Is this normal?

“Did you try that link?”

“What about us without Lxis Nexis accounts?”

“Sorry, it is in today's Boston Globe. I will try and find a link.”

“The link is not working so here is the story:





Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company
The Boston Globe

May 13, 2003, Tuesday ,THIRD EDITION

SECTION: METRO/REGION; Pg. A1

LENGTH: 984 words

HEADLINE: MOTHER CHARGED IN A BOYS' FIGHT AT LITTLE LEAGUE

BYLINE: By Farah Stockman, Globe Staff, and C. Kalimah Redd, Globe Correspondent

BODY:
WAKEFIELD - Jumping into a fight between her Little League player son and a boy who had cheered for the opposing team, a Wakefield woman allegedly swore at and kicked the 11-year-old spectator on Saturday, police said.

The assault and battery charges arising from an incident at a game between the Giants and the Marlins shocked many parents in Wakefield, a town where 1,500 children play Little League Baseball. The mother charged, Valerie Yianacopolus, who is married to the coach of her son's team, the Marlins, has resigned from her post as secretary of the town Little League, a league official said.

To some involved with youth sports, the charges raised anew the specter of overzealous parents who become too involved in their children's games.

In the most serious case, a father fatally beat another father in 2000 in a hockey rink in Reading.

"He's only 11 years old," said the spectator's mother, who was not at the game. She asked that her name not be used to protect her son's identity. "I can't understand why a lady would want to beat him up. He came home with a bloody nose, spitting up blood, and crying hysterically."

Reached at home last evening, Yianacopolus declined to comment.

Witnesses interviewed yesterday gave conflicting accounts of what happened and police said they were still interviewing people - mostly youths - who had attended the game.

Three boys who were at the game told the Globe that they saw Yianacopolus attack the 11-year-old. But Douglas Cesero, the umpire of the game, said last night that Yianacopolus did not attack the spectator. He said he was the one who informed her that her son was in a fight, and walked with her until they reached the boys.

"She did not kick that kid," Cesero said. "I'm 100 percent sure." He said he was with her during the entire incident and gave his account to police. "It's unfortunate how rumors get started," he said.

Cy Bode, the coach of the Giants who witnessed part of the fight, said he did not see Yianacopolus strike the boy. Bode said that "Eleven-year-old kids are going to be 11-year-old kids. Sometimes they get excited."

Police said witnesses told them that Yianacopolus, 39, kicked the 11-year-old boy in the head after encouraging her son, who also is 11, to attack him because the alleged victim had been cheering for the other side.

The incident unfolded Saturday afternoon as the Marlins - a team that had been champions the previous two years - were losing to the Giants, another team in the Wakefield League, according to witnesses and police. Glenn Yianacopolus, a Massachusetts state trooper who also has coached youth hockey, was on the field with the Marlins while Valerie Yianacopolus was in the stands.

According to police, Yianacopolus asked the 11-year-old - a fifth-grader who also is in Little League - to move to another seat in the stands if he was going to cheer for the Giants. The boy moved, but after the game, as spectators poured onto the field, Yianacopolus's son, apparently upset that his team had lost, confronted the boy about his cheering.

Yianacopolus's son, whom police did not name, threw a baseball bat at the alleged victim, spit at him, and hit him in the face, witnesses told police. Yianacopolus allegedly egged her son on, witnesses said, and then kicked the boy in the head after he had fallen.

"According to the [police] report, she was shouting encouragement," said Wakefield Police Chief Stephen Doherty, who added that Yianacopolus intervened "inappropriately" in the fight between the two boys. "It's violence that is inappropriate, especially in front of young people. You can be a local fan and ardent supporter, but using violence as an outlet for those emotions is clearly against the law."

Yianacopolus, who had been reelected secretary of the Wakefield league for the past several years, will be arraigned in Malden District Court on a felony charge of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (her shod foot), and a misdemeanor charge of assault and battery, Doherty said. An arraignment date had not been set last night.

"When [the alleged victim] got up, [Yianacopolus] pushed him down. I saw her kick him, but I didn't see where . . . . [the alleged victim] was bleeding, and had a black eye," said Anthony Balzotti, a 12-year-old spectator whose parents gave permission for him to speak to the Globe.

