Another politician goes goofy

There. Got your attention, didn't I? If you are looking for a diatribe or a tale about John McCain or Barack Obama, gotcha. No, this tale is about a guy whose name I don't know but who has a very common political ailment: he speaks loudly without thinking.

In a nutshell, here is what happened:

I was one of four public address voices at the Minnesota prep softball tournament last week in Mankato. The first day is a long one. The first game was scheduled to start at 9 a.m. and the last one was supposed to start at 7 p.m. Despite dark skies, we got off to a decent start and finished all the first-round games when the trouble began.

Although it was sunny in the morning, the forecast had been rotten all day. About 3 p.m., the predicters finally for it right. Rain and wind pelted the fields so fast they were a soggy mess in minutes. We watched this for a while from the dry comfort of the press box before going down to see what we could do to help. The answer, of course, was nothing. A half hour later, the director canceled games for the day.

She huddled with the umpire-in-chief and came up a plan to get everything finished the next day as scheduled. All games would be played except two Consolation Championship Games. (Those are teams that lose their first game but win their second.) They decide to award duplicate trophies for the prestigious 5th place finish.

The director made up new schedules for all of us. The starting times of the championship games were actually close to starting at the originally scheduled times.

Apparently that wasn't good enough for one fellow. I was told he was a school board member in some small area. I came across him outside the tournament headquarters as he was giving the director and her assistant an earful (in a voice that could have been heard in St. Peter, 10 miles away) on what a rotten job they were doing, how they were hurting the kids, how they were unfair to the parents, etc.

I strongly dislike people who speak in CAPITAL LETTERS to begin with. And I really dislike folks who do so while performing for other folks. (He had an admiring posse nearby cheering him on.)

Here's the point. The decision made can be reasonably debated. (Most can.) But decisions to shorten state tournaments are never made easily and are usually done for good reasons. In this case, there was the threat of more rain plus the fact there weren't enough officials who could stay a second day and work the games. If Mr. School Board Member had stopped for a second, he might have learned this fact. But, like many politicians, he was concentrating on style over substance. I have no doubt he went home and told the locals, "I told the director off. That's the last time they mess with me."

It's a general problem these days. We always presume we know more than the person in charge of an event, sporting or otherwise. We shoot first and ask questions later and never, ever admit we are wrong about something. And then we wonder why kids are so stubborn these days.

If that fellow has kids, I pity them. They may follow the old Harry Chapin and grow up like the old man. Just what the world needs -- more bullies who don't what they are talking about. In other words, a born politician.