Stupid is as stupid does...

A few things caught my attention this weekend - and before I get onto the stupid bits, I've just reminded myself of a couple of other bits, maybe not stupid, but... oh, I dunno... judge for yourself.

Listened to a conversation in the weekend about scoring a netball game. But first a quick primer: the centre pass is taken by each team alternately. The umpires keep track (and sometimes they don't...) by whether the scores of the two teams add up to an even or odd number - one team takes its passes on odd, the other on even. Simple?

So, following a game where the umpires lost track of whose pass, and had to consult with the scorekeeper, I heard one woman say "I make sure I add the numbers up so I know if it's odd or even". Fair enough - the other woman offered helpful advice - "I just look to see if both numbers are odd, or even, or if they're not." Woooeeeeee, that's a handy time saving tip!

The first one was adamant though "I add them up just to make sure."

I kept my mouth shut & smiled politely.

2nd odd event. For reasons too long to explain, I found myself on someguy's lifestyle block in the weekend, while he threw chopped up dog meat (for his dog, not from his dog) into a stream to demonstrate how noisily & from how far, his property's eels would come for the tucker. Another gentleman present watched this with interest, then asked "Are they vegetarian?". I smiled politely, but was not expecting the expert reply, "yes."

Now onto the stupid stuff.

Another netball story: During the weekend, the coach of a local team of 10 year olds, removed her team from the court because she disagreed with an umpire's decision.

I don't know the details, but I can think of few things less sporting to do. Umpires DO make mistakes, even at test match level, but isn't it important to abide by the umpire whether right or wrong? What is that coach teaching her charges about sport? To add to the stupidity, the committee that makes the tournament rules, is now considering making every team supply a qualified umpire for every game.

This is stupid, because this is primary school sport, and very few teams at this level will have access to qualified umpires in the first place. And um... it's just not that serious!

Personally, I think they should tell the coach in question to grow up & get on with it. Build a bridge! Build a bridge! And get OVER yourself! As we chant in SunnyO.

Next stupid thing. Actually, the mother-lode.

I can't find the story online, but I'm referring to the moron who late last week, was approaching the Mt Victoria tunnel, and who objected to the way fellow motorists were not "merging like a zip", who sped ahead, then stopped his car in the tunnel, blocking one lane, hopped out & walked back to give motorists following a piece of his mind (well, they CAN split the atom after all). Several cars were forced to stop suddenly, and a truck way back in the rear, most suddenly of all, when he connected with a car in front & caused a concertina like effect of crashed & crashing cars, including the moron's who stopped in the first place. Blocking the whole tunnel for more than an hour.

Way to go. Really, I think they should name & shame both the coach of the netball team & also the merge-like-a-zip fanatic.