New Term - OOSK

[mcrowder]

We all have seen or heard about the OOO - Overly Officious Official. Last night I came across the Overly Official Scorekeeper. Two of them in a row.

8U Softball - game 1.

I'm just a parent for this one, keeping score. League plays CBO, and has a rule prohibiting any automatic outs for BOO, playing shorthanded, etc - very low key, as 8U often is. Last inning, my team down 12-3 (with a 6-run limit - so we're just playing out the string now). Our first batter is missing. After about a minute it's discovered that she's in the bathroom, sick. So we skip her. This brings us down to 9. Other team's scorekeeper starts yelling at the umpire, including mild profanity. Umpire points her to me (great...), so I get up and head over to her. She starts demanding an out. When I explain the local rules, she starts yelling at me - "Why won't the umpire explain it to me." "Why didn't anyone tell me the rule." Eventually cussing at me so I walked away from her. After the game, she's yelling at the league president (who is trying to get his team ready for game 2), and I walk near enough that I get roped into the thing. 10 minutes later, she's still yelling, and I just have to walk away to umpire game 2...

8U - Game 2.

Close game, middle of the 3rd. All of a sudden, scorekeeper (not the same lady) starts saying, "Hey blue!" After the 4th time when she finally realizes I'm not going to stop the game to see what her deal is, she yells, "Blue - can you get those coaches off the field." Coaches were perhaps 3 feet onto the field, from an inverted dugout whose opening is literally 50 feet past the bases. I should have kept ignoring, but she's getting louder and borderline disruptive. I say, "No!" and go back to umpiring. Then it's, "Hey blue, they have kids in the dugout! Can you get them out of there?" "No - that's enough, let's play." Between innings (my drink is near her ... so I was close enough that I couldn't ignore her easily), she and her husband start going on and on about how the other team's coaches shouldn't be on the field ... and what would I do if they decided to line the inside of their fence with parents and kids ... and "How do you know those kids in the dugout have had a background check ... you know in XXX (the nearest town), everyone in the dugout has to have a background check..." Yadda yadda.

It Doesn't Matter, and it's SURELY not the umpire's job to go making sure everyone in a friggin dugout has a background check and is of a certain age. If someone in there is a problem, I'll address it - but at 8U, teams need all the help they can get organizing the girls (one of the "kids" in the dugout was 17, and her whole job was to get the catcher dressed after she bats - I surely don't want to be making HER leave), and the booger isn't bleeding, don't pick it... right?

Good god, people. Now I remember why I delegate those 8U's to someone else!

[CajunNewBlue]

It's all your fault... it always is. babysitter, nurse maid, cop and cleanup crew. I just love it too.

[NCASAUmp]

We've always had troubles with our scorekeepers in two of the different leagues I call. In one league, we have scorekeepers who are on their cell phones, watching TV and reading the newspaper. Outs don't always get posted on the board, runs get missed, innings sometimes take a few outs before they're changed. We complain, the town does nothing. I know it's not my job, but I do keep track of runs as they cross the plate with my indicator's Inning wheel.

In the other league, we have one scorekeeper who feels it is her duty to correct everything. And I mean... Everything. Especially BOO. I've tried to tell her that it's up to the defense to catch it, but she doesn't seem to get it.

Ugh.