When you discover your kid's new coach has very different political views

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:OP said the political posts are "out there".

I assume said Coach isn't arguing about marginal tax rates or changes to the Federal Flood Insurance Program.

If he's posting lunatic right wing conspiracy theory crap, it's valid to question what else he's into.

Still might be a great Coach, but he's inviting the criticism.

Don't blame OP for Google searching someone or following them on Twitter.

Are you the same person that believes it is acceptable and your duty to key cars of people that have political bumper stickers you do not agree with?

Because this "he has it coming!" attitude is straight up fascism.

Buddy, "inviting criticism" has nothing whatsoever to keying cars. No decent person would do so or even make that ideological leap.

It means I get to judge him personally and thinks he's a moron. He's entitled to his views and I am entitled to think he's stupid. That's all.

I'm sure coach returns the sentiment. And people wonder why their kids don't get adequate play time and sit on the bench. Because their idiot parents can't disguise their derision.

If the Coach is basing playing time of the kid based on what he perceives to be the beliefs of the parents, that is NOT a good Coach.

Also, well adjusted people don't put bumper stickers on their car, let alone political ones to whomever keep bringing that up.

Do you think OP sounds well adjusted? Coaches don't want difficult parents and families on their teams no matter how good the kids are. OP has said they are entitled to personally judge and criticize. That doesn't sound like it will enhance the team experience and be good for team bonding in a fun atmosphere which is what a good coach wants.

I'm not OP, but personally judging someone has nothing to do with team bonding or whatever.

Privately thinking to one's self: "Our Coach is an effing lunatic" is just fine.

And to the other poster -- if a police officer, plumber or anyone else is of the same persuasion, I will think they are lunatics too. I judge all!

Stop being such snowflakes. Don't excuse morons that believe crazy conspiracy theories as legitimate.

First, we still have no idea what the "political view" is other than OP perceives it as "out there." You are making assumptions.

Second, I agree that we all judge people all the time. And you are right that you can judge the random person on the street, the bank teller, your coworker, or whomever else.

Which is exactly why this post does not make sense. It makes NO DIFFERENCE that this person is a coach, or that they post on social media.

Might as well have just posted "I think people with XX political view are dumb/lunatics." and put it in the political forum.

The distinction is that OP's kid spends a lot of quality time with said Coach and in theory is supposed to be a mentor of good values.

So, only "your side" has good values and the other side is by default amoral and lacking in good values? Do you vet all your kids' teachers, trainers, tutors, coaches, instructors and everyone who spends a few hours a day with your kid? And you excise all the ones who don't agree with "your values?" You know nobody believes that you do, and of course, you don't because you can't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would be more worried about you polluting your kid's mind with your political views. I's gross and you need to stop it.

OP is so worried about it that they need to carefully curate everyone in their child's orbit lest they start thinking for themselves. OP would not be able to tolerate that.

[Anonymous]

Depends what those political views are. If he's cheering on the Proud Boys or the January 6 insurrection, I wouldn't want him around my kid. Those people are dangerous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Depends what those political views are. If he's cheering on the Proud Boys or the January 6 insurrection, I wouldn't want him around my kid. Those people are dangerous.

I agree with you that those views are dangerous.

But I'm curious, let's pretend the social media post was about those things. What would you actually do? Would you pull your kid from the team? Advocate for the coach to be removed?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Depends what those political views are. If he's cheering on the Proud Boys or the January 6 insurrection, I wouldn't want him around my kid. Those people are dangerous.

About .0001% of the population is cheering on the Proud Boys or Jan 6, so chill.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends what those political views are. If he's cheering on the Proud Boys or the January 6 insurrection, I wouldn't want him around my kid. Those people are dangerous.

I agree with you that those views are dangerous.

But I'm curious, let's pretend the social media post was about those things. What would you actually do? Would you pull your kid from the team? Advocate for the coach to be removed?

Pull my kid from team

Not PP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know this shouldn't matter, but blasting it on public social media accounts demonstrates a major lack of judgment to me.

Ugh. And now I can't unsee it.

