# Coach has disabled player deliberately hurt **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 15, 2005, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coach-has-disabled-player-deliberately-hurt/312677 "2005-07-15T17:39:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coach-has-disabled-player-deliberately-hurt/312677/101 "2005-07-20T12:25:56Z")
Well thankyou **Latecomer** for the latest in the news about this bizarre story. Although the jury is still out, it could very well be this coach is one hell of a good guy. It could very well be a shame how his character has been maligned. Not only that, but a community as well has been slandered in this pit in a broad brush attempt to associate the alleged atrocious behavior to a whole community now labelled as white trash. This is not the finest moment for the SDMB community. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coach-has-disabled-player-deliberately-hurt/312677/102 "2005-07-20T12:55:26Z")
> [@JeffB](#): > > Just a guess, but since it’s tee-ball, they may be required to play everyone. According to the article I read, every kid gets 3 innings per game. ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coach-has-disabled-player-deliberately-hurt/312677/103 "2005-07-20T13:01:54Z")
Oh my god, I just read this story and I was totally shocked to first of all see the words Fayette County (since that is where I’m from), and then so not totally shocked to see the word Dunbar. The other people in this thread are right, it is a shithole. The whole county is kind of a shithole, but that is one of the worst places in the county. And dude, doesn’t it just figure that when my home area makes national news it would be for something like this? We can’t, like, be the home of the world’s biggest taco or something. Stupid redneck hillbillies making me look bad. **catsix** , which rural PA town are you from? Are you from Fayette County? I’m originally from Brownsville but lived in Uniontown most of my life. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coach-has-disabled-player-deliberately-hurt/312677/104 "2005-07-20T13:03:03Z")
> [@grienspace](#): > > Not only that, but a community as well has been slandered in this pit in a broad brush attempt to associate the alleged atrocious behavior to a whole community now labelled as white trash. > > This is not the finest moment for the SDMB community. Umm…just a second. I also have been to Dunbar, PA and Fayette County PA in general. While generalization is not a cool thing (in general), I need to speak up. I have never met someone in that area that I would ever want to spend time with. The crimes that occur there tend to make the “weird news” columns. I have friends who have gone to Pechins just to gawk. So I say, cut **catsix** and **beergeek279** et al some slack until you visit the area. ---
**Author:** ![Harborwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Harborwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harborwolf)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coach-has-disabled-player-deliberately-hurt/312677/105 "2005-07-20T13:06:39Z")
> [@grienspace](#): > > This is not the finest moment for the SDMB community. Coming from you, this is pretty fucking funny. ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coach-has-disabled-player-deliberately-hurt/312677/106 "2005-07-20T13:16:08Z")
> [@vetbridge](#): > > I have never met someone in that area that I would ever want to spend time with. It’s okay, we probably wouldn’t want to spend time with you either. Look, I concede that Fayette County is a shithole, but that doesn’t mean that all the people who live there suck. There are good and bad people in every community, and for every redneck teeball coach there are some pretty cool and amazing people who just happened to be born in a sucky part of the country. And some people have to shop at Pechin’s, there is just nothing else they can afford. My family was lucky enough to be able to afford to shop at Foodland, but some people don’t have that option. I don’t think it’s cool to gawk at them. I am really pissed off about this story because it just furthers the stereotype of Fayette County people as being a bunch of hicks. City people (like those cultured cosmopolitans in Pittsburgh) can read this and go “haw haw, look at those hillbillies” without ever examining why it is that Fayette County sucks so much. I already feel a lot of shame about where I’m from, this just makes it worse. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coach-has-disabled-player-deliberately-hurt/312677/107 "2005-07-20T13:27:32Z")
> [@Harborwolf](#): > > Coming from you, this is pretty fucking funny. Oh! A gratuitous insult ! I can only assume that that remark will be the highlight of your day and justifies your continued existence. As for myself, I look out the window and see I’m going to have a fine sunny day with lots of productive activities ahead. Please, I hope you and everyone else has a good day as well. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coach-has-disabled-player-deliberately-hurt/312677/108 "2005-07-20T13:30:07Z")
