Karma is quite a concept: do good things, and good things happen; do bad things, and bad things happen. They can often happen to you – that’s the part most people forget. People rarely get away with their bullshit. Sure, there’s a huge lack of accountability in the world, but at some point or another, that crap comes back around eventually.

It has happened in the local softball league, yet again. As I wrote about exactly this topic back in 2023, when an angry mob made up a bunch of nonsense to reject the valid and sole nomination for the league chairperson position, because he was honest and they didn’t like that, this league has a serious problem with transparency and telling the truth. Coincidentally, it took the same person involved back then to expose yet another round of manipulation, deceit, and incompetence, which very likely would never have happened if two simple things happened: 1) people would be honest (which seems super-hard for many), and 2) the league adhered to its own rules and regulations (which also seems super-hard).

So… WTAF is going on? We have two teams who were supposed to play each other, on a specific date, at a specific location, according to the schedule created by the league. One of the teams (the away team) called their opponent to arrange to reschedule their game, because they did not have enough players on the scheduled date. The opponent (the home team), wanting to play, agreed to this idea. What was required then is the league’s approval for the rescheduling of the game, and this they did not have. In order for this to be completed, the league must understand why the teams cannot play the game according to the schedule, like every other team does, and only reschedule voluntarily in advance (unlike, for example, if there is bad weather) for an “exceptional circumstance”, the most common being a death, or something completely unforeseen and unavoidable. The league chairperson who approved the rescheduling 1) did not bother to validate the change because “they were busy”, and 2) was only given a reason after approving the change.

Here’s where it gets really spicy: the reason provided by the home team was not “because our away opponent didn’t have enough players so we agreed another date for when they did have players”, because that wouldn’t meet the criteria for “exceptional circumstances”, but instead that there was no pitch available on which to play, because of a double-booking with a local cricket club. A follow-up call to the cricket club revealed there was no such double-booking on that date, they had no game on that date.

Somebody lied. Also, the two teams colluded to reschedule a game to the benefit of both: one to avoid a forfeit, the other because they “wanted to play” and to do that they lied by making up and perpetuating a story to present to the league to justify that.

Where’s the harm? They just wanted to play a softball game, right? Well, not every team gets to reschedule their games to suit themselves whenever they are shorthanded, or even if their “best player” happens to be away. Sometimes – this happened to my own team on more than one occasion – a team doesn’t have enough players, for no extraordinary reasons, and so correctly, honorably, transparently, notifies the league and the opponent, and forfeits the game. By rescheduling to suit your best interests, you cheat all other teams that follow the schedule and play with the available players, or not at all. This impacts the final standings, who wins and who loses, who is crowned the divisional champion, and who gets promoted or relegated to a different division for the next season. It is not victimless, or the innocent-sounding “in the interest of playing the game”. It is selfish, and to the disadvantage of those who follow the rules and regulations. It also makes a mockery of the league: why have a schedule at all, if teams are going to subvert it and play whenever they like? If we’re not following the same rules and regulations, why have a league at all, and instead just play pick-up games whenever we can?

The current league chairperson, who was negligent in following the rules regarding rescheduling games, needs to think about what the role requires and if they’re up to the job – but this isn’t all on them and the league committee. Far more importantly, the teams and individuals who colluded to defraud the league and all the other teams in the league, need to be held accountable. After all, if winning and losing, the “division title”, promotion, and relegation, are to have any meaning, there needs to be consequences when teams are caught cheating. The results of their games should now be in jeopardy; in fact, their positions in the league should be in jeopardy. Some people simply should not be in charge of even a softball team, when they exhibit behavior deemed unethical. If there are no real consequences, why wouldn’t other teams violate the rules, and what credibility does the league have?

We also need to see this accountability. Write it. Publish a public statement, at the very least to notify the other teams in the league about what the actual fuck is going on. Are we adhering to and enforcing the rules, or not? Too often, it’s “or not”, the details are never investigated or fully understood, people (like me) are gaslit by being told we are the problem for even daring to talk about these things in the open. I’ve been “sick of it” for a long time, and I’m just as “sick of it” now. There will be attempts to sweep this under the carpet yet again, with calls of “let’s all just get along, and move on”, much like Donald Trump and the Epstein list. Pay attention to who’s saying what, and how much it aligns with fraudsters, liars, and criminals.

On the subject of accountability, I am not holding my breath. There has never been any in this league, and I doubt there will be any now. They certainly will not publish anything. Next year there’ll be a new committee, a new chairperson, and no one will remember, or learn from, any of this.

But I’m quite sure there will still be a default mentality of sneaking around, hiding, colluding, and lying. Recreational softball, it’s fun!