17 JUN 07: PIRATES OF THE CRY-BABY-IN'?

If you're new to Columbus, here's a tip to keep in mind: some people here take Little League Baseball VERY seriously. They'll even complain to TV stations if their team doesn't get enough coverage at this time of year - apparently not realizing in Atlanta, they'd barely get noticed before August 1.

BLOG EXCLUSIVE: Your blog confirmed Saturday an ugly spat has developed inside the Pioneer Little League. It's not clear exactly how many people are complaining -- since there are still two weeks to organize picket lines at the District 8 All-Star tournament.

We did not go searching for this feud at all. Instead, it came to us - beginning with this e-mail:

Mr. Burkard,

I read your blog often and have always thought that you did a good job of keeping people up to date on things going on around our city. I have been unsuccessful in getting a response from District 8 of Little League and the people in charge above him. I have even submitted a letter to the Ledger that has not been in print yet. I am hoping that you will share the following letter with your readers so that I know that others are aware of what went on at the city tournaments held at Pioneer. I would greatly appreciate it as would all of the other parents of the Pirates that feel they have been cheated. I apologize in advance for this being such a lengthy letter. Thank you.

District 8 Supervisor and Southern Regional Director:

Over the course of the spring season there have been various conflicts between Pioneer Little League and a few of the teams that play there. As you may be aware, this year the Pirates won the "B" League championship due to the last 5 minutes of the 3rd game of the playoffs. On June 8, 2007 they entered the city tournament held at Pioneer, where they faced the Rams team from Peach Little League. The game, which was scheduled to begin at 7:30 pm, did not start until 9 p.m. due to a rain delay during the previous game. At 10:30 p.m. the umpires called an end to our game due to the rule that no little league game was to be played past 10:30 p.m.. Throughout the season the games have been played through six innings or the two hour time limit with the exception of tied games.

The Pirates coaches inquired why the children were not given the opportunity to play the entire two hours. Pioneer Little League and District 8 officials stated that the Pirates coaching staff did not attend a meeting that was announced prior to the game. That announcement was not heard by the coaches, team members or parents and we all arrived at or before 6:30 pm due to our own game. It could have been that the system has always been faulty or that there was a very large crowd attending the games and we did not hear it over the noise. I personally sat on the bleachers of the B field the entire time I waited for my son to play and never heard an announcement. Coach Miley did take the kids to the upper field for practice since there was going to be such a wait. It would have made more sense to let all the coaches know at a "regularly scheduled meeting" or via a phone call prior to game day that all coaches were to meet in the main building so that no one depended on your announcement system. One person stated to us after the fact that we had the chance to reschedule the game due to the time limit. Well, most parents are not aware of every rule in the book and so we depend on our coaches and our league to provide information to us.

We feel that the players were let down by Pioneer and District 8. These officials should have been looking out for the best interest of the children by making sure that everyone was aware of the time constraint. Our coach has been with Pioneer for many years and the officials know him personally. It wouldn't have put anyone out of their place by mentioning this to him sometime within the 2.5 hours we waited for our game to start. It also would have been decent for the umpires of the game to mention this when they met our coaches at home plate before the start of the game. It is only fair that if all the other teams had the chance to play the full two hours in the championship, that we be given the same opportunity.

I have some questions that I would appreciate an answer to if you have the time.

1.) They stated that this meeting was made on the public address system. The officials stated that the meeting was called up until 30 minutes prior to the game. My question is this, was it called 30 minutes before our scheduled game of 7:30 or was it called 30 minutes before we actually started at 9 p.m.?

2.) If the rules state that no game shall continue past 10:30 pm why was a game started at 9 pm.? You are aware that all the games have taken the full two hours, so why doesn't the rule book state that NO GAME SHALL BEGIN AFTER 8:30 PM DUE TO THE TWO HOUR TIME LIMIT.