Another 12-year-old witness said he saw Yianacopolus's son spit in the victim's face and heard the woman say he should "punch his teeth out."

The alleged victim's mother said she had not talked to any adults who witnessed the fight, but said adults who were present said they heard Yianacopolus yelling and encouraging her own son.

"There are plenty of kid witnesses who were there who saw her kick him," she said.

The danger of over-involved parents has been a recurring topic in Wakefield, where the minor Little League town championship series once erupted into a fight between two managers, and where a mother honking in support of her son had a pizza thrown on her windshield, according to a former league official.

Since the fatal hockey episode in Reading, Little League teams have been more aware of the dangers of parents fighting at events, said Joe Morel, former president of Malden American Little League. Morel said his league trains coaches to identify problem parents before incidents occur.

Former members of the board of directors of the Wakefield Little League Association Inc. said the incident seemed out of character for Yianacopolus, who they said has been a major fund-raiser and poured her heart into the organization over the past four years.

"It's an unfortunate incident and we don't tolerate that kind of behavior, no matter if she's been involved [with the League]," said Augustus Dettorre, a former league president who called on her to resign. "One mistake is too many."”

“Hey chief. How ya doin? Lookin at the eye candy today???? LOL”

“Yes that is normal MR. Why do you ask?”

“Several years ago I would probably say that this woman stepped over the line. However, from what I have seen of parents today, her behavior is not outside the norm. So I guess you are correct Violin, it is normal behavior.”

“Well, I know a couple of years ago at one of my son's soccer games we had a fight between two boys escalate into a fight between their two dads. The only funny part about it was that they were on the same team and one of the dads was the coach. Luckily several of the parents were on the local police force and one of them was on duty. One of the other dads on the team took over coaching for the rest of the game. It was pretty sad for the kids.”

“Some of the best soccer games I've been to around here are when they have "silent sidelines" if a parent starts yelling they get thrown out. The players like it becaue they don't have ten people yelling ten different instructions to them. I guess we have it good here, even at the powder puff game I don't remember seeing any pig intestines being used.”

“Interesting. Three 11 or 12-year-olds (from the opposing side?) accuse her of attacking the kid, while the only other adult to comment (the umpire) said she didn't do anything.

Smells fishy to me.”

“I think I'll go back and watch the NHL playoffs...it's less violent.”

“The question is: Is this normal?
We should be asking: Is this acceptable?”

“uhmm...what?”

“try the link: http://www.juststuffifound.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/media_http3mediatumbl_qcJwm.png”

“Access denied.”

“The owner of this website (www.juststuffifound.com) does not allow hotlinking to that resource (/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/media_http3mediatumbl_qcJwm.png). (Ref. 1011)”

“C&P works as expected”

“I guess it worked for me because I had the cookie already on my computer.

The text was:

“Normal people” are an urban legend.
Everyone heard about them.
Everyone talks about them.
But nobody has ever seen one.”

“So true.”

“Does this mean it is normal to be abnormal? And if abnormal is normal and normal is an urban legend, then normal and abnormal people don't exist. What does that make the rest of us? Ouch, now my head hurts.”

“Thanks, Zac, you gave me a brain cramp. At least it means I have a brain, eh?”

“You're welcome Gremlin. I should buy stock in Wyeth (parent company of Advil).”

“Nonconformist...you had to put the weird German as an example?

I think I am pretty normal, it's everyone else who's strange...”

“Isn't it the crazy people that think they are normal? Someone should get a nice padded room ready for Gem.”

“;)
”

“The things, I'm tempted to post here would get me banned.....”

“Thanks Mr. (or Ms.) Orphans

"What's the difference being different
When it's difference now that looks alike"

Willie Nelson”

“Nerd Alert: Zac plays with two connotations of "normal" that are too often con-fused. One means something like "typical" ("normal" as a matter of fact determined by statistical norms, abnormal would mean "unusual"). The other is "normal" as a matter of judgment (mostly clinical), meaning something like "healthy" and without defect (abnormal would mean disturbed, disordered, damaged, diseased...). A third connotation would be moral/ethical (Normal is good, abnormal is bad).

I admit, its not normal to be so nerdy on TT.”