Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Pistol-Packing Pops

Thank God this loser didn't pull the trigger. I've disagreed with my kids' coaches before, but geesh, come on.



Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Friday, July 25, 2008

Coach Blows Up! F Bombs Dropped

From the Just-When-I-Think-I've-Seen-It-All Department. My daughter's team was finishing the last 7 minutes of a game today at a tournament near Portland. They had just tied the game and both teams were gunning the engines, trying to get the game winner. The opponents got a string of shots from just outside our box. Each shot, one of our defenders leapt into the way to block said shot. On one of the blocks the ball hit her on the shoulder, as she was turning away from the ball to prevent possibly getting smacked in the face.



The opposing coach began yelling for a handling call, which being as it occurred in the box would've given their team a 2nd unjustly called shot from the dot (the first was saved by our keeper). While our team was turning the ball upfield, the ref whistled play dead and went over to the other coach (who I now realized was still yelling about the supposed handling call).



I was on the opposite sideline so I couldn't hear much of it - I got a report later on of what was said. All I could see was the ref gesturing to the coach to stop his protests. When he didn't the ref walked over to issue him a yellow card.



At this point, the coach told the ref to engage in an act with himself that would've required a lot of stretching. The ref pointed to the parking lot. The coach sat down in his chair and refused to leave. At this point, the ref whistled the game over and walked off the field.



The coach packed up his chair and began walking off the field, cussing up a blue streak as he went. All in all a nice display for the young folk. These are U16 girls, so I'm sure they're all familiar with profanity, but still not a great show of character from their 60+aged coach.



The game had about 4 minutes left to play when the ref pulled the plug and both teams were working hard to score. So, both groups of young ladies were penalized by the actions of this jerk. Too bad. Hopefully, someone in a role of responsibility will decide that this guy shouldn't be coaching.



Friday, July 11, 2008

Lace 'em Up, Crack-Boy!

Wow. 2 tournaments in 2 weekends and not much in the way of bad CSP behavior. The worst CSP spotting happened today. While waiting for my daughter's game, I was watching a team thrash another team. When the 6th goal was scored - by a girl who had hit a hat trick - a father in the stands yelled at the top of his lungs, in a deep "Ready to Rummmmmble" voice: "The Princess of Pow!"



It was one of the most embarrassing things I've heard a parent say on the sidelines.



We did get to experience one crazy soccer coach last weekend. After my daughter's team beat up on his team 9-0, in a tick-tacky game in which their keeper got red carded, the other team's coach challenged my daughter's coach to lace up his boots and play a one-on-one soccer game to see which coach knew more about soccer. Huh?? What crack are you smoking, son?



Sunday, June 22, 2008

Guns & Football

Two dead after a football game at a Lakewood park, near Tacoma. There's scant few details here, so it's hard to know what to say, other than too many guns and too many idiots out there.



Monday, May 26, 2008

More On The Oregon Basketball Parents

Two soccer tournaments this weekend and the parents were incredibly polite and classy. What's going on out there in Crazy Soccer Parent-Land? I know the season's young but we don't appear ready for summer tournaments at all. Where's the loud, top-of-the-lungs ignorance of basic football rules? The willingness to belittle someone else's 11-year-old kid? The sheer self-inflation of living vicariously through your offspring?



Fortunately, our friends down in Oregon are still in the news, so we can beat this horse a little longer. Hey, OR BBall parents, what's worse than having your son beat by a girl? Having it broadcast nationally that you're embarrassed that your son is being beat by a girl. Seriously. Sucks to be you.



Sunday, May 18, 2008

Oregon BBall Parents Go Nutso

The CSPs have been distracted by the need to drive their kids back and forth around the Puget Sound area, team shopping during the tryout season. But never fear, next week there are two soccer tournaments that should produce, at least, a smattering of CSPology.



In the meantime, Oregon Bball Parents (CBBPs?) don't want the wunderkind 12-year-old girl to play with their boys. Read the excuse:

Neal Franzer, The Hoop's director of operations, said Thursday that
parents were "adamant" that their complaints have nothing to do with
Jaime's skills.



"They said the problem was the boys were playing differently against
her because she was a girl," he said. "They'd been taught to not push a
girl, so they weren't fouling her hard, and the focus had shifted from
playing basketball to noticing a girl was on the floor with them."



