Strike three

 For many years, one of the saddest aspects of American life has been parental overinvolvement in kids' sports. Good old Dad, who was never scouted by any major league team, sure does show up enough with his jaws flapping and criticizing the kids. Moms, too, get in on it. Everyone hollers at the players on the other team and at the umpires. 

So, in New Jersey, let me tell you...there is a Jersey way to handle such matters. A Little League in Gloucester County, NJ, found a way to get Loudmouth Larry and Harsh Hannah to keep their lips locked.

 

The president of the Deptford Little League, Don Bozzuffi, had two umpires quit early in the season, so here's the new rule:

Any spectator who becomes unruly or abusive will have to umpire three games (under the supervision of a trained ump) before being allowed to come back to any games.

And you can bet, once they've put the mask and chest protector on, they will feel a little different.

If the abuser does not comply, he or she is banned from all youth sporting events in Deptford for a year.

“I said ‘what can I do. What don’t they want to happen’ and I’m thinking — they don’t want to be the person doing the volunteering out there, they just want to criticize,” Bozzuffi told NJ Advance Media.

And so far, so good...

 “So far all the feedback’s been positive.,” Bozzuffi said. “We’re hoping we don’t have to hand out disciplinary actions — that’s not our intention. We’re trying to educate people as to what goes on in the course of a game and the difficulties an umpire has in making some of these calls.”

 

Bozzufi said, “They think you just go out there and it’s easy.  The umpire is concentrating on a lot of things. (Parents) are just concentrating on just their child. We need you to come and see for yourself how difficult it is out there and maybe that will alleviate a lot of the problems.”

They have even had to call the police to get people to settle down in the past, which is about as shameful as parental behavior can be. 

And since the new rule went into effect, at least three people have stepped up to volunteer as umpires.

Bozzufi (I'll bet you anything he is known as "Boz") went on to tell the news that “99%” of spectators at Deptford Little League games are “awesome and here in a positive way. It’s a small percentage that just don’t get it and we have to help them get it.”

There's nothing like standing behind the plate to help a person's perspective.

I'd also like to tell the buttinsky parents that they are the ones who holler long and loud that professional athletes are "just playing a kid's game for money..."

Remember, it's a kid's game. Let them play it.