BAD LITTLE LEAGUE PARENTING REARS ITS HEAD AGAIN. ENOUGH!

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Sad to see another pathetic display of poor sportsmanship from little league parents. This time it was a group from Bayonne, playing in the Northern New Jersey State Championship tournament for the 13U Division against our own South Orange-Maplewood Cougars last night.

SO-Maplewood hosted the tournament this year at Cameron Field in South Orange.

Full disclosure, I was annoucing the game.

At one point, the umpire made a close call at first on a Bayonne player, who was likely safe, but called out.

This did not sit well with the Bayonne coaches and some parents, particularly one women who began screaming at the umpire and was eventually directed to be removed. She was allowed to stay for some reason, likely to avoid a bigger confrontation.

But eventually South Orange Police were involved in the situation.

Parents must know this type of behavior is not accepted. Period. These are 13-year-olds and part-time or volunteer coaches and umpires. No game is worth such abuse. If you sign up you child, as I have, you accept that some calls will be wrong or not to your favor. Deal with it. If you cannot, do not attend the games. End of story.

On a related note, after two-plus seasons parenting a son and daughter in these leagues, I have been most heartened to see that most of the SO-M parents and coaches respect rules and decorum.