17 Inches Intersting Analogy Full of Truth .

[T master]

This is a email i received that i thought i would share with you all some will get it others not so much because they do exactly what this imply's but i hope you enjoy the read sorry for it's length but IMHO very worth it !! These are the words of the coach that attended this convention back in 1996 .

 

"17 INCHES" - You will not regret reading this - this is a excellent article to read from the beginning to the end. Twenty years ago in Nashville Tenn. during the first week of January, 1996, more than 4K baseball coaches defended on the Opryland Hotel for the 52nd annual ABCA'S convention .

 

While  waited in line to register with the hotel staff, I heard other more veteran coaches rumbling about the lineup of speakers scheduled to present during the weekend. One name kept resurfacing, always with the same sentiment - "John Scolinios is here ? Oh Man, worth every penny of my airfare. "

 

Who is John Scolinos, I wondered. No matter, i was just happy to be there .

 

In 1996, Coach Scolinos was 78 yrs old & 5 yrs retired from a college coaching career that began in 1948. He shuffled to the stage to a impressive standing ovation, wearing polyester pants, a light blue shirt, & a string around his neck from which a home plate hung - a full sized, stark white home plate.

 

Seriously, i wondered, who is this guy ? After speaking for twenty-five minutes, not once mentioning the proof around his neck, Coach Scolinos appeared to notice the snickering among some of the coaches. Even those who knew Coach Solons had to wonder exactly where he was going with this, or if he had simply forgotten about home plate since he'd gotten on stage. Then Finally...

 

"You're probably all wondering why I'm wearing home plate around my neck," he said, his voice growing irascible. I laughed along with others, acknowledging the possibility. "I may be old, but i'm not crazy.  The reason I stand before you today is to share with you baseball people what i have learned in my life, what i've learned about home plate in my 78 years."

 

Several hands went up when Scolino asked how many Little League coaches were in the room. "Do you know how wide home plate is in Little League?" After a pause, someone offered, "Seventeen inches?" , more of a question than a answer.

 

"That's right," he said. "How about in Babe Ruth's day? Any Babe Ruth coaches in the house?" Another long pause. "Seventeen inches?" a guess from another reluctant coach.

"That's right," said Scolinos. "Now, how many high school coaches do we have in the room?" Hundreds of hands shot up, as the pattern began to appear. 

 

"How wide is home platen high school Baseball?" "Seventeen inches," they said, sounding more confident. "You're right!" Scolinos barked. "And you college coaches, how wide is home plate in college?" "Seventeen inches" we said in unison. 

 

"Any minor league coaches here? How wide is home plate in pro ball? .........  "Seventeen inches!"   "RIGHT' And in the major Leagues, how wide home plate is in the major leagues? "Seventeen inches." 

 

"SEV-EN-TEEN INCHES!" he confirmed, his voice bellowing off the walls. "And what do they do with a big league pitcher that can't throw the ball over the seventeen inches?" Pause. "They send him to Pocatello !" he hollered, drawing raucous laughter. "What they don't do is this; they don't say, 'Ah, that's okay, Jimmy. If you can't hit a seventeen inches target ? We'll make it eighteen inches or nineteen inches. if you can't hit that, let us knows we can make it wider still, say twenty-five inches."

 

Pause. "Coaches... what do we do when your best player shows up late to practice? or when our team rules forbid facial hair & a guy shows up unshaven? What if he gets caught drinking? Do we hold him accountable? Or do we change the rules to fit him? Do we widen the plate?"

 

The chuckles gradually faded as four thousand coaches grew quiet, the fog lifting as the old coaches message began to unfold. He turned the plate toward himself&, using a sharpie, began to draw something. When he turned it toward the crowd, point up, a houses revealed, complete with freshly drawn door & 2 windows.

 

"This is the problem our homes today. With our marriages, with the way we parent our kids With our discipline. We don't teach accountability to our kids , and there is no consequences for failing to meet standards. We just widen the plate !" 

