You nailed it. I don’t know where this “boys will be boys” attitude came from and why it continues to get traction today, but it’s flawed at its very core. You do NOT raise better adults by exposing children to poor behavior. Quite the opposite. We need to encourage good behavior in children rather than going out of our way to expose them to adversity in order to “toughen them up”. That’s just bullshit.
I’m really not bothered by this rule; I don’t see negative chatter as a necessary part of the game. It’s rather unfortunate that such a rule was needed, though. I recall my little-league coach chiding me and a teammate for getting carried away with the taunts. The situation was handled by having an adult there with some common sense, something which too often seems to be lacking these days.
Rule 4.06 - No manager, coach orplayer, shall at any time, whether from the bench or the playing field or elsewhere -
(1) incite, or try to incite, by word or sign, a demonstration by spectators;
(2) use language which will in any manner refer to or reflect upon opposing players, mangere, coach, an umpire or spectators;
(two others that I won’t bother typing out)
The umpire may first warn. If continued, remove them from the game.
I was trying to illustrate in a Lion King, Circle of Life kinda way that kids will naturally pick on the lame or weak kids just as lions will single out the lame or weak zebra from a herd.
It is not unique to kids picking on one another, it’s how our world works. The bigger/better companies buy out the smaller companies, big fish eat little fish, bigger countries pick on smaller countries. As you said, kids are going to taunt each other anyway. Why not let them learn something of the world around them, I.E. learn to ignore those taunt and jeers while doing something that is fun such as baseball. Taunting is a part of baseball from the little leagues up to the majors; professional athletes are taunted on the road everywhere, some of them even get taunted at home. Derek Jeter seems to have learned this particular lesson well, A-Rod, not so much.
This is so ridiculous I don’t even feel the need to issue a Pitworthy counterexample.
Just read any of the late Recreational Outrage threads. These things happen in real life: shouldn’t we expose kids who just want to have a fun time in a game to them, just to learn something of the world around them? :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
Not fair! You hurt my self-esteem by using fancy Latin words. So what if people in the Real World™ use Latin? The point here is not to expose me to reality, it’s to protect me from it!
Well, just a practical level, I think they can have any damn rules for thier league they want.
But from the rather lame article linked to in the OP.
Also consider this
(bolding mine)
The UMPS are only kids.
I played LL and I played pick-up ball games with just kids. For some reason, we were always nicer when we it was just kids and no grown ups. Maybe it’s the lack of uniforms, or set teams, or the obsessive use of stats, but for some reason, playing baseball without grownup interference was a lot more fun and I always played better.
Teach players what chatter is appropriate and what is not. “Hey batter, swing” is a just a distraction technique to throw off timing; it is not ‘bullying’. “You swing like a baby, you little wimp!” is a personal insult meant to demean and humiliate, and should not be allowed.
Teach players how to react to chatter appropriately. Concentrating on the ball or repeating the coach’s batting instructions to yourself are appropriate responses; hitting the catcher in the head with a spiked shoe is not.
Too bad the pitcher wasn’t a forehead stitcher. Maybe this would not have escalated.
Your complaint was with whomever forced you to go to that camp, not with the camp itself. Why would someone make you do this? Why send a non-athletic kid to a sports camp? It makes no more sense than sending a kid to a math/science camp when he has difficulty with simple arithmetic.
I think the point I and other posters are making is that, while in the ideal world an umpire would allow chatter and prevent insults, we can imagine circumstances in which that isn’t happening so all chatter is banned. Circumstances like, oh say, other children acting as umpires.
Under those circumstances, it should not be left to the umpire alone. Each coach is responsible for the actions of his own team. If a player is crossing the line from chatter to humiliation, it is the coach’s responsibility to enforce the rules. If it persists, put him on the bench. Any coach not willing to do that should not be coaching.
But in this case, coaches were apparently also part of the problem (the incident with the spike began with a coach being ejected). Having seen little league from the perspective of both kid and adult, I don’t have as much faith in coaches as you. Indeed, many of them have the odd notion that stepping in to prevent insults would be nannying kids.
Well, if that is the kind of self-control we’re going for, how about teaching them to keep their mouth shut and play with respect for others? We don’t teach kids to play golf by yelling “Noonan! Miss it! Mmmmmiss!” Guys at the free throw line aren’t taught to yell shit. Teach them to play straight up and with respect - that’s a good goal.
Again - how do you teach that? Once they are going “I can’t be distracted - I have to focus! Focus!” they are then fucked. I will guarantee you that there’s no learning going on. It’s simply going to be those kids who already can do it who do it, and those who can’t won’t. I don’t remember any single coach doing any sort of drill or practice or training or teaching on how to focus and how to not be distracted by chatter.
Then what makes you think that this new rule will be respected by the coaches and players any more than the old ones were? Obviously, if there is absolute anarchy from the bench to the outfield, it makes no difference what regulations the league hands down, the little monsters aided by the coach-enablers will do as they wish. Better ban baseball altogether.