3.) How can our teams be shorted by 30 minutes of game time in a situation where the children are playing for the city championship? All the games had to be equal to be valid. That would be like having a pie eating contest where you get 5 minutes and I get 3. I am set up from the beginning to lose.

4.) We have had players announced at every game during the spring season. Why were the players and teams NOT announced during the championship games? They all deserved the recognition. If you are going to say that it was due to being understaffed I can assure you that I would have gone up there in the box to do this for the teams. Many of the parents would have.

In closing I would like to congratulate the Peach Rams for a game well played. I would also like to thank Pioneer and District 8. They did teach our kids one thing: Life isn't always fair.

Letters such as this should explain why no one's talking about building a Little League ball diamond, on that disputed land around the central library....

Since I didn't know who the Little League District 8 Supervisor was, I called Pioneer President Rick Chadwick for guidance. He told me Saturday he understands the complaint by Pirate parents, but added District 8 ran the Jack Cook tournament -- so some could say Chadwick doesn't want to be put behind the 8-ball.

Rick Chadwick explained any decisions made about starting times and game lengths were up to the District 8 people, not Pioneer Little League. So there was no "home field bias" at the tournament - which may explain why the Northern and American Little League teams haven't e-mailed us, too.

Rick Chadwick noted Coach Miley's teams tend to win, and Pioneer Little League overall is improving. He said the program has gone from NO money in the bank three years ago to $35,000 now. Imagine if they played games on the grounds of the National Infantry Museum....

Rick Chadwick gave me the name of the District 8 Supervisor, and I made plans to call the supervisor Saturday night. But then Chadwick called me back, to ask if the e-mail above mentioned Pioneer's Board of Directors. You'll note it does NOT - so I think the letter is safe from any pending litigation.

Later Saturday morning and without any prompting, Tracy Wilson called. She happens to be a member of the Pioneer Board of Directors, and had "something to say" about the Pirate parents' complaint. I never realized snowballs could build in mid-June in Georgia....

Tracy Wilson blamed the Pirate coaches for the fuss about how the Jack Cook tournament turned out. She suggested they're feeding parents misinformation about what happened on that Friday night. For instance, did all the players really say "good game" when the teams passed each other afterward?

"If he had been winning that game at 10:30, he wouldn't have been complaining," Tracy Wilson told me about Coach Miley. There's apparently been tension involving Coach Miley and his team for a couple of years. You wondered what inspired that reality series "Pirate Master," didn't you?

Tracy Wilson went on to say that some parents connected to the Pirates have been challenging Pioneer Little League President Rick Chadwick. They've accused Chadwick of being "in this only for himself" - a claim both Wilson and Chadwick deny. If the new city auditor needs some overtime, the league records might be a place to start.

"This is a doggone good league," Tracy Wilson wanted to be sure we mentioned about Pioneer. Admittedly, I have NOT confirmed whether animals are allowed around the ball diamonds or not....

But Tracy Wilson explained Pioneer Little League just finished spending tens of thousands of dollars to renovate two fields. I'm not sure they spent that much to rebuild the centerfield fence at Golden Park last winter.

(We should note Tracy Wilson almost didn't talk to our blog, because she mistakenly confused me with Richard Hyatt of the Ledger-Enquirer. Hyatt has his own blog now - but a fascination with doughnut shops almost overtook him for a few weeks.)

Little League District 8 Supervisor Bernard Ashley added his side to all this Saturday night. He did NOT blame the fuss at the Jack Cook tournament on the Pioneer Pirate coaches, finding fault instead with "a couple of parents." They're simply making enough noise for their own public address system now.

Bernard Ashley said the disputed Pioneer Pirates-Peach Rams game actually started at 8:35 p.m., NOT 9:00 -- so the amount of game time is in dispute. Did anyone take a portable TV to the tournament to settle this? Had "National Bingo Night" started before the first pitch?

