THE NEW PC BRICK COMPACT

Our team meeting at Washington Park was a fruitful one. We were able to discuss the things we felt were in need of change and come to an agreement. I think all of us were pretty close to being on the same page so it took only a little refinement. I didn't bring my notepad but this is the new PC Brick Compact to the best of my recollection:

1) We absolutely must be supportive of each other. That means no chirping from the bench when a teammate makes an error. I'm surprised this needs to be said but others have brought it to my attention and I witnessed it myself last week. There's no room for it, period. Any complaining from the bench about how you can do better will be interpreted as "I don't want to be a part of this team anymore." And Coach, that also means no slamming down the scorebook and grumbling about our play, even when we're playing like the biggest blockheads on planet Earth. We need support from our teammates and especially from our chief.

2) The players who come to practice will get the bulk of the playing time. If you don't come to practice, you shouldn't have any expectation of starting and playing the whole game. Playing time has to be shared to the extent possible and by skipping practice, you're telling your teammates playing for this team is not that important to you. If we're just a dozen folks who meet once per week to play a game, our communication and teamwork will suffer, we'll play sloppily and we'll have a greater risk of injury. We want to avoid those things, therefore, we practice.


3) The reporting time is being moved from 4:45 to 5:00. The Coach has to be able to see you there at 5:00 or he may be forced to put someone else in your place -- even if you were at practice and your replacement was not. There is a deadline for turning in the lineup card and Coach can't wait around to see if you're going to show up. If you know in advance you can't be there by 5:00 on a given day, you need to let us know so The Coach can plan accordingly.

4) The Coach is calling the shots. He makes out the lineup, he decides the substitutions, and he handles any disputes with the umpire. If you're hurt and need to come out of the game or you need a courtesy runner, get The Coach's attention. If you're on the bench and you think The Coach missed something important, go talk to him. Don't holler at him from across the dugout. (Coach, we need you to be approachable for this to work.)

Did I misinterpret anything? Or leave something out?