 

Pause. Then, to the point at the top of the house he added a small American flag. "This is the problem in our schools today. The quality of education is going down hill fast & teachers have been stripped of the tools they need to be successful, & to educate & discipline our young people. We are allowing others to widen home plate! Where is that getting us?"

 

Silence. He replaced the flag with a cross . "And the problem in the Church, where powerful people in positions of authority have taken advantage of young children, only to have such an atrocity swept under the rug for years. Our Church leaders are widening home plate of themselves! And we allow it."

 

"And the same with our government. Our so called representatives make rules for us that don't apply to themselves. They take bribes from lobbyist & foreign countries. They no longer serve us. And we allow them to widen him plate! We see our country falling into a dark abyss while we just watch."

 

I was amazed. At a baseball convention where i expected to learn about curveballs & bunting & how to run better practices, I had learned something far more valuable. From a old man with home plate strung around his neck, I had learned something about life, about myself, about my weakness & responsibilities as a leader. I had to hold myself & others accountable to that which i knew to be right, lest our families, our faith, &our society continue down an undesirable path. 

 

"If i am lucky, " Coach Scolinos concluded, "You will remember one thing from this old coach today. It is this: "If we fail to hold ourselves to a higher standard, a standard of what we know to be right; if we fail is but one thing to look forward to..."

 

With that, he held him plate in front of his chest, turned it around, & revealed it's dark black backside," ... We have dark days ahead. "

 

Note; Coach Scolinos died in 2009 at the age of 91, but not before touching the lives of hundreds of players & coaches, including mine. Meeting him at my first ABCA convention kept me returning yr after yr , children, your churches, your government, & most of all, keep yourself at seventeen inches !! 

 

And this my friends is what our country has become & what is wrong with it today, & now go out there & fix it ! 

 

"Don't widen home plate" !!  I for one agree with this analogy very wise words from this old coach !! 

 

 

[BillsFanNC]

Good read, thanks.

 

I have to admit that before opening the thread I was a little worried that this might be about John Holmes.

[Tiberius]

A Day in the life of Joe Republican

 

Joe gets up at 6 a.m. and fills his coffeepot with water to prepare his morning coffee. The water is clean and good because some tree-hugging liberal fought for minimum water-quality standards. With his first swallow of water, he takes his daily medication. His medications are safe to take because some stupid commie liberal fought to ensure their safety and that they work as advertised.

All but $10 of his medications are paid for by his employer's medical plan because some liberal union workers fought their employers for paid medical insurance -- now Joe gets it, too.

He prepares his morning breakfast: bacon and eggs. Joe's bacon is safe to eat because some girly-man liberal fought for laws to regulate the meat packing industry.

In the morning shower, Joe reaches for his shampoo. His bottle is properly labeled with each ingredient and its amount in the total contents because some crybaby liberal fought for his right to know what he was putting on his body and how much it contained.

Joe dresses, walks outside and takes a deep breath. The air he breathes is clean because some environmentalist wacko liberal fought for the laws to stop industries from polluting our air.

He walks on the government-provided sidewalk to the subway station for his government-subsidized ride to work. It saves him considerable money in parking and transportation fees because some fancy-pants liberal fought for affordable public transportation, which gives everyone the opportunity to be a contributor.

Joe begins his work day. He has a good job with excellent pay, medical benefits, retirement, paid holidays and vacation because some lazy liberal union members fought and died for these working standards. Joe's employer pays these standards because Joe's employer doesn't want his employees to call the union.

If Joe is hurt on the job or becomes unemployed, he'll get a worker compensation or unemployment checks because some stupid liberal didn't think he should lose his home because of his temporary misfortune.

It is noontime and Joe needs to make a bank deposit so he can pay some bills. Joe's deposit is federally insured by the FSLIC because some godless liberal wanted to protect Joe's money from unscrupulous bankers who ruined the banking system before the Great Depression.

