quote:Originally posted by ctandc:
Great Post!
As a player, then a coach, now a father and coach…that post sums up so many high school baseball fields across the country.
So we have:
The Foul Ball Guy
The Rules Guy
The Electronic Communication Guy (or the play-by-play guy via text message and phone)
The Strategy Guy (usually stands right next to the Rule Guy)
The Cliches Guy (In my experience he’s usually a really good buddy of the Foul Ball guy. Since that’s all they have to add to the conversation)
What about:
The Disgruntled Parent?
You know the one. The one (Mom OR Dad) who’s clueless why their baby boy is sitting the bench. Never mind the fact the kid’s position is behind the best kid on the team, or the kid can’ t drive a ball out of the infield, or you can time the kid with a calendar etc. This parent usually talks heavily about the parent below:
The “Connected” Parent:
Not usually a coach. Likes to be involved with the booster club, organizes things. Could be Mom or Dad. If this parent’s child is a good, or better than good player, it’s not an issue for most people. If the kid is average…look out.
The “Stats” Guy:
Although I will admit I’m starting to see more and more women using their smartphone to keep track with some type of program for scoring and stats. Normally this guy can tell the batting average of every kid on the team. Of course this guy gets quiet if his kid is going through a slump. Trying to explain to this guy that batting .600 in 15 at bats is not really much of a sign of anything, is like talking to a wall. Fun to listen to though. Especially when you can see they obviously have to go to the bathroom, but don't want to miss anything.
I’ll admit I’m enjoying my son playing High school ball. Even though he’s an 8th grader and it’s just JV, it’s still nice to actually WATCH a game from outside the fence, as I still coach travel ball.
Although it is fun to watch other parents’ faces (who don’t know me) when my kid does something and I make fun of him. Recently a Dad apparently got offended and said something to another parent, who informed him that I was talking about my own kid. LOL
One of my former players who became a head coach locally stated this about "disgruntled parents", he called them the "RedAss Society" as I would be very surprised that nearly ever team does not have a society like that within their group.