Uh, huh. They weren't fouling her hard. And once you take that element out of your 12-year-old's game, he's got nothing? Yeah, right.



So, let me see if I can break this down. In other words, your little boy is getting faked out of his $200 Nike high-tops by a girl, and that threatens your ability to enjoy living vicariously through the little guy.



You've probably tried everything else, right? You've yelled at him in the car on the way home, told him to "man up, she's just a girl," and even called him a sissy or a Bridget or something else demeaning. And yet, still, the girl is better. Banning her from the competition does seem like the logical next step.



Sunday, May 11, 2008

What Are We Doing to our Kids?

The CSPs are still in hibernation, with tryouts just getting over and teams starting to practice, so I present instead a jarring article from the NYT Magazine about the high rate of injuries - particularly ALC injuries, but also concussions - in girls' sports.

Rich and Maria Pierson never had to push Janelle into soccer or to
reach for higher-level teams, and they certainly never berated her
after bad games. These types do exist, stereotypical “Little League
parents,” but it is far more difficult than some imagine to push a
reluctant child into sports, especially at a level that demands great
commitment. Children may acquiesce for a while, but all but the most
passive or abused will eventually rebel and shut down.



I found a different syndrome: parents of highly motivated, athletic
children who are supportive of their kids’ sports but bewildered by the
culture. The children, often as not, are the ones leading the way, and
the whole family gets pulled along in ways it never anticipated. “We
had no idea what we were getting into,” Rich Pierson said. “You just
feel your way as you go. She started playing with a local team, just
once or twice a week, then began with the travel team, and after that
it just builds on up.”



At what age should a young athlete begin traveling to out-of-town
tournaments? How many days a week should she be playing? When should
she give up her other sports? The professional coach is usually not
equipped to know what’s best, but he wields tremendous influence all
the same, sometimes by threat. He makes the schedules and sets the
rules, and a child who does not go along risks losing her place on the
team.



“Parents’ hearts are usually in the right place,” says Colleen Hacker, a sports-psychology
consultant who has worked with athletes from the preadolescent up
through the college, Olympic and professional ranks. “I don’t think
anybody’s saying, ‘Honey, how do we screw them up tomorrow?’ But the
attention, judgment and objectivity that parents bring to their work
lives and other spheres of importance, they don’t bring to their kids’
sports.”



The club structure is the driving force behind the trend toward
early specialization in one sport — and, by extension, a primary cause
of injuries. To play multiple sports is, in the best sense, childlike.
It’s fun. You move on from one good thing to the next. But to
specialize conveys a seriousness of purpose. It seems to be leading
somewhere — even if, in fact, the real destination is burnout or injury.






Saturday, May 3, 2008

Train 'em To Be Sane

Here's a good article in Crosscut about how to not be a CSP. Training parents? There's a novel idea!



From the Land of Lots of Lakes, more training for parents.



Monday, April 7, 2008

It's Been Awhile

It's been awhile since the CSPs have shown their ugly heads. Here's a substantive article about CSPs to compensate.



Saturday, February 2, 2008

Here's a Class Act For You

So, our 13-year-old girls team is playing a team that's become something of a rival; not in a bad way, we just have very close games. Our team holds the edge right now and has won the last four. Their coach has always been something of a loudmouth. At the previous game, the ref actually required him to sit in a chair on the sidelines for the entire game.



We recently played another tight game with them; it ended a 0-0 draw. However, we come to find out, that at one point during the game, he started yelling at one of our players. She told him to shut up. He then proceeded to say demeaning things about her appearance. (I learned later that he was talking to several of our players during the game). Afterwards our coach confronted him and his defense was that the 13-year-old girl "started it."



Well done, coach. You are a class act.



Saturday, January 5, 2008

Bottom 10 Sports Moments of 2007

It's been awhile since I've posted anything. The CSPs have been behaving themselves...or waiting for warmer weather to display their shenanigans. Anyhow, the Positive Coaching Alliance has released its Bottom 10/top 10 Sports Moments for 2007. Several of our CSPs and CSCs have made the list  (The bottom list, that is).



Let's resolve to do better in 2008, parents.