Joe has to pay his Fannie Mae-underwritten mortgage and his below-market federal student loan because some elitist liberal decided that Joe and the government would be better off if he was educated and earned more money over his lifetime. Joe also forgets that in addition to his federally subsidized student loans, he attended a state funded university.

Joe is home from work. He plans to visit his father this evening at his farm home in the country. He gets in his car for the drive. His car is among the safest in the world because some America-hating liberal fought for car safety standards to go along with the taxpayer funded roads.

He arrives at his boyhood home. His was the third generation to live in the house financed by Farmers' Home Administration because bankers didn't want to make rural loans.

The house didn't have electricity until some big-government liberal stuck his nose where it didn't belong and demanded rural electrification.

He is happy to see his father, who is now retired. His father lives on Social Security and a union pension because some wine-drinking, cheese-eating liberal made sure he could take care of himself so Joe wouldn't have to.

Joe gets back in his car for the ride home, and turns on a radio talk show. The radio host keeps saying that liberals are bad and conservatives are good. He doesn't mention that the beloved conservatives have fought against every protection and benefit Joe enjoys throughout his day. Joe agrees: "We don't need those big-government liberals ruining our lives! After all, I'm a self-made man who believes everyone should take care of themselves, just like I have."

[T master]

31 minutes ago, Tiberius said:

A Day in the life of Joe Republican

 

Joe gets up at 6 a.m. and fills his coffeepot with water to prepare his morning coffee. The water is clean and good because some tree-hugging liberal fought for minimum water-quality standards. With his first swallow of water, he takes his daily medication. His medications are safe to take because some stupid commie liberal fought to ensure their safety and that they work as advertised.

All but $10 of his medications are paid for by his employer's medical plan because some liberal union workers fought their employers for paid medical insurance -- now Joe gets it, too.

He prepares his morning breakfast: bacon and eggs. Joe's bacon is safe to eat because some girly-man liberal fought for laws to regulate the meat packing industry.

In the morning shower, Joe reaches for his shampoo. His bottle is properly labeled with each ingredient and its amount in the total contents because some crybaby liberal fought for his right to know what he was putting on his body and how much it contained.

Joe dresses, walks outside and takes a deep breath. The air he breathes is clean because some environmentalist wacko liberal fought for the laws to stop industries from polluting our air.

He walks on the government-provided sidewalk to the subway station for his government-subsidized ride to work. It saves him considerable money in parking and transportation fees because some fancy-pants liberal fought for affordable public transportation, which gives everyone the opportunity to be a contributor.

Joe begins his work day. He has a good job with excellent pay, medical benefits, retirement, paid holidays and vacation because some lazy liberal union members fought and died for these working standards. Joe's employer pays these standards because Joe's employer doesn't want his employees to call the union.

If Joe is hurt on the job or becomes unemployed, he'll get a worker compensation or unemployment checks because some stupid liberal didn't think he should lose his home because of his temporary misfortune.

It is noontime and Joe needs to make a bank deposit so he can pay some bills. Joe's deposit is federally insured by the FSLIC because some godless liberal wanted to protect Joe's money from unscrupulous bankers who ruined the banking system before the Great Depression.

Joe has to pay his Fannie Mae-underwritten mortgage and his below-market federal student loan because some elitist liberal decided that Joe and the government would be better off if he was educated and earned more money over his lifetime. Joe also forgets that in addition to his federally subsidized student loans, he attended a state funded university.

Joe is home from work. He plans to visit his father this evening at his farm home in the country. He gets in his car for the drive. His car is among the safest in the world because some America-hating liberal fought for car safety standards to go along with the taxpayer funded roads.

He arrives at his boyhood home. His was the third generation to live in the house financed by Farmers' Home Administration because bankers didn't want to make rural loans.

The house didn't have electricity until some big-government liberal stuck his nose where it didn't belong and demanded rural electrification.

