[Tobra]

10 year old grandson is playing basketball. Last night they had a game, and the other team was playing pretty physical, one kid in particular was bumping, hip checking the point guard that was taking them off the dribble consistently if they tried to play him clean. Around the middle of the game, this kid put a knee into the point guard's leg right above his knee and the kid is carried off the court. They taunted him some, you baby, you're not really hurt, surprised me a little that kids would do that with someone that can't walk without assistance. Later, a different player hard fouled a diminutive shooter and bounced his head off the floor. Down long enough to be scary.

After the game, when the players had walked away from the coach, I approached him, so we could speak without the kids hearing us. "Coach, can I have a word with you. You might want to speak to that 44 kid. He was hip checking pretty much every trip down the floor, and eventually is going to hurt someone badly." He replies, "No, you're wrong, that is bullscheisse" and starts walking away along the side of the court. I am walking next to him, trying to talk to him, and he bumps me, flies back like he is taking a charge, swinging his arms around and would have hit me in the face if I were slower. As this happens, he says, "Don't touch me, don't touch me," so I figure this is not a productive conversation. I approach the referee who is maybe 25' from us and tell him about the rough play, which is borderline and the taunting, which is totally unacceptable. There is a woman right there talking to the referee when I walk up, who tells me she is a league official, and is very concerned about what I am telling her, two kids carried off the court and the unsportsmanlike stuff. As I am talking to them, the coach walks by, as if on cue, and is loudly telling the 44 kid, who turned out to be his son, "He's just a baby." The referee, league official and I all can hear this, and I say, "That is where the kids are getting this."

I did not have a card on me, so I go out to the car and get one of the pens I have imprinted with my office info. As I am walking back inside, the coach is walking the other direction with the kid, who must have a big mother because he is pretty good sized. I am not a big guy, but I look pretty big standing next to him, and quite a bit more fit. He sees me, and geeze, or something like that, like maybe he is afraid that without a crowd around I am not going to be as restrained. I tell him to have a nice evening, go in and give the league official my pen so she has my contact info, and go on my way.

Sort of disconcerting that a guy like that is coaching little kids. His kid who hurt the point guard looked genuinely concerned about it when it happened, so maybe there is hope for him, but maybe not if he continues to get the instruction he is getting now.