The Protest.

This is part 3 of the T-Ball Saga. While each part is self contained. The check out the previous two posts for the lead-ins.

Ladybug's team is in the city playoffs.  While this is a super accomplishment, it's by no means as prestigious as scoring four touchdowns in one game at a city championship game for Polk High School.  So for parents and coaches to get upset at callings on a field when it involves a team of 4 and 5 years old is retarded.


Let me 'splain..

Our team won district last Saturday and we played the first round of city on Monday.  We won.  Round  2 was on Wednesday evening.  The team we played was awesome.  Honestly the best team we've played so far and they made us look like we Forrest Gumped our way to the finals.  

They could have beaten The Astros.

We were in a position we've not been in before.  Losing.  Our coach notices the little stuff the other team's coaches are doing that are considered infractions. The ump waves him off.  We later get called for an out when one of our players takes off their helmet outside the dugout.  This along with other what seemed like one-sided calls mostly against us, started to piss off our coach.

It's the top of the fourth and we're up to bat.  I'm trying to get one of those aforementioned players out of the dugout so she can bat.  On the way to the plate, I see our coach, the umps, all the other team's coaches and some dude.

The dude turns out to be the commissioner of the league.

I'm trying to motivate my batter, when the head ump yells, "That's the ball game!!"

WTH?!?

Then I hear from the umps yelling and  pointing at one of our parents, "No sir, YOU called the game."

Then the obligatory ump burn of "how much are they paying you."

I'm stinkin' confused, so I get the kids and line them up on the baseline so we can close out the game.  I'm glad I'm wearing sunglasses because I want to cry.  As far as I know, one of the parents on my team were talking crap and the ump had enough.  I told each and every one of the kids they did an amazing jobs and that I was proud of how they played.

While closing out in prayer, I shook my head and was thinking this is just a T-Ball game.  There's no bragging rights, no one is getting a contract.  It's supposed to be for the kids.

We get out the dug out and I look for KC.  I see she is at the OTHER team's dug out.  I could see she wasn't getting all west side on them and came back over to where I was.

I learn from KC that while I was helping the player, our coach called the game.  

Basically he quit.

KC went over there to apologize for our actions (the yelling, the arguing, the quitting).  While the parents were waiting for the coach to get back (he was off discussing the issues of the game with the other coach, ump, and commissioner), KC makes an announcement to the parents saying she did not like the way the game ended.  She teaches our kids to finish things, and quitting when things don't go your way isn't an option.  She said she went to apologize to the other team and she was going to let the coach have it.

Coach comes over and starts to talk, but KC wants to talk first.  She does and tells the coach what she told the parents.

The coach was very cool in letting her speak without talking down to her.   He told us that he wanted to protest the game, and he said the ump told him  that if he wants to protest, he needs to quit the game.  So that's what the coach did.

That night, after doing some research, KC found out that the coach didn't have to quit.  He could still play the game under protest, but it has to be recorded.  The game could have continued and the kids wouldn't have been cheated out of finishing.

The protest would determine who plays for first place.  If the protest comes back in our favor, we play for first place on Friday.  It it comes back in favor of the other team, we play for third place on Friday.

Well, we lost the protest.

I expected as much.

So we're playing for third place.  Even if we lose, we're fourth place IN THE CITY!

Number 4 of 40  T Ball teams.  How can you be pissed off about that?

Comments

  1. Good job on placing THIRD Place out of FORTY Teams! Congratulations LADYBUG, to you and your team mates! You did a WONDERFUL job!

    Also congratulations to Mom and Dad for showing Sportsmanlike behavior to the rest of the TEAM! More Parents like that are needed out on the fields!

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  2. Honestly, I wouldn't care how poorly the officials were performing; quitters never win.

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  3. I agree. He should have let them play the game and protest later. Poor kids didn't get to finish the game.

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