He is happy to see his father, who is now retired. His father lives on Social Security and a union pension because some wine-drinking, cheese-eating liberal made sure he could take care of himself so Joe wouldn't have to.

Joe gets back in his car for the ride home, and turns on a radio talk show. The radio host keeps saying that liberals are bad and conservatives are good. He doesn't mention that the beloved conservatives have fought against every protection and benefit Joe enjoys throughout his day. Joe agrees: "We don't need those big-government liberals ruining our lives! After all, I'm a self-made man who believes everyone should take care of themselves, just like I have."

 

And all the while home plate is being moved because of things such as the preservatives the gov't allows to be put in the food that cause disease that they continually ask us to donate to to find a cure for like cancer.

 

Or because of the Auto union worker that says he's pissed because his new foreman won't allow him to sleep on the job (which was what my father did personal experience) or the man at the Harrisons radiator plant that was caught sleeping in the closet instead of performing his job and sent home for 3 days with no pay & the liberal union rep got him back in 1 day plus extra pay for emotional stress . Another personal experience .

 

Or how about the liberal transgender thinking that it's alright for under age people to surgically change their bodies due to supposed positive mental health reasons but it's not okay to drink, drive, vote, get married, own a fire arm, or go into the military until a certain age . Liberal sense at it's best !! 

 

How about liberal politicians allowing Fanny Mae to write mortgages & re write mortgages over & over again for properties that in reality are worth nothing near what is being loaned until the bubble bursts in 2008 then they all have to file bankruptsy on a 1500 sq ft 3/2 bedroom home on a 1/4 acre lot on a direct access canal in FL. that was sold for & mortgage allowed at $800k dollars (Again a personal experience from a employee friend of mine in 2008) 

 

So seeing as you never quite grasp ANYTHING as it is being put forth and insist on always arguing your liberal counter points which are as foolish as you are & literally couldn't see the forest for the trees while you are standing at the edge of the woods this reply in no ways surprises me at all & you & those like you are exactly what the premise of this post is all about ...

 

Thanks for just one more piece of proof to what we all already have came to a conclusion about where your concerned .

[Tiberius]

4 minutes ago, T master said:

 

And all the while home plate is being moved because of things such as the preservatives the gov't allows to be put in the food that cause disease that they continually ask us to donate to to find a cure for like cancer.

 

Or because of the Auto union worker that says he's pissed because his new foreman won't allow him to sleep on the job (which was what my father did personal experience) or the man at the Harrisons radiator plant that was caught sleeping in the closet instead of performing his job and sent home for 3 days with no pay & the liberal union rep got him back in 1 day plus extra pay for emotional stress . Another personal experience .

 

Or how about the liberal transgender thinking that it's alright for under age people to surgically change their bodies due to supposed positive mental health reasons but it's not okay to drink, drive, vote, get married, own a fire arm, or go into the military until a certain age . Liberal sense at it's best !! 

 

How about liberal politicians allowing Fanny Mae to write mortgages & re write mortgages over & over again for properties that in reality are worth nothing near what is being loaned until the bubble bursts in 2008 then they all have to file bankruptsy on a 1500 sq ft 3/2 bedroom home on a 1/4 acre lot on a direct access canal in FL. that was sold for & mortgage allowed at $800k dollars (Again a personal experience from a employee friend of mine in 2008) 

 

So seeing as you never quite grasp ANYTHING as it is being put forth and insist on always arguing your liberal counter points which are as foolish as you are & literally couldn't see the forest for the trees while you are standing at the edge of the woods this reply in no ways surprises me at all & you & those like you are exactly what the premise of this post is all about ...

 

Thanks for just one more piece of proof to what we all already have came to a conclusion about where your concerned .

You live in the best country in the world in probably the best time ever to be alive and what do you do? Sit around and cry like a little sh it head. 

 

 

[AlBUNDY4TDS]

1 minute ago, Tiberius said:

You live in the best country in the world in probably the best time ever to be alive and what do you do? Sit around and cry like a little sh it head. 