> [@continuity eror](#): > > Look, I concede that Fayette County is a shithole, but that doesn’t mean that all the people who live there suck. I never ment to imply that _all_ the people there were bad. I just didn’t want people who were saying bad things about the area to be judged without some support. I have been to the Fayette County Fairgrounds on a few occasions and I am sure that I could find someone there that I would like to hang with, however I think you would admit that the signal to noise ratio would be high. Sorry if I offended you. I really just ment to offer some support to catsix and beergeek279. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coach-has-disabled-player-deliberately-hurt/312677/109 "2005-07-20T13:56:40Z")
> [@continuity eror](#): > > And some people have to shop at Pechin’s, there is just nothing else they can afford. Sorry for the continued hijack, but there is an important point I think you are missing. It aint about money. I lived in west philly for four years, and I think the per capita gross income of my neighbors was lower than the residents of Dunbar. The people shopped wherever they could afford to, but they had enough, I dunno, dignity(?) to put on shoes and a shirt before going to the grocery store. And I really hope that this isn’t taken as an insult, it’s just an observation and surely does not apply to every resident of the county. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coach-has-disabled-player-deliberately-hurt/312677/110 "2005-07-20T14:01:52Z")
> [@grienspace](#): > > Oh! A gratuitous insult ! I can only assume that that remark will be the highlight of your day and justifies your continued existence. Why would you have to assume? You should have more than enough experience with gratuitous insults (see Post #72) to know how it makes one feel. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coach-has-disabled-player-deliberately-hurt/312677/111 "2005-07-20T14:15:00Z")
Post #72 wasn’t a _gratuitous_ insult. It was a response to a long list of gratuitous insults from her going back 5 years, many of which I ignored. She hurt me, put a little damper on my day and for what? Just because moron and retard aren’t exactly the same? I’m not proud of that response, but bloody hell, enough is enough. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coach-has-disabled-player-deliberately-hurt/312677/112 "2005-07-20T14:32:45Z")
> [@grienspace](#): > > This is not the finest moment for the SDMB community. Nor yours. Before you break out your widest brush you may want to make sure that everyone in this thread is guilty of what you claim. > [@](#): > > She hurt me, put a little damper on my day and for what? Just because moron and retard aren’t exactly the same? I’m not proud of that response, but bloody hell, enough is enough. Don’t hijack other threads to deal with some 5 year old dis that you can’t get over. ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coach-has-disabled-player-deliberately-hurt/312677/113 "2005-07-20T16:13:58Z")
> [@vetbridge](#): > > I think you would admit that the signal to noise ratio would be high. Well, yeah, why else would I have moved out? (Check location tag.) 🙂 But you can’t blame a girl for trying to defend her roots, however humble they may be. ---
**Author:** ![Siege](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@Siege](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siege)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coach-has-disabled-player-deliberately-hurt/312677/114 "2005-07-20T16:25:51Z")
Folks, I grew up one county north of where this happened, also in a small town. My best friend wasn’t autistic; she was slightly mentally handicapped and work a back brace and leg braces. I watched other kids make fun of her and pick on her for being handicapped and I don’t remember a single adult speaking out against it, although I assume there must have been some. This went on from kindergarten until she had a nervous breakdown the summer after 10th grade. I defended her as best I could, but things were pretty rough and what this coach is supposed to have done isn’t suprising. I wish it were. CJ ---
**Author:** ![Harborwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Harborwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harborwolf)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coach-has-disabled-player-deliberately-hurt/312677/115 "2005-07-20T18:09:41Z")
> [@grienspace](#): > > Post #72 wasn’t a _gratuitous_ insult. It was a response to a long list of gratuitous insults from her going back 5 years, many of which I ignored. She hurt me, put a little damper on my day and for what? Just because moron and retard aren’t exactly the same? I’m not proud of that response, but bloody hell, enough is enough. Post #72 was a cheap shot. There are loads of ways to let your feelings known without taking digs like that. Before you go sounding off about low points in board history (and this thread isn’t even close. Not by a long way), you should clean up your own act first. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coach-has-disabled-player-deliberately-hurt/312677/116 "2005-07-20T18:28:18Z")
