Play Fair

After the Game
Marble Slab Creamery, Bellevue
(ice cream still makes everything better)

Warning: I say the words "damn" and "ass" below.  Don't read if these words offend you.

SG & Friend
Uneven match-ups
were the rule of the day.

     After a rough day in a local basketball tournament, I did what I do best - I came home and wrote about it.  I wrote some for myself (you know, to get the angry out) and then I wrote a strongly worded email to the person in charge of the league.  It would be nice to receive a response to that email, although considering the less than concerned reaction that Joel got when he contacted this gentleman on the phone this afternoon, I'm not going to hold my breath.  And here's the thing, Mr. PersonInCharge, I get it, I really do. You're running a large league and today you're the point person for dozens of tournament brackets across Nashville AND you hear from complaining parents all.the.time.  But here's what you need to understand, I don't complain all the time, but even if I did, when the parent of a child playing in your league calls to report an abusive coach you ought to at least ACT like you give a damn - whether you do or not. As for SG, she was upset earlier today, but after a trip to Marble Slab Creamery in Bellevue (I plug them because they are locally owned and stayed open during the flood and handed out free ice cream so if you're on the Highway 100 side of Bellevue stop in and have a scoop), she's feeling just fine.  I, however, have some anger issues I need to work through tonight so that I don't walk into that gymnasium tomorrow and act like a complete ass. My dinner is here and I'm hungry so in closing I want to say the following: 

Play fair. 

Follow the rules. 

Don't cheat. 

Why are these things so hard to do? I've included a portion of the email I sent in the paragraph below.  I intentionally removed the name of the sports league because although I suspect only a handful of people ever read what I write here, it is open to the public and I don't want to be accused of libel. 

 "I have no idea what it takes to pull a tournament like this together.  The number of gymnasiums, monitors and referees that the [league] is juggling in addition to attracting teams to participate and creating brackets seems like a big job.  I do, however, know what I expect as the parent of a player who is participating in a [league] sponsored tournament.  I expect a sense of fair play where the referees know the rules of the game and enforce them equally and where the gym monitor actually monitors what is going on during the games and doesn't allow coaches to behave abusively toward the other individuals involved in the tournament .  This will probably be our last [league] experience, for no other reason than my daughter will be old enough to play in the parochial school league next year.  I am saddened, however, that after five years of an overall positive experience with the [league], we are ending our time with this program on a sour note."