 

 

Pot meet kettle........TRUMP!!!! You can't make this stuff up

[Tiberius]

Just now, AlBUNDY4TDS said:

Pot meet kettle........TRUMP!!!! You can't make this stuff up

Trump was trying to ruin the best country in the world. He, and probably you, wanted us to be like Putin's Russia. 

 

No thanks

 

AND!!!! You suck 

[AlBUNDY4TDS]

2 minutes ago, Tiberius said:

Trump was trying to ruin the best country in the world. He, and probably you, wanted us to be like Putin's Russia. 

 

No thanks

 

AND!!!! You suck 

You live in the greatest country in the world and all you do is complain about a man who hasn't been in office for a few years and blindly defend biden so no you suck lol biden doesn't live in my head rent free like trump does in yours. 

[Tiberius]

1 minute ago, AlBUNDY4TDS said:

You live in the greatest country in the world and all you do is complain about a man who hasn't been in office for a few years and blindly defend biden so no you suck lol biden doesn't live in my head rent free like trump does in yours. 

Yes, Trump is a POS

 

You only like him because you hate our country

 

You hate our governmenent, right? 

[AlBUNDY4TDS]

3 minutes ago, Tiberius said:

Yes, Trump is a POS

 

You only like him because you hate our country

 

You hate our governmenent, right? 

You really have the mind of a 4 year old. I didn't vote for trump so....guess there goes your theory

[LeviF]

I got 17* inches for ya right here

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*it identifies as 17 inches

[SoCal Deek]

3 hours ago, Tiberius said:

A Day in the life of Joe Republican

 

Joe gets up at 6 a.m. and fills his coffeepot with water to prepare his morning coffee. The water is clean and good because some tree-hugging liberal fought for minimum water-quality standards. With his first swallow of water, he takes his daily medication. His medications are safe to take because some stupid commie liberal fought to ensure their safety and that they work as advertised.

All but $10 of his medications are paid for by his employer's medical plan because some liberal union workers fought their employers for paid medical insurance -- now Joe gets it, too.

He prepares his morning breakfast: bacon and eggs. Joe's bacon is safe to eat because some girly-man liberal fought for laws to regulate the meat packing industry.

In the morning shower, Joe reaches for his shampoo. His bottle is properly labeled with each ingredient and its amount in the total contents because some crybaby liberal fought for his right to know what he was putting on his body and how much it contained.

Joe dresses, walks outside and takes a deep breath. The air he breathes is clean because some environmentalist wacko liberal fought for the laws to stop industries from polluting our air.

He walks on the government-provided sidewalk to the subway station for his government-subsidized ride to work. It saves him considerable money in parking and transportation fees because some fancy-pants liberal fought for affordable public transportation, which gives everyone the opportunity to be a contributor.

Joe begins his work day. He has a good job with excellent pay, medical benefits, retirement, paid holidays and vacation because some lazy liberal union members fought and died for these working standards. Joe's employer pays these standards because Joe's employer doesn't want his employees to call the union.

If Joe is hurt on the job or becomes unemployed, he'll get a worker compensation or unemployment checks because some stupid liberal didn't think he should lose his home because of his temporary misfortune.

It is noontime and Joe needs to make a bank deposit so he can pay some bills. Joe's deposit is federally insured by the FSLIC because some godless liberal wanted to protect Joe's money from unscrupulous bankers who ruined the banking system before the Great Depression.

Joe has to pay his Fannie Mae-underwritten mortgage and his below-market federal student loan because some elitist liberal decided that Joe and the government would be better off if he was educated and earned more money over his lifetime. Joe also forgets that in addition to his federally subsidized student loans, he attended a state funded university.

Joe is home from work. He plans to visit his father this evening at his farm home in the country. He gets in his car for the drive. His car is among the safest in the world because some America-hating liberal fought for car safety standards to go along with the taxpayer funded roads.

