<p>The news article cited by the OP did not describe an event involving a missed call or a bad call by the umpire; it described an event in which both coaches “collaboratively” agreed to abandon fair competition by exploiting a loophole in the rules. In my opinion, both coaches engaged in unsportsmanlike conduct, and neither is to be commended.</p>
<p>I will open any post any way I choose within CC rules. I was commenting upon the news article cited by the OP. I was not commenting upon the OP.</p>
<p>Why do you think it’s a loophole? I’m of the opinion the rules are written just as they are, allowing teams to choose to not take advantage of an opponent’s injury to pick up a perceived unfair advantage. And since the publicity around this news story made it quite clear that it is legal in NCAA II softball to pick up your injured opponent and help them finish running the bases, if the NCAA feels as you do I’m sure they will close that “loophole” posthaste. I’m thinking that’s not going to happen.</p>
<p>TimeCruncher- Your response is quite warped. I am the most competitive athlete there is, and my reaction to the article was 180 degrees from yours. The girl hit a home run. It’s not like the other team deliberately bobbled some throws to let her score! To me this is sportsmanship and not “defeatism”.</p>
<p>It’s no coincidence that this old and dead thread has been dredged up at this time. </p>
<p>I stand by my opinion that this nauseatingly touchy-feely display of anti-competitive “camaraderie” would not have taken place had the competitors been male.</p>
<p>There is nothing “warped” about the NCAA Softball Rule Book, which states: “If an injury to a batter-runner or runner prevents her from proceeding to an awarded base, the ball is dead and the substitution can be made. The substitute must legally touch all awarded or missed bases not previously touched.” That rule (8.5.3.2) was violated. NCAA Softball rule 4.5 regarding appropriate medical treatment of and substitution for injured players was also violated. Finally, the coaches and umpires who allowed this unsportsmanlike travesty to take place did so in violation of the NCAA Code of Conduct which requires them to “maintain a comprehensive knowledge of current NCAA softball rules,” and to “display a dignified attitude toward the game and its participants.”</p>
<p>The message communicated by this event was clear: Men compete; women “collaborate.” </p>
<p>When observing an action by a "few} members of a group, does it follow that all members of that group behave the same?</p>
<p>( incidentally my earlier post was edited by a mod- I don’t remember using the term “valley girl”)
anyway- I think the most important competition is within ourselves & why should it be more desired to “beat” someone else?</p>
<p>Let’s remember. The player hit a 3 run home run so the other team lost. Except for the fluke injury, it wasn’t even a question. So the team accepted defeat gracefully, knowing they had actually lost the game. They didn’t lose to a technicality- they lost to a 3-run homer and used the rules to finish that at-bat. Very classy.</p>
<p>I do not recall the article saying that it was a walk-off home run. The team in the field may have had one or more innings left at bat, meaning that more runs could have been scored in the game and they would have still perceived preventing the fourth run from scoring as an advantage.</p>
<p>I think they should have gotten immediate medical attention for the injured player, who should have been credited with a home run and three RBIs, but not a run scored. The play was dead the moment the ball cleared the wall in fair territory without being caught, and the batter and both runners awarded home. The runners on base at the time should have continued home immediately via any intermediate bases. After the batter was helped off the field, a substitute runner should have been allowed to run around the remaining bases in her place and that runner would be credited for the run scored. At that point, the score would be 4-2 and the game would then resume from where it stopped (assuming that it was not over at that point.) They should not have carried her around the bases and risked exacerbating her injury or injuring themselves just to let her get credit for a run scored, regardless of their motivation. If this procedure were explained to all involved, I think they would have done it that way.</p>
<p>This should be more about proper treatment of an injury than about sportsmanship or about compliance with a set of rules for a game. Those considerations are secondary.</p>
<p>I recall this incident being discussed on an umpiring board that I also participate in. Part of the problem is that the umpire did not know the applicable rule and was stating that if the hitter failed to complete the trip around the bases on her own the home run would not count. The batter would be credited with only a single and the pinch runner would enter the game at first base.</p>
<p>Many of the comments above describe what should have happened (e.g. a pinch runner be permitted to complete the trip around the bases) - but at the time, the umpire was emphatic that such a substitution would not be allowed.</p>
<p>I’m the dad of two athletic girls. My sixth grader loves her Karate and is doing afterschool flag football (only about 10 girls among 75 boys) and cross country. I went to her first football game yesterday but someone stepped on her ankle at gym class earlier so she had to sit out – I offered to take her home but she was just excited to root her team onwards. I was proud of her.</p>
<p>Even more so: about four years ago she participated in a summer week-long track & field event held by our Parks and Rec department. On the last day, they could participate in 3 events. One event she signed on for was the 1 mile race. As it turns out, she was the only female (so obviously took the “gold” ribbon before the race started). There happened to be four boys who were going to run the same distance. Since there were only five people total, they all ran together. Quickly three boys outpaced my daughter. However, another boy lagged behind her being fifth overall. As the race progressed, I would see the last boy close in on my daughter (solidly in fourth). Each time, she would pull away and put some distance between her and the 5th place boy. I thought: “Good work honey! Don’t let him catch you!” This happened 3 or 4 times during the one mile race. At the end, my daughter was fourth and the other boy finished 5th (last). After she rec’d her ribbon, I went up to her saying how proud I was that she didn’t let the last boy pass her up. She said: “Oh dad, he wasn’t catching up to me. I slowed down to encourage him to keep going.”</p>
<p>Man, was I flabbergasted! Uber competitive dad was squashed by his thoughtful daughter. I’m going to share that story at her wedding one day…</p>
<p>Agreed that sometimes women are less competitive than men and sometimes encouraged/reinforced for being so. But, T26E4—what a touching story about your daughter! Really kind of her. I don’t blame you for wanting to share it on her wedding day!!</p>