I don’t normally get my panties in a bunch about stories like this, but man, this one lacks so much common sense it hurts my brain. A 16-year-old baseball player was benched by his coach for having long hair—hair he intended to donate to kids with cancer who needed wigs.
The coach didn’t care, said the kid wasn’t displaying leadership with his long hair. Wait, hold on, let me check the calendar. Yep, it’s 2014. Just wanted to make sure
The haircut rule isn’t a new one, long-time coach Mackenzie has insisted on it for years, and in the past it has been a relatively minor subject of interviews I’ve conducted with him. “That’s my job as a coach, is to develop character, not so much to catch the ball and throw the ball, that’ll come, but it’s character in these young people,” he told me after the game when summing up his coaching philosophy.
Before the benching, the coach was confronted by the mother and father. He comes off sounding like a giant asshole.
Dude, just a reminder, you’re a baseball coach. You’re not leading men into battle, you’re not a therapist, you’re not a life coach. Focus on things that matter—like pitching, fielding and batting and less on the length of some kids hair.
Douchebag.