Tough Love

THop- Thanks for the laugh today - great post! Funny thing is, I had a parent send me an anonymous note this season about her son having to cut his hair (it is a team rule for all players). Maybe I should post this on the team board!

Thop

If that post offends anyone they have a problem

Great post !!!!

Thats a great post. We have a haircut policy. We do not allow jewelry of any kind. We do not allow profanity. Now kids are going to break rules. Every once in a while someone will forget to take off a necklace at practice or their hair will get out of controll and yes they will curse. Thats when we teach them that there are consequences for their actions. They take it like men and do what they have to do. The kids handle it much better than the parents do most of the time. I actually had a mom that was very upset about our no facial hair policy. You see her 16 year old Junior had never shaved before. His mom did not want him to shave because she thought the peach fuzz on his chin was cute and she did not want him to start shaving. Boy that was an ordeal dealing with a mom that refused to let her son shave. She finally gave in but even to this day everytime I see her she says "Coach May your the man that made my baby shave". You just cant win sometimes.

Recently, a lot of my sons friends have gotten tattoos. Its like some kind of epidemic. They are all baseball players and seniors in high school. The tattoos are relatively simple and either on the arm or back and have some reference to baseball. My son, a junior, wants one also. I have refused to allow him to get one , at least not until he turns 18. Is anyone else dealing with this?

We said no tatoo until the arm, or the body attached to it, is paying its own way. That'll get me till he's 23-24.

Hokieone, Good answer. My friend told his son he could only get the word "Dad" on his arm. His son passed on it.

I have the same expectations for my son and really of his teammates expressed here. Fortunately, they are a clean and good looking bunch. I've told my son if he EVER came home with a tatoo, I'd scrub it off with a brillo pad. I think he actually takes me for my word!

Well....my son wanted a tattoo badly. He is a very good kid, works hard at his grades and his game. So....I told him a year ago (his junior year) that if he got straight A's (including 1 AP and 2 honor's courses), and 1300 on his SAT's....his Dad and I would pay for the tattoo on his 18th birthday. We had to approve of the design, and the person doing the tattooing. He now has a tattoo....and we think we all got what we wanted.

I am anxious to see the results 30-40 years from now - "Grandmom Ashley" explaining to her grandkids what that sagging looking barbwire around the biceps tatoo is supposed to signify. I don't get it. I agree that some of the tatoos I see are pretty cool, the others [Mike Tyson's face, Allen Iverson's whole body] are a bit much. 2 years ago a number of family members [including my 2 daughters, and Mrs Windmill - shock of all time that one!!] all went out and got one in memory of my nephew who was killed in a car accident. Windmill Junior wanted one, but was advised against it by his doctors, due to his susceptibility to infection and his supressed immune system [story for another thread]. He is making noise about it again, as all his HS buddies are doing it. So far we are winning the battle - once he goes to college, well...we'll see how he handles the peer pressure. Laser removal or not, they really are permanent.

I told my son that when he was out of hs and could pay for it on his that he could get a tattoo.

He will have no problem explaining his to his grandkids. He got it in honor of signing his minor league contract. It is a dream catcher (feathers and all) with a baseball in the middle of the dream catcher. It is beautiful and done it black and grey on his left shoulder. It signifies him chasing and living his dream of trying to become a major league baseball player.

Bighit you have a pm

If they really are dead set on getting a tattoo, especially in a prominent place, suggest they try a henna tattoo first to see if they are really sure. These are not permanent, last about 2-3 weeks before fading. Sometimes players will decide that the "arm band" really looked better on the other guy.

I told my son that if he ever got a tattoo or an earring, he'd better **** well be a pirate.

This is another great story for dad/coaches who coach teenagers.

Son, we need to have THE talk. Meet me at home plate.
By STEVE ROSE | Friday, March 18, 2005, 02:09 PM
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

We’re in that weird time between winter and spring. Soon the dogwood will bloom and the allergy clinics will be making two trips to the bank every day.