He arrives at his boyhood home. His was the third generation to live in the house financed by Farmers' Home Administration because bankers didn't want to make rural loans.

The house didn't have electricity until some big-government liberal stuck his nose where it didn't belong and demanded rural electrification.

He is happy to see his father, who is now retired. His father lives on Social Security and a union pension because some wine-drinking, cheese-eating liberal made sure he could take care of himself so Joe wouldn't have to.

Joe gets back in his car for the ride home, and turns on a radio talk show. The radio host keeps saying that liberals are bad and conservatives are good. He doesn't mention that the beloved conservatives have fought against every protection and benefit Joe enjoys throughout his day. Joe agrees: "We don't need those big-government liberals ruining our lives! After all, I'm a self-made man who believes everyone should take care of themselves, just like I have."

I appreciate the work you put into that. This is an age old debate that will never be any closer to being solved until the economic burden, and the realized benefits of government are more proportionally shared by all. Solve that first, and much of the rest of the death match will go away with it. 

[Doc]

3 hours ago, Tiberius said:

You live in the best country in the world in probably the best time ever to be alive and what do you do? Sit around and cry like a little sh it head.

 

And that's why Jane Democrat gets up every morning at 9 AM wanting to fundamentally transform it, right?

[Roundybout]

3 hours ago, LeviF said:

I got 17* inches for ya right here

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*it identifies as 17 inches

Your eyebrows must get pulled down to your knees whenever you see a picture of Kate Upton

[T master]

4 hours ago, Tiberius said:

Trump was trying to ruin the best country in the world. He, and probably you, wanted us to be like Putin's Russia. 

 

No thanks

 

AND!!!! You suck 

 

And some 63% of Americans think your boy is doing a S**T job even the people in his party think so but you are the blind being led by the blind & you can't get out of yesterday .

 

AND !!!! I know you are but what am I . Your such a F N Baby ...

[All_Pro_Bills]

18 hours ago, Tiberius said:

You live in the best country in the world in probably the best time ever to be alive and what do you do? Sit around and cry like a little sh it head. 

 

 

I agree with you, but your statement sounds eerily similar to what could be expressed by what might be the average conservative populist.  Because the liberal democrats of today are employing messaging that America is a white supremacist, racist, hell hole where people are systematically oppressed, police hunt down and kill people of color in the streets, extremist Nazi's plan attacks on the Capitol and roam the countryside looking for somebody to pick on, and the country was established for the purposes of enabling slavery.  And demand every issue be addressed by some form of an identity politics driven solution. 

 

I can only assume your renouncing those beliefs by your statement.   

Edited February 17, 2023 by All_Pro_Bills

[Tiberius]

2 minutes ago, All_Pro_Bills said:

I agree with you, but your statement sounds eerily similar to what could be expressed by what might be the average conservative populist.  Because the liberal democrats of today are employing messaging that America is a white supremacist, racist, hell hole where people are systematically oppressed, police hunt down and kill people of color in the streets, extremist Nazi's room the countryside looking for somebody to pick on, and the country was established for the purposes of enabling slavery.  And demand every issue be addressed by some form of an identity politics driven solution. 

 

I can only assume your renouncing those beliefs by your statement.   

No, Dems are saying we need reforms. Like the Declaration of Independence states, you suffer evils, while evils are sufferable 

[All_Pro_Bills]

Just now, Tiberius said:

No, Dems are saying we need reforms. Like the Declaration of Independence states, you suffer evils, while evils are sufferable 

The problem with the reform theory is they really do describe the country and employ messaging exactly as I state above.        

[Tiberius]

11 minutes ago, All_Pro_Bills said:

The problem with the reform theory is they really do describe the country and employ messaging exactly as I state above.        

No, that's why the Dems pass legislation while Republicans don't 

[SoCal Deek]

3 minutes ago, Tiberius said:

No, that's why the Dems pass legislation while Republicans don't 

It takes a whole lot of newly authored legislation to fundamentally transform America.