ADVICE
Do You Want to Know How to Stop Rioting?
Be Nice!
I recently attended an AAU12 baseball tournament.
It was my first baseball game of the year. A serendipitous phone call alerted me to the opportunity and we were really excited to watch a nephew play.
Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut youth were competing in a tournament. Parents and family lined the fence six feet apart. We showed up in the fourth inning and watched my nephew hit a home run, capturing it on video. His team mate followed with another and the skunk rule sent them to the Championship game.
While waiting to find out who they would be playing, parents chatted, coaches scouted, and brothers and sisters munched on snacks or played at the playground.
Finally, the boys took the field. The umpires positioned themselves — one behind the pitcher and one behind first base.
Two coaches that coached some of these same boys during Little League traded memories of the ten year old championship two years earlier. Everything was friendly and showed appreciation of the skillsets of the boys.
An off duty umpire sitting near me remarked that the pitchers were having a hard time throwing strikes. He thought it unusual.
