[4_2_it]

Wow. A lot of blame to pass around here. First, the coach over-reacted by grabbing the face mask and spinning the kid. Absolutely no reason to do that. He could have grabbed him by the shoulder pads and achieved the same result.

Next, the kid's parents sound like they enjoy living vicariously through their little Joe Montana. Dad should have settled things that day with the coach. Lawsuits and written apologies are ridiculous.

Finally, the league should have stepped in and disciplined the coach for his actions. I have coached several youth sports (though not football) and every league that I have been a part had a very clear "Do NOT strike a kid" rule.

So nobody looks good here and the kids receive the worst message possible. Sadly, this is becoming all too standard in youth sports today.