Couldn't have said it better!!
I've been playing ball since I was 6 and bugged my dad to play on the 9 to 12 y/o league he coached. No one was more competetive than I was in my earlier years.
BUT, I never once took softball so seriously that I lived my life around it, screamed at my friends when they screwed up and dressed liked I just walked out of MC Sports.
As I have imparted to everyone here on an thread a month or two ago, I am playing my "goodbye year" this summer, because it's time to turn this game over to the younger guys, and spend more time coaching my kids. But I will tell you this year has been an eye opener for me in terms of seeing myself when I was younger.
The company is sponsoring a team made up of mostly guys who work there, or the husband of a wife who works at the company. We ended up having to get into a league that was a step above our competition level due to getting our team in late. But, what was supposed to be a "C" league has 3 teams who are more like "A" teams who couldn't get into any other league because no one wanted to play them. And now I know why.....it is 3 whole teams made up of the very type of person that this thread describes. Two of those teams get pissed if they don't destroy every team they play, except each other,within 3 innings. And if they are ahead by 15 runs after a couple of innings, they spend their last at bat making a game out of trying to ding the pitcher.
All 3 of these teams have played together for several years, even switching players amongst each other, but completely destroying any competition. What makes two of these teams less desirable to play is that they love being obnoxious during the game...and even more obnoxious afterwards.
Hey...I don't mind losing to a much better team, and expect it considering we are mostly a bunch of guys who enjoy playing ball for fun. But it's just a game, and making target practice out of the pitcher and taunting your opponent takes all the fun out of it.
I bet Pitt Gorilla, if he plays softball here, could probably name the teams I am talking about...no one really likes them anymore.
mmaddog
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