My dad and I were just having a conversation about youth football, coaches getting kicked out of 1st & 2nd grade games and the general ugliness that has me wanting my boys to both become huge nerds and go into engineering or something like that and become American Ninjas so they can just jump on trampolines, get a little exercise and keep me away from the stupidity that is youth sports these days.
Don’t get me wrong, I remember fondly the biggest jerkoff dad from my Little League days. He was a big time sheriff in town. Would show up to baseball games and ride his son’s ass for 7 innings. There are days where I wonder if Ryan and his dad ever had a decent relationship because at 11-12 it wasn’t great. His dad was a complete jerkoff and something tells me that never changed.
Anyway, that brings me to the Pittsburgh area where cops have themselves a case where a guy goes up to a football coach, has a confrontation over a child’s playing time. An argument ensues and Anthony Lamont Hines is accused of shooting the coach. DURING PRACTICE.
From KDKA:
The U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force took 33-year-old Anthony Lamont Hines Jr., of Sharpsburg, into custody just after 2 p.m. Sunday in Monroeville. He was taken to the Allegheny County Jail. The shooting happened on Friday around 7 p.m. during a youth football practice at Mellon Park.
According to police, Hines Jr. approached the coach and the two got into a verbal altercation. Eyewitnesses say that Hines Jr. then shot the coach several times and fled the scene.
Boys between the ages of 7 and 12 were on the field at the time of the shooting.
Further details from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:
Witnesses told police that Hines, whose nephew plays on the East End Raiders youth football team, had caused trouble at previous practices. They said “Uncle Tone” approached the coach about 7 p.m. Friday and began shooting. The suspect continued firing as he chased the coach across the field and stood over him, firing shots as he crawled along the ground attempting to avoid the gunfire, according to the warrant.
You know what? I’ll gladly just send my kids to basic soccer. Basic baseball. Basic basketball. No need for 3 1/2 hour trips to play a soccer match. No need for 3 days, 4 nights to play some baseball games. If we can’t find somewhere to play around here we’ll just go on with life….if the kids even want to play.