Bernard Ashley went on to say the Pirate team hurt its own cause by holding "prayer meetings" between half-innings. The Supervisor said a one-minute time limit was abused by the coaches - who may already have been practicing for the games at Williamsport on ESPN.

Bernard Ashley also said the coaches DID attend a meeting, in which the curfew rules were made clear. He noted a second game had to be called on that Friday night due to curfew. Perhaps the losing parents in that game were too sleepy to notice what happened.

What about the public address system announcing the players' names? Bernard Ashley said there were "speaker problems," because they only recently had been installed at the Pioneer fields. This is why Little League teams need cheerleaders - preferably with those old-fashioned megaphones to amplify their voices.

Bernard Ashley added he hears this sort of complaining every year at tournament time, from one organization or another. Rain tends to come in June. And the pressure certainly rises -- only it's not the barometric kind.

Now that we've let all the sides in this feud have a say, I'm going to have mine. Why have a curfew on a Friday night in June? School's out for the summer, few parents are working the next day and.... oops. I forgot. My Pastor would be wondering why you Sabbath-breakers didn't quit at 7:30.

On the other hand, who says a rain-shortened Little League game is less valid than a full-length one? I didn't hear drivers hollering about that, when Dario Franchetti won the Indianapolis 500.

And about players' names being announced on a public address system - at the risk of sounding like Dr. Laura or Dr. Phil: puh-LEEZE! I grew up in a youth league softball program with no press boxes, much less P.A. mikes. The parents actually had to watch the entire game carefully, to make sure they saw their children bat.

The local Little League programs today are so spoiled, they may not even realize it. My youth league years not only had no public address systems at the fields, but no outfield fences. If a hard line drive blew by me in right field -- and admittedly that happened often -- the curfew might arrive before I chased down the ball.

This whole issue reminds me of the Little League World Series ten months ago - when a mother from Arizona accused the Northern All-Stars of throwing a game. There's a good reason why local tournaments don't serve wine at the concession stands. Plenty of whine could be lurking in the crowds.

E-MAIL UPDATE: So what else do people want to gripe about this weekend? How about the Columbus city budget....

Hey!

I wanted to bring it to your attention that city employees that work over 40 hours per week are being cheated by the raise proposed for the new fiscal year. Due to this 6% increase, the overtime is being cut by half or more for each employee and/or department. This will have no effect on the employees that work 8-5 Monday - Friday, but does affect all law enforcement and correction officers and others that are scheduled to work longer shifts. It has been stated that those employees will now be given comp. time for those overtime hours. As you know, comp. time will not pay your house payment or put groceries in the house.

My spouse currently makes $6,000.00 or more per year in overtime. However, a 6% raise based on his pay is $1800.00 per year. After losing the overtime you can do the math to see that he is actually losing $4,200.00 by receiving this "raise". That is a loss of 16% of his income total.

The city of Columbus however will receive praise for their efforts to increase the pay of the employees and the citizens will quiet. The employees that lose the overtime will suffer and those are the ones that needed the raise AND overtime the most. Most people will say, "you shouldn't depend on that overtime money to survive". And to that I say "But when I know that I will always work 16 hours over per month due to my position I begin to depend on it". The city has had to run knowing in advance that many positions require overtime. When the city has to add another shift in the jails or on the streets to relieve this overtime issue, maybe they will see they created another problem with no having enough people to cover it.

Thank you for your time.

We knew the money for extra police officers had to come from someplace. This may explain the source of it. But it's a bit strange to have someone justify an "officer Dad" spending plenty of time away from his family. I mean, maybe after Father's Day....

Here's another factor to consider: last time I heard, Columbus was down to fewer than 20 openings for police officers. If there were more openings, there probably would be more opportunities for overtime. So if you're concerned about losing money, maybe you should show the other officers' spouses how much Atlanta is paying.

And since it's not a "Hurtsboro Monday," I can get away with posting this one....

Richard:

It warmed the cockles of my heart - when you mentioned that you missed the "folks" in "Hurt'sboro [11 Jun]. I made up my mind right there and then - that I wasn't going to let any silly old poll - keep me from corresponding!!!

