Week 11 Points of Authority

Face it. The majority of our society would agree that they have the most fun when there are no authoritative figures around. Because generally things that are fun often are things that are different, new, and probably would be discouraged by our peers.

This is no different with baseball teams. One thing with coming to a baseball practice is that the players will stand in a circle and talk until the practice starts. However, when the coaches are not there, as one time that a coach was late, then of course we have to think of other things to do besides just talking.

It was a very cold day, and everyone was wearing at least long sleeves. We were standing in the parking lot waiting for the coach. Talking got boring, and one player had the idea of trying something else. So they started a sort of chest bump sumo wrestling, where you had to keep your hands behind you, and try to push the other person over the line. One player took a while to figure out the rules, using his hand, shoulder, and head.

After we got tired of that, the player who had difficulty with the last one had a brilliant idea. If the coach came, he would make us take a lap and stretch. So, since we normally ran a lap, stretched, and then threw, in that order, we would run out and start throwing, and say that we had already run a lap.

"Come on, hurry up!"

"What if coach doesn't come?"

"What if he does? We'll give him fifteen minutes. That's what you're supposed to give in a class."

So we went out and sort of had a free for all throwing until the coach came.

Another time, we were somewhere else for a game, and we were between games. We were parked right beside a football field, and the coaches had gone off for a minute. On the football field, was a giant ball, about maybe four feet tall, and probably about thirty five pounds or so. So of course, what else would we do but go out and push it around.

One player started pushing it, and another sprinted over and hurled himself into it and they both toppled over. Someone else picked it up, and threw it at someone. That person picked it up, and the one who threw himself into the ball before tried to do it again, and the person holding the ball threw it at him, flattening him.

This went on for a while, with that same player getting drilled repeatedly by it, then getting back up and throwing himself into it again. Another player said "I haven't had this much fun since third grade."

As this was going on, another player had also brought out a softball, and was trying to throw it from a distance into a trash can that also for some strange reason was in the middle of the field.

A few other players joined in with that, while others were still chasing each other with the huge ball. Things culminated when the same player that had been getting hit got pasted again (he was a little sore in the morning, but did not regret it at all), and someone else picked the ball up and threw it into the trash can, and smushed it. We picked the trash up off the football field for the most part, then:

"The coach is coming!"

We nonchalantly strolled back over, as if nothing had happened. And in the long run nothing had, except for something that was lots of fun for the players, and shows how without the coach, things can get much more interesting in a hurry.