Yep. This happened with swim coach who was quoting and uplifting Donald Trump in an newsletter email he sent out. Sent a reply and told him to stop it and that what he sent was offensive. I could not unsee this stance. Not cool. Poor business sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends what those political views are. If he's cheering on the Proud Boys or the January 6 insurrection, I wouldn't want him around my kid. Those people are dangerous.

I agree with you that those views are dangerous.

But I'm curious, let's pretend the social media post was about those things. What would you actually do? Would you pull your kid from the team? Advocate for the coach to be removed?

DP but can you please explain exactly what the danger is that you’re talking about?

[Anonymous]

Not OP --

-- Said Coach has extreme views
-- Said Coach voluntarily put those view of public social media

Stop blaming OP for Google stalking the Coach or whatever -- he put it out there, he can be judged as a tinfoil har wearing loon.

Stop using the excuse of "political views". We currently have asymmetry in our political system, where one side espouses lots of lies and conspiracy theories -- these shouldn't get blanket coverage as "political views". I'm doubting his social media posts were about technical fiscal policy or nuanced foreign policy ideas about Australia.

If my kid is spending 4 hours of practice time and 8 hours of game time per week with Coach Crazy Pants, I am going to monitor more closely than I would otherwise.

Yes, these people exist in the world and hold different occupations. If my car mechanic is a QAnon true believer and thinks the "storm is coming" on X date and publicly shares that info, I might make a rational decision to take my car elsewhere because he might not do the best job because X date will change everything. The argument that Coach gets a pass because there are other lunatics in the world does not hold water.

Polite society is under no obligation to enable or condone these weirdos. And we can judge and shun them if we so choose. Behavior has consequences and this is no different. Coaching is an opportunity and a profession.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not OP --

-- Said Coach has extreme views
-- Said Coach voluntarily put those view of public social media

Stop blaming OP for Google stalking the Coach or whatever -- he put it out there, he can be judged as a tinfoil har wearing loon.

Stop using the excuse of "political views". We currently have asymmetry in our political system, where one side espouses lots of lies and conspiracy theories -- these shouldn't get blanket coverage as "political views". I'm doubting his social media posts were about technical fiscal policy or nuanced foreign policy ideas about Australia.

If my kid is spending 4 hours of practice time and 8 hours of game time per week with Coach Crazy Pants, I am going to monitor more closely than I would otherwise.

Yes, these people exist in the world and hold different occupations. If my car mechanic is a QAnon true believer and thinks the "storm is coming" on X date and publicly shares that info, I might make a rational decision to take my car elsewhere because he might not do the best job because X date will change everything. The argument that Coach gets a pass because there are other lunatics in the world does not hold water.

Polite society is under no obligation to enable or condone these weirdos. And we can judge and shun them if we so choose. Behavior has consequences and this is no different. Coaching is an opportunity and a profession.

Op said “different” political views, not extreme ones. Are you advocating shunning everyone with different political views from yourself?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends what those political views are. If he's cheering on the Proud Boys or the January 6 insurrection, I wouldn't want him around my kid. Those people are dangerous.

I agree with you that those views are dangerous.

But I'm curious, let's pretend the social media post was about those things. What would you actually do? Would you pull your kid from the team? Advocate for the coach to be removed?

DP but can you please explain exactly what the danger is that you’re talking about?

I'm PP. I think those types of views are dangerous *for our country* as a whole. I do not think my child would be in any specific danger.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not OP --

-- Said Coach has extreme views
-- Said Coach voluntarily put those view of public social media

Stop blaming OP for Google stalking the Coach or whatever -- he put it out there, he can be judged as a tinfoil har wearing loon.

Stop using the excuse of "political views". We currently have asymmetry in our political system, where one side espouses lots of lies and conspiracy theories -- these shouldn't get blanket coverage as "political views". I'm doubting his social media posts were about technical fiscal policy or nuanced foreign policy ideas about Australia.

If my kid is spending 4 hours of practice time and 8 hours of game time per week with Coach Crazy Pants, I am going to monitor more closely than I would otherwise.

Yes, these people exist in the world and hold different occupations. If my car mechanic is a QAnon true believer and thinks the "storm is coming" on X date and publicly shares that info, I might make a rational decision to take my car elsewhere because he might not do the best job because X date will change everything. The argument that Coach gets a pass because there are other lunatics in the world does not hold water.

