet this guy in a dark alley alone. It's amazing how competitive coaches are coaching such young players. I did the 9-10 year old AABC regional tonight and you absolutely would not believe some of the coaches and parents and how serious they took it. It was like it was a matter of life or death, like their careers were riding on the game. I mean seriously, a week later how important is the game? Who is going to care about it? It makes me want to scream at them and say just shutup and have fun

That just makes me sick. The game of baseball should be open to anyone. That coach has no buisness coaching any team. What is he gonna do when that team gets to high school age and things realy matter? I wonder what is going to happen to the player though, because on one hand he is only 8 and his coach told him to do something, on the other hand he did do it and my guess is he would have done it for no monney if his coach had told him to do it.

This is yet another reason why no T-Ball league with players 8 and under should be competitive. For T-Ball around here, they don't even keep score, and that's the way it should be. It makes me sick seeing them have All-Star tournaments in T-Ball when half the kids really have no idea what they're doing yet the coaches are so friggin' competitive they'll do anything to win. Makes me sick.

I say don't even start keeping score until the kids are actually pitching (9-year-olds and up). Because the younger they are, the more competitive the coaches/parents are.

18 years ago I managed a Minor Little League team and one of the lads was autistic.
He picked a lot of dandelions out in right.
The nine lads and 7 lasses went 5-0-1.
mick

Your team only played 6 games the whole season?

What?
 

"If Downs is convicted of any crime, he won't be allowed to be a coach next year, Forsythe said."

Ummmm...just next year? If I had any input in this, I would do my darndest to see that he never again coach in my area, for any team, EVER. And if someone would accept this guy as a volunteer or hire him to coach, I'd want to have them checked into a mental institution.

-Josh

Yeah, Luke.
It was the first year for that division and it had to end before family vacations and hockey camps. :)
mick

Simply put, the most despicable act by anyone involved in youth sports that I have heard of (I am only 23). He should be penalized to the fullest extent of the law and then banned from coaching, playing, officiating, etc. in organized athletics) Is this truly all that different from being a sex offender convicted while involved in youth athletics? He clearly does not understand what it means to be a sportsman, nonetheless, a compassionate human being on a field of play... (Got a beef? Ask yourself this-what if it was your kid?)

This story has made one of our three national sports networks. Classic.

It seems things may be more complicated than the orginial story had led us to believe. I live in Pittsburgh, and our area papers have been covering this for about a week. Here's the latest update: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05200/540114.stm.

...Sounds like a real toilet bowl.
Yuck!
mick

Still sounds like he paid a player to injure another. And I don't care if it was a joke or not between friends, awefully poor taste to teach kids that it pays to injure an official.

I would hope that anyone who overhears this type of talk at any level would report the coach to the proper league officials. If I heard this comment during a game, I would probably run the coach.

Probably? This ejection should be a no-brainer

I'm a member of an auto racing website and posted the links to the story up on the racing forum to see what the other drivers would think. This is one reply...

"Simple, we set "Coach" Mark Downs against a wall and allow people to throw baseballs at his head and groin. Then when the kids and their parents are done with him, we bring in the Big Unit, Randy Johnson, to throw a few heaters at his noggin. I wonder how "Coach" Downs would like that?!?"

update
 

http://ap.washingtontimes.com/dynami...S&SECTION=HOME

The coach's tailor should be shot, too.

Greymule,

Thank you for posting the link to the update on this situation.

After reading it I am even more angry than when I first heard about it.

What does it take for this league to remove a coach for God's sakes. They said he is STILL a coach in their league!

I realize that he is innocent until proven guilty, but a suspension is absolutly warranted until his trial!

Tim.