I also intend to submit; as events occur, but if you want to save them for a slow time (such as Sunday evening) that's OK with yours truly!

One thing you might want to check into - my brief appearances before the Russell County Commission. Let me explain.

For over two years; the City of "Hurt'sboro has been abusing their rental agreement with Russell County. The City leases (for one dollar a year) a building and fenced lot for storage purposes. Evidently - the city feels that the word "storage"is ubiquitous because it has become a transfer station for solid waste! As with everything else that "our" city does - it's inefficient and probably illegal.

Since this public nuisance resides in the County: I felt that it should be brought to the County's attention. Believe me, I have done so - with documents and pictures - to no avail. No one wants to take responsibility and clean up this mess!

In mid-May two network TV stations filmed and reported on the situation. Two major newspapers ran articles and the county offered one time assistance. What did this accomplish - absolutely nothing!! The situation persists!

On May 23'rd, a fresh dumpster was placed in the lot, and the city quickly filled it with raw garbage and "blinded" it with trash The camoflauge might have fooled everyone but the buzzards - they continued to use the dumpster as a cafeteria. Oh well! That's the way we do things in "Hurt'sboro.

If you are wondering, why the county turns a blind eye to this situation - perhaps the answer lies with the District #7 Commissioner. He claims to have visited "Hurt'sboro after my first visit to the commission - and found everything in "apple-pie order." It's seems rather coincidental that after my appearances at the last work session and commission meeting (and the unexpected appearance of a health officer;)that the Roll-Off did disappear. Now, only the old appliances, tires and misc. trash remain.

Now, what's a hungry buzzard to do?

Constable R.J. Schweiger

At least the dumpster in Hurtsboro is visited by buzzards. In parts of Columbus, homeless people would be all over it first.

Russell County's District #7 Commissioner is J.D. Upshaw. We tried to contact him at home Friday evening about this, but no one answered the phone. Maybe he was out checking to see if other things are in "apple pie order" - or maybe he was at a restaurant, making one.

BIG PREDICTION: Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker will switch parties within a year, and join the Republicans. Civil rights leaders upset over his handling of the Genarlow Wilson and Kenneth Walker cases will be glad to see him go.

Now let's see what else has people talking on this Father's Day weekend....

+ General William Caldwell received his fourth star in a ceremony at Fort Benning. I didn't realize when Caldwell was conducting military briefings in Iraq that he was a Columbus native. After all, he said "Shiite" without any Southern drawl whatsoever.

+ Family Day in the Park seemed to go off without controversy, compared with last year's tension at Peachtree Mall. Maybe some good came from that repaving work on Manchester Expressway after all.

+ WRBL reported Uptown Columbus Inc. plans to pre-screen anyone who wants to sing along Broadway. Somehow I don't think this is how the New York subway system handles it....

+ Miss Georgia Amanda Kozak became a co-host of the "Bill Heard Super Show" infomercials. Suddenly that dancing turkey on the Rivertown Ford show doesn't seem all that entertaining....

+ Aflac confirmed it will sponsor NASCAR entries in several upcoming races. Imagine if a showdown develops between the Aflac and United Parcel Service drivers. You'd have "the duck" against "the truck."

+ The Columbus Lions were outscored in Osceola 63-47, and will take a two-game losing streak into the World Indoor Football League championship game June 30. Can someone check to see if Jim Mora Jr. has been helping the coaches?

+ Instant Message to Carlos Williams: Congratulations on working 30 years at WRBL! Now get back to work - because you're still five years away from matching Bob Barker.

SCHEDULED MONDAY: A local man challenges me to make a Top Five list....

Today's main topic was the result of a blog reader's tip. To offer a story tip, advertise on this blog, make a PayPal donation or leave a comment, write me - but be warned, I may post your e-mail comment and offer a reply.

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