Sports Pet Peeves

[ShyGuy]

the ESPN talking mouths. Nobody's opinion on any of those shows is any more better to me than any poster here.

Actually no that's an insult to the posters here. Posters here are much better

[redsfan9988]

For baseball, the requisite 45 minute discussion about the importance of bunting on certain broadcasts every time a lead off hitter reaches late in a close game.

Extreme parity makes the NFL pretty lame. You can set your watch to a handful of mediocre teams making the playoffs every year playing a last place schedule.

In basketball, I prefer the NCAA method of one-and-one free throws under a certain foul threshold. Makes the late-game more exciting.

[Kingspoint]

In basketball, I prefer the NCAA method of one-and-one free throws under a certain foul threshold. Makes the late-game more exciting.

Removes some of the effect of bad officiating.

[Todd Gack]

How is "Conference Pride" not #1? Especially considering we now have so much movement in the NCAA that people are so confused that they're finally just going back to hating with their hearts again.

[Z-Fly]

I don't use "we" because I am doing nothing to help the team win. I am not there putting in the work, going through practice, battling through injury. I am there, in the stands or watching on TV with a drink in my hand.

I used to say "we" in college at OSU. But the entire time I was there, I knew of one football or basketball player in my class. I had a couple of softball players in my class, but for the most part, "I went to school" but didn't go to school with these athletes.

People watching on TV is basically the most import part of sports now. Just look at College Realignment or MLB Baseball for that matter.

[Z-Fly]

I'm fine with "we", but you get it for one team per sport for your lifetime. No changing except when you attend a college, your team moves or your relative starts playing for a different team.

Youth sports umpires. Yeah, the youth sports parents can be terrible, but the umpires really are almost universally bad. Getting judgement calls wrong: fair enough. But I am often explaining the rules to umpires who've been calling games for 20 years. The infield fly rule really isn't as difficult to learn as calculus. And it's 50/50 at best whether an umpire is aware the first base being occupied rule doesn't apply to dropped third strikes with two outs (unfortunately a situation that occurs all too often in youth baseball).

The problem with umpires is pretty complicated. It has never been an easy job, but the noise has gotten worse. To me, the select baseball program has done a disservice to little league baseball. You basically have to pay $5-10,0000 to play summer baseball anymore. Then it's no longer $50 registration and two games a week. It's every weekend and games during the week, fall ball, and lessons during the winter. That's a big commitment. Point being, if parents have that much skin in the game, they are going to expect more and more out of the umpires. Then the umpires are making $20-$30/HR for working nights and weekends, and you get what you pay for. You can't pay them $100/HR, because that just increases the costs even more. I don't know what the answer is, but hopefully someone figures it out.

The only thing I can think of is pay more for more qualified umpires. Then let the tournaments decide which rate they want to use. Just spit balling.

Tier 1 ($60/HR) - Has to pass a qualification test/ retested every two years, and have three games inspected by a board.

Tier 2 ($45/HR) - Has to pass a qualification test/retested every two years.

Tier 3 ($30/HR) - Whatever they do now.

[Boston Red]

This is to get to the LLWS. So pretty high stakes. And the umpires screw it up this bad. Criminal.

https://twitter.com/BaseballBros/sta...6auAVTfYQ97ddA

[Kingspoint]

This is to get to the LLWS. So pretty high stakes. And the umpires screw it up this bad. Criminal.

https://twitter.com/BaseballBros/sta...6auAVTfYQ97ddA

'

They just made the whole thing up. Ump calls the ball foul right in front of the players on the field and that's an instant dead ball. No replay necessary because the 3rd base ump called it foul. Doesn't matter if he got it right or wrong. It's a dead ball. Yet, in some other universe, the homeplate umpire decides that his judgement overrules the 3rd base umpire's foul call and states that the call on the field was fair. WTF?!

Every game in that regional had terrible umpiring from start to finish.

My heart goes out to the Bend kids. Spent a week in Bend (timeshare in Redmond, but just minutes from Bend) six weeks ago. Bend is one of my favorite places and they really have a good community there that supports their kids really well.

That Regional was in San Bernadino, CA.

