Just when you think that no one could be a bigger douche bag than Ted Haggard, along comes Dan Hinkle to prove you wrong. Here’s the gist of it:
Dan Hinkle is the commissioner of a Fairfax, VA football league. His son plays for one of the teams, the South County Raptors. One day, head coach James Owens, pays Dan Hinkle’s son Scott on offense instead of defense, and is instantly fired. Turns out Hinkle had a rule: his son plays every minute of every game all season or the league goes bye bye. And, sure enough, he stood by his word. He immediately disbanded the league right before the championship leaving almost 4000 12-14 year olds with no post-season whatsoever. Everything just went – BOOM! – and went away.
First off, if I were a 12-14 year old in Fairfax playing for this league, I’d get my buddies together to beat the @!#% out of little Scott Hinkle. That poor kid – his father should know better. How will his friends look at him now that they know that when he didn’t get his playtime, his daddy pulled the plug on the entire league. What a sad sack. Sadly for Scott, this is how playground rules work. I would never socialize with this kid solely because his father is a complete douche.
Secondly, as a parent, I’d organize an unsanctioned title tournament for everyone that is outside the control of this clown Hinkle. Then I’d make every effort to make sure the entire community knows that parents like this are the problem. They teach their kids everything that is wrong with America today. Entitlement – that you have some sort of right. Sportsmanship – that it’s ok if everything is about you despite everyone else. Teamwork – all for one, one for one.
I feel bad for Scott Hinkle, I do. But I hope someone punches Dan Hinkle square in his nose.
You say you feel sorry for Dan Hinkle? I feel sorry for you. You have cleverly managed to show just how stupid it is to believe everything you read. As much as I’d love to share the real story, not a WORD of which is in the Post, I will defer to Mr. Hinkle to speak when appropriate. It is so very sad that people like those coaches, those parents and now you can perpetuate a gross misrepresentation of the truth and ever so easily dance around the sin of omission. By failing to tell the whole story Mr Hinkle is villified when in fact he should be commended for the amazing things he AND his entire family have done for our community. Absolutely no one has given more to South County football than the Hinkle family.
very concerned mom = Mrs. Hinkle
So the email is fabricated? Mr. Hinkle refuses to discuss this with the media, so why don’t you clear his name Mrs. Hinkle?
I am commenting on what I read on the _Washington Post_, which most consider a respectable newspaper. If you have a beef with the story, contact them for a correction, not me.
As far as I can tell, Mr Hinkle shut down the league because his son didn’t get 100% play time. If this is true, he should be ashamed of himself. If it’s not, then the Washington Post is to blame for misrepresenting the facts, and your issue is with them for a poor story, not with me for an honest reaction.
The guy said he felt sorry for Scott Hinkle, the kid, not the jackass father.
To the “very concernd mom” nice try Mrs Hinkle!
He’s a freakn loser! Theres hundreds of people that do tons of great things for youth sports.
What “your husband” has done has shown what his real motives are. ME ME ME
No Team in “I” danny boy
What’s especially disturbing about this story is his comment regarding the league as a whole: “This entire league exists so he can play defense on the best team in his weight class. . . . He is my son, I own the league, and he plays every snap on defense” (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/03/AR2006110301819.html) Yes, Mr. Hinkle, the entire football league, including each of the 5,800 children in it, exists solely to give your son an opportunity to play defense. Wow, someone has lost sight of the big picture. I wonder if this narcissist even knows whether his son prefers playing offense or defense. Way to set an example for all the young, impressonable minds out there learing the value of teamwork, sportsmanship and integrity.
In his defense he had just lost his mother (my condolences go out to him and his family) and hopefully this was just an uