Updated throughout the day with quick takes from staff.
The committee overwhelmingly voted against his request. The reason being that his business is a firearms dealership called Constitution Arms.
"Arbitrary, capricious and unfair," Carmel said of the perceived slight. "I don’t like being pigeonholed."In an 8-1 vote, the volunteer committee said thanks, but no thanks.
"I voted against it," said Craig Gruber, secretary of the committee. "Personally ... given the nature of that business, I’m certain there’d be quite a bit of contention. We don’t need the headache. ... We have our hands full with deciding whether infield fly rules should be in effect for 9-year-olds."
The committee, Gruber said, hasn’t taken up-or-down votes on sponsors, at least in his seven years’ experience. But this time, Constitution Arms caught its eye.
"My sense was the backlash would be extraordinary," he said.
To Carmel, the rejection flies in the face of the perception South Orange-Maplewood, which share a school system, is a proverbial big tent open to all ideas.
"Only if you agree with them," he said. "But if you don’t, the tent is not that big."
Sorry, buddy. If the Washington Wizards can't go back to being the Bullets, I doubt anyone can avoid the freakout of having kids associated with a sports team sponsored by a gun store. Anything gun-related combined with kids is going to be contentious enough to cause a major stir among the among parents in the league. While there's no inherent danger of having a gun store sponsor a little league team, there could be negative fallout for the league if they allowed it to go forward.
(H/T to Hugging Harold Reynolds)
This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.
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I’m sure Mr. Carmel made the offer in good faith and with an honest desire to support junior baseball, but it todays out of control American PC culture he didn’t have a chance. Here’s an adult who, instead of cursing umpires and opponent coaches from the stands, really wants to put his money where his mouth is and help the kids and he’s rejected because of the name of his business. If Mr. Carmel’s store was called Constitution Sporting Goods, even if he sold nothing but guns, his money would have been accepted in a heartbeat. Insane! I live overseas in a small town where a local (legal) escort service publicly sponsors sporting events without any problem at all. I have a ringside seat watching "foreigners" in their own country see what goes on in the U.S. and shake their head and say "Only in America…". It’s hard to argue with them.
by ozrocco on Mar 5, 2010 7:24 PM EST reply actions
The PC Police in full force.
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by jiam on Mar 6, 2010 9:00 PM EST reply actions
It’s New Jersey. "Constitution" is what they really objected to.
by bveo12 on Mar 7, 2010 12:10 PM EST reply actions
The Youth Baseball team not allowed to bear constitution arms. The kid
must have had a good go of it, because when the next season was about to
start, Carmel sent a letter to the league’s committee asking if he
could sponsor a team, using the name of his business.
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by jacksmith0141 on Mar 8, 2010 4:36 AM EST reply actions
In 1964, the Pimlico, MD Little League team, the Reds, were sponsored by the inmates at the Maryland Penitentiary. The team played some of their games in the prison yard and the prisoners acted as umpires. Makes a sponsor like a firearms business not sound so bad after all.
by batgirl64 on Mar 8, 2010 9:44 PM EST reply actions
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