> [@continuity eror](#): > > Well, yeah, why else would I have moved out? (Check location tag.) 🙂 But you can’t blame a girl for trying to defend her roots, however humble they may be. So…we cool, right? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![beergeek279](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ea924/32.png) [@beergeek279](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beergeek279)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2005, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coach-has-disabled-player-deliberately-hurt/312677/117 "2005-07-21T23:38:33Z")
Sorry bout not showing up earlier…the motherboard on my laptop has failed; out of warranty of course (while not “day 91 out of 90”, it’s pretty close…as a hijack/lesson, always get the extended warranty on a laptop!!!) and I’ve been moving out of my apartment, but had to come up with an assignment for my students so I wanted to check in. **Contrapunal** , as others have mentioned, I’ve been to Dunbar, and it’s just not a pretty place. Unfortunately, it’s a place that fits the stereotype, which is a shame because Penn State Fayette is 3 miles from the town, and I don’t think I have to call the admissions office to see if they automatically circular-file applications from there. I certainly wouldn’t say that about Fayette County in general. If you’ve ever driven up Mt. Summit to go up to the Fort Necessity battlefield or to Jumonville Glen, where the first shots of what became the French and Indian/Seven Years War were fired by George Washington himself, you wouldn’t say that it’s a horrid place. Nor if you went down to the Yough River through Ohiopyle, some of the best river rafting you can find, not to mention Fallingwater, one of the world’s most beautiful houses from the days when the whole area was the Pittsburgh elite’s weekend away. So, Fayette County definitely has its charms…a lot of natural beauty, and it’s a shame that something coming out of the most disadvantaged part of a rather disadvantaged area would ruin a lot of good efforts to revitalize a key part of Southwestern PA. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2005, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coach-has-disabled-player-deliberately-hurt/312677/118 "2005-07-21T23:52:39Z")
_sigh_ You know, **grienspace** , I would have been more than happy to appologize for calling you a jackass. I simply misunderstood and thought you were saying that “retard” is fair game for an insult (in my opinion, at this point in time, it’s not). I would have said, “Hey, sorry, I didn’t know that.” But because you wanted to make it personal, because of some kind of strange, imaginary feud, I didn’t. Not much I can do about that. Now, I’m wondering if maybe the kid who hit the player in question simply made up the part about the coach because he was afraid of getting in trouble. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2005, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coach-has-disabled-player-deliberately-hurt/312677/119 "2005-07-29T01:01:57Z")
[Linkety-link.](http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/baseball/more/07/28/coach.player.ap/index.html?cnn=yes) The coach has had criminal charges filed against him based in part on the testimony of the boy he promised 25 bucks to: > [@](#): > > Eight-year-old Keith Reese said that he hit teammate Harry Bowers because his coach offered him $25 to do so. > > [snip] > > “He told me if I would hit Harry in the face, he would pay me $25,” Reese, wearing a T-shirt and shorts, told a small courtroom crammed with spectators. > > Reese said the coach wanted Bowers out of the game. His first throw hit Bowers in the groin area, the second in the head. > > After the first throw, Downs “told me to go out there and hit him harder. So I went out and hit him in the ear,” Reese said. > > [snip] > > Reese said he had never warmed up with Bowers before; he usually tossed the ball around with two other teammates on the Falcons. > > Reese’s father, Keith Reese Sr., said he thought something was wrong. “I told my wife I don’t know why Keith’s warming up with Harry because Harry can’t even catch the ball and Keith’s very good.” > > [snip] > > The elder Reese said that after the playoff game, the coach admitted to having offered the younger Reese money to hurt his teammate. > > “He told me, 'I did something ignorant. I told [Keith] I’d give him $25 to hit Harry in the face to take him out of the game,”’ Reese said. And then there’s this bit: > [@](#): > > The younger Reese said Downs never paid him. When the boy asked for the money after the game, which the Falcons won, the coach said he’d get the $25 if he signed up for the fall season, the boy testified. A class act all the way. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Yeticus\_Rex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a698b9/32.png) [@Yeticus\_Rex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeticus_Rex)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2005, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coach-has-disabled-player-deliberately-hurt/312677/120 "2005-07-29T17:38:44Z")
> [@](#): > > Downs, 27, of Dunbar, is accused of offering the payment to Reese before a June 27 **playoff** game. Well, that’s a red flag. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coach-has-disabled-player-deliberately-hurt/312677.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coach-has-disabled-player-deliberately-hurt/312677.md?page=7)