Please help settle a dispute

[John Robertson]

Softball Canada rules were used--where only the starters may re-enter.

The coach (who would never be mistaken for Sparky Anderson, Joe Torre or Casey Stengel) didn't dispute the substitution rule once she found out what it was. She was simply annoyed that I didn't tell her about it in advance. Same thing when she was oblivious about the charged conference rule.

Silly me: I thought umpires were supposed to enforce the rules and the coaches were supposed to teach the rules to their players.

The umpires who worked this team's next game said the coach admitted during the ground rules that she was "totally clueless about book rules" and wouldn't make any further managerial moves without asking what the implications were.