Polite society is under no obligation to enable or condone these weirdos. And we can judge and shun them if we so choose. Behavior has consequences and this is no different. Coaching is an opportunity and a profession.

It seems you are assuming that this person is "a Trumper." What if it had nothing to do with Trump? What if it was about the conflict in the Middle East? What if it was about reparations? What if it was about immigration policy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not OP --

-- Said Coach has extreme views
-- Said Coach voluntarily put those view of public social media

Stop blaming OP for Google stalking the Coach or whatever -- he put it out there, he can be judged as a tinfoil har wearing loon.

Stop using the excuse of "political views". We currently have asymmetry in our political system, where one side espouses lots of lies and conspiracy theories -- these shouldn't get blanket coverage as "political views". I'm doubting his social media posts were about technical fiscal policy or nuanced foreign policy ideas about Australia.

If my kid is spending 4 hours of practice time and 8 hours of game time per week with Coach Crazy Pants, I am going to monitor more closely than I would otherwise.

Yes, these people exist in the world and hold different occupations. If my car mechanic is a QAnon true believer and thinks the "storm is coming" on X date and publicly shares that info, I might make a rational decision to take my car elsewhere because he might not do the best job because X date will change everything. The argument that Coach gets a pass because there are other lunatics in the world does not hold water.

Polite society is under no obligation to enable or condone these weirdos. And we can judge and shun them if we so choose. Behavior has consequences and this is no different. Coaching is an opportunity and a profession.

It seems you are assuming that this person is "a Trumper." What if it had nothing to do with Trump? What if it was about the conflict in the Middle East? What if it was about reparations? What if it was about immigration policy?

Get a hobby

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I work with faculty members in government and politics, sociology, and psychology. Their research and writing demonstrates, consistently, that this type of political tribalism is a problem. They urge cross-political friendships, conversations, relationships and community building. Make friendships and connections wherever you can. Your superior attitude is a turn-off to many people “in the middle” who could easily vote either way.

Seriously. Like the PP below.

Anonymous wrote:Interesting. Being a coach is one of the few exceptions I make for mingling with a MAGA or Evangelical. It's not easy to be a good coach so I give politics a pass and honestly they have been pretty civil themselves. This isn't the 90s where a coach will have the team pray for your salvation because of your haircut or trendy T-shirt.

I'm not even remotely MAGA but I do belong to a denomination that could be considered evangelical (since the definition varies - our church never talks about politics at church though). The fact that you wouldn't deign to "mingle" with people like me is really off-putting and why I consider myself 100% politically homeless. Like - did it never occur to you that people with different political beliefs might generally be civil, not just on the field and the sidelines?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not OP --

-- Said Coach has extreme views
-- Said Coach voluntarily put those view of public social media

Stop blaming OP for Google stalking the Coach or whatever -- he put it out there, he can be judged as a tinfoil har wearing loon.

Stop using the excuse of "political views". We currently have asymmetry in our political system, where one side espouses lots of lies and conspiracy theories -- these shouldn't get blanket coverage as "political views". I'm doubting his social media posts were about technical fiscal policy or nuanced foreign policy ideas about Australia.

If my kid is spending 4 hours of practice time and 8 hours of game time per week with Coach Crazy Pants, I am going to monitor more closely than I would otherwise.

Yes, these people exist in the world and hold different occupations. If my car mechanic is a QAnon true believer and thinks the "storm is coming" on X date and publicly shares that info, I might make a rational decision to take my car elsewhere because he might not do the best job because X date will change everything. The argument that Coach gets a pass because there are other lunatics in the world does not hold water.

Polite society is under no obligation to enable or condone these weirdos. And we can judge and shun them if we so choose. Behavior has consequences and this is no different. Coaching is an opportunity and a profession.

This is the exact problem with America today and it's really exacerbated in the DC area specifically. Trying to say that only your side is definitively correct and the other side is lies and conspiracy theories is flat out intellectually dishonest. Not to mention takes away from the OP's actual question. Something tells me your kid(s) aren't good at sports. And you have purple hair.