Mehdi Hasan, the journalist formerly of Al Jazeera and MSNBC, and founder of Zeteo, who is also Muslim and a US immigrant, was recently discussing his policy of not platforming or engaging in discussion with fascists. He admitted it’s getting so that he’s having to relax that policy a bit, otherwise he’d not be able to have any US Republicans AT ALL in his interviews.

This is how I feel about softball. If I want to play softball, I have to engage with people I do not like, people who are liars and cheats and generally untrustworthy. People who are apathetic and incompetent. People with whom I will not agree on just about any topic.

That doesn’t mean everyone is bad. I just played a one-day tournament with a much younger, newer team – a new generation of softballers – who are all incredibly nice people. I only hope they can embrace the sport, learn how to play it well, and enjoy it for many years, as it can serve them well beyond being simply a social outlet for group participation. As with any new sport there’s a “learning curve”, but they’re well on their way to being able to play without fear of getting injured, or being confused about the vast array of rules and their application in one of the many scenarios that can play out in a softball game. While participation and “having fun” is great, there’s another level of joy achieved at being able to compete, and to win or lose, against others in a game requiring skill, knowledge, and athletic ability. This will require greater attention to detail and an increase in seriousness in the approach to the game, and I hope they can make that leap from simple participation and social enjoyment.

How long they will last, in an environment where the league doesn’t care about honesty, integrity, and understanding and following rules which keep everyone safe and the sport fair for everyone, is yet to be seen. The joy of playing can only do so much, and there is something lost when there is no promotion of learning how to play softball in a serious and skilled way.