I took a back seat to the baseball game. It allowed me a nice view of BoBo – out in right field. Nearby, a father heckled his players. You would have thought it was a football game by his over enthusiastic prodding. Sitting on a bail of hay draped with my blanket, I was comfortable enough to put up with the annoyance.
Then one of our players did not slide at home plate. He nearly took out the opponent “football” style. It was horrifying to all watching. The comments from the opponent seemed to attack our whole community. From the neighborhood with more money (more debt is probably more accurate), the comments worked to point out a difference perceived by a select few. It was as if our whole team was playing “dirty” when, in fact, it was only the one player. Still, it takes only one move like that to turn the umpires against you. Our boys played on to a 2-point loss.
Afterwards, some of our parents slipped out quietly. I took it upon myself to do a little post-game mingling with the other side. Because we really aren’t that different – some of our kids go to the same school.
Let’s hope that tonight’s game goes off with only the best of sportsmanship from the players and the parents.