Apparently Unsportsmanlike

I can certainly see how someone would perceive my actions on the baseball field today as unsportsmanlike, but that absolutely was not my intention.

I am coaching third base in a U10 baseball game and we are leading 9-4 with one out.  One of our fastest players on the team (our son) is on third.  I am collaborating with him on how we are going to score.

The batter hits a high pop fly down the third base line.  The catcher hustles down the baseline to make a spectacular catch.  The hustle and catch was definitely a web gem.  It is a live ball and no one is covering the plate so I send the runner home to score.  The opposing team was furious with me.  Honestly I did not think I did anything wrong.  One of the coaches is a friend and he was pissed at me.  I asked him if they really thought it was unsportslike and he said absolutely.  I assured him that was not my intention.  I apologized to all of the coaches.

Then the moms were bad mouthing along the fence.  I turned to them and also apologized.

I viewed this move as aggressive baseball.  We have not had many opportunities this season to teach the boys aggressive base running. 

Would I do this again?  Absolutely!  Would I do it with a five run lead?  Probably not!

It was not my intention to cause the other team to get upset.

My friend asked me if they would do this in high school baseball.  My initial answer was probably not.  The more I think about it I have seen this play done during my umpiring days by high school teams.  It would be a rare occurrence.

I will agree that by taking this course of action the timing was not appropriate.  I could have exercised a bit more respect for the fantastic play.

I would also say that some of the things that were said about me on the side lines were not appropriate.  These people have no clue about me.  I try to do the right thing and live life with a great deal of integrity.  I do make mistakes, but I always try to teach the boys good sportsmanship and to play an aggressive brand of baseball.

I will learn from this experience!

Bottom line is that both teams played a great game today.  There were some outstanding plays!

New Things Happening

I was not sure what I was inspired to post about this week.  I think I will summarize a couple of key new things that have been happening in our lives the past 3 - 4 weeks.

• Moving completely away from processed foods
• Buying local produce every Saturday at the Farmers market
• Making our own bread every week
• We even made our own wheat thin crackers
• We also made strawberry jam from local strawberries
• We are growing our own veggies in the yard
• We are collecting rain water
• We are dehydrating tomatoes from the farmer's market
• Eating all organic items
• Eating more fresh fruit

Kids are a bit frustrated, but I am feeling good!

Happy & Healthy eating!