This is not a vent board or any other kind of therapy. Before you hit the POST button, ask yourself if your contribution will add to the level of discussion going on.

Important notes on articles:

• Please do not copy entire articles into your post; rather, provide links to them.. We are now links-only for ALL Internet publications. If only a small portion of the article pertains to your post, Fair Use allows you to copy those one or two paragraphs, provided you cite the author's name and the publication for which he writes. Otherwise, put a link in the HTTP Link box.
• Even if you're copying a reference to an article, provide a link to the page from which the article came. We're trying to cut down on duplicate topics, and the posting process will check the link to your article to see if it's already being discussed on this board. At the very least, you'll save yourself some grief on the boards.
• If your first reaction after reading the article you're going to share is the author is uninformed / stupid / a jerk / all of the above, it's not worth sharing with anyone. Not every article needs to be discussed. The more the hair-pulling articles are discussed (e.g. ESPN Page 2), the more the authors will write hair-pulling articles.

Post being replied to

It was the attitude of a grandparent... by pmoose

...who had a granddaughter that was on the team of my daughter when she was right around 8 that convinced me that softball wasn't going to happen anymore. My daughter fielded a ball in the infield and didn't quickly make the right play and this grandmother yelled at her at the top of her lungs "WHAT, ARE YOU STUPID!?!?" It was at that point that I decided my daughter wouldn't be continuing on with that softball league.

Funny thing about parents, at least from my experience, it seems they are most crazy when the kids are much younger. It seems to be the exception instead of the rule with this same daughter, who is now 16 years old, to have a parent have even much more than a quick yelp about disagreement with a call. My S12 is the other way around - there is almost always at least one parent from the other team that is boorish.