For the last two years I've watched 95 teams play and without a doubt, 95 Glory has the most passionate parents in the stands.
It's little girl softball, not a Jerry Springer episode. Foul balls are expected, foul mouths are not. How many times do parents have to be tossed by officials before it clicks? If you sit with 95 Glory and you relish in loud-mouthed antics of your peers, even if you don't spout off yourself, you are guilty of the dumbing-down of sport.
If you feel wronged, like some great injustice has befallen you, I suggest you look in the mirror and ask, "Would my boss, lover, parent, kid, pet... understand this rage?" Ask yourself, "Am I really the smartest person out here?" Ask yourself, "Is this about my kid, or is it really about me?"
The answer is simple: It's about you, you just happen to have a kid with a ball glove and some modicum of talent. That tiny bit of talent is going to be squashed instead of developed with baffoonish antics in the bleachers if you don't become your brother's keeper.
If you allow loud-mouthed "victims in the stands" to bloviate, you are as guilty as they.
I saw a pick-up player's dad gather his daughters gear and leave the 95 Glory spectacle on 5/11/08. THAT showed character, a sense of responsibility for game, and measured concern for the future of his daughter's athletic career.
Required viewing for all the 95 Glory parents should be the Will Farrell movie Kicking and Screaming. It shows just how well the single-minded of purpose approach to kids sports plays out.
No, this is about the parents. They spend a little time and money and think their kid is heading for a Division I full boat scholarship on their way to Olympic fame. Good luck with all that. I'm sure plenty of social retards- that live on McNuggets and have no friends except the one's lucky enough to make it on a team roster decided by ill-equipped megalomaniacs- make it in the real world.
Yes, tacky is learned. Excellence, honor, and love of the game is too. Build 'em up...don't tear 'em down with bleacher antics.
-JHJ




