[RedsBaron]

This is to get to the LLWS. So pretty high stakes. And the umpires screw it up this bad. Criminal.

https://twitter.com/BaseballBros/sta...6auAVTfYQ97ddA

Wow. I get it that this was just "Little League," but wow-I would still expect competency when you are talking about getting to the LLWS.
At a much lower level it reminded me of the maddest I ever got while coaching. I was an assistant coach of a Little League "minor league" team (ages 10 and under) about 20 years ago. We were taking on the best team in our league. Bottom of the sixth and final inning, down three runs, we load the bases with no outs. I'm the third base coach. I repeatedly instruct our runner on third not to run unless I tell him to do so. Our next batter hits a popup directly over the pitcher's mound. I tell my runner "stay!" The pitcher muffs the popup, and the ball hits the ground. I yell "run!" In the chaos that followed, two of our runners, trying to advance to the next base, are tagged out. THEN, only then, the umpire announces "Infield fly rule; the batter is out. Runners advanced at their own risk. Ballgame over." I was so angry I grabbed my two sons and told them we are leaving, no lining up for handshakes-I was afraid I was going to unload on the umpire.

[bucksfan2]

This happened to me coaching soccer this weekend. My daughters 8U team was playing in a preseason say tournament. This is just a school league, not select or anything. Anyway the game was tied about halfway through the 4th quarter and one of my girls gets hurt and goes down. The ref (who was a young girl) saw here, was a little unsure what to do and allowed the play to continue on. The game continues into my defense goal box and then she decides to blow the whistle for an injury. The other team continues, scores a goal, and when told that the game was being stopped the opposing coach throws down his clipboard. The ref changes her call, awards the goal, and we end up losing 2-1.

I went up after the game and asked her about the call, basically stating "I don't care about the outcome, just what was the call." My interpretation of the rules is what she called is what "should" have been allowed to happen, the game should not be blown dead until the hurt team gains possession. However, once there is a whistle, that stops the game. If you hear a whistle, you are told to stop, most kids who know what they are doing stop playing. It was kind of a bummer to have it end that way, but we ended up advancing over that team, came in second place in the tournament, got a medal that will probably end up on my daughters floor, and got ice cream that made everyone forget about the outcome.

I am the kind of coach who gets into the game, I hardly every direct anything at the ref, maybe a question here or there, they are just in it to make extra money. Once the game is over, we win great, we lose, oh well. I have been the coach of teams who have gone undefeated and a coach of a team who has gone defeated. And to be honest, the team that went defeated was my favorite season I have coached.

[adkindo]

1. A-holes who go to sporting events looking for a conflict or fight. It is almost daily since Covid began is when I really noticed it that I see video's on Twitter or somewhere of idiots throwing punches at major sporting events.

2. A-holes at sporting events among mixed crowds (kids, elderly, etc.) and scream vulgar language. I am not talking about basic 4 letter words, but F bombs, sexual slang/terms, etc. There have been times when this type of activity has almost caused me to become the person described in #1.

[Boston Red]

Coaches who make superfluous mound visits during the LLWS because they're mic'd up and want their screen time.

[*BaseClogger*]

People on message boards complaining about youth sports officiating

[bucksfan2]

Coaches who make superfluous mound visits during the LLWS because they're mic'd up and want their screen time.

There are all things wrong with the LLWS. What used to be about kids playing baseball has morphed into a televised event.

As for the game, no leading off, kids throwing breaking ball after breaking ball after breaking ball, coaches wanting the spotlight. Yea its a hard pass for me.

[Boston Red]

There are all things wrong with the LLWS. What used to be about kids playing baseball has morphed into a televised event.

Back in the "good old days", it was handled pretty much perfectly. The US championship game was on ESPN, and then on Saturday afternoon they showed the world championship game on ABC's Wild World of Sports. It was cool to see one game, and it was a spectacle with the stands packed and all the people on the hill. At some point they expanded the field and started showing all the Williamsport games, and that took some of the mystique away from the event. Then they started showing regional finals, which seemed a bit much. Now they show games pretty early in the regional round, which means that not only are you watching 12 year olds play baseball on ESPN, but you're watching a lot of 12 year olds who aren't particularly good play baseball on ESPN.

The only problem with the "good old days" was that Chinese Taipei always sent a group of 14 year-old all-stars to play in a tournament for 11 and 12 year olds, so they won twenty-something to one most years.