People visiting Atlanta in the spring, during pollen season, must think we’re all Irish or just very fond of green clothing and hair.

Spring is when you get a nice sunny day with the temperature in the 70s only to be crushed the next day with a 35-degree rainy deluge. It’s like living in Seattle. Winter just won’t give up.

The real joy of spring is baseball. In Georgia, Little League baseball starts in February. We have to weather the cold and rainouts. I am convinced that rain follows my practice schedule so accurately that the Atlanta Meteorological Society posts it on their Web site.(For your five-day forecast, click on “Steve’s Practice Schedule.”)

I’ve coached baseball for a very long time. My kids are now 13. They’re not Little Leaguers anymore; they’re “Dude Leaguers.” Everyone on my team is “Dude.” Our coaches wear uniforms that say Coach Dude. It is easy to do the lineup: 1b Dude, 2b Dude, etc.

“Dude, I want you to warm up in the bullpen with the catching dude. Let me know when you dudes are ready.”
“Coach Dude? The ump-dude is calling them low.”
And so it goes.

Every spring I make another attempt at “The game of baseball is like the game of life” talk. Somehow I think that if I could get my children to understand the fundamentals of baseball and how it can be applied to life, then I’d inspire them. My baseball-playing son is the youngest of four. I’m O-for-3 with his siblings.

“Son, we need to have a talk.”
“Uh, I really don’t need to. We’ve got HBO, remember?”
“Not that talk! The life is like baseball talk!”
“Can I play X-Box?”
“No! It’s time for the baseball talk. Like life, baseball is a game designed to award those who develop the ability to be consistent. Baseball is a game designed to allow you to fail sometimes. That’s why you play so many games. You always have another chance to make it. In the big leagues, a very successful hitter gets only three hits every 10 times at the plate. You get more than one opportunity, so if you learn and be consistent with a good work ethic and learn to practice your fundamentals you’ll increase your chances of success.”
“Uh, OK.”
“When you fail at something in life, usually you’ll have another chance. It doesn’t mean you’re done. You get chances in life, much like chances in baseball, only with less stats. Baseball gives you a chance to do well at the plate and also in the field. If you have a bad day at the plate you can always recover by having a good day in the field. In life, if you have a bad day at work you can always rebound at home.”
“That’s basketball.”
“What?”
“Rebound is basketball.”
“Look! Are you getting the point here? Baseball is probably the most perfect game in the world and it can be a great example of how you should direct your life! There are so many parallels to use as examples! Do you see it?” “What about the suicide squeeze?”
“Forget that. Not all of the terms apply. Itis the big picture. Just think about it.”
“Hey. What about the cheese?”
“What cheese?”
“You know, bringing the cheese or the pitcher’s throwing high-cheese or ….”
“Look. Iim just trying to explain how baseball can be like life. I have a headache. Here’s a DVD called ‘Bull Durham.’” It explains everything.”
“OK, Dude.”
O-4.

C'mom its not that bad, some actually look great on people (tattoos). besides i would be a hypocrit if i said my son can't get one. by the way he does have a really cool looking one.

I let my daughter get a tattoo before she turned 18. My son has chin hair that he sometimes twists into dredlocks. His team is 7-0 so far including 3 scrimmages. He is the leading hitter, scorer, RBI man, and has 2 HRs. He washed his car and took the dog for a walk today. My wife has 2 tattoos and I have one. I am blessed.

If tattoos, earings and long hair are the worst they do consider yourself blessed

AMEN to that, TRhit i have gotten your email, your hear from us real soon...thanks again

I have to agree with TR. If we can turn them out on their own, and they haven't:
Become Parents
Gotten Aids
Done narcotics
Driven while drunk

We can deal with most everything else without too much headache. We have to pick our battles, and those four are the biggies, as I see things. Most anything else, we can deal with and not have a major problem on our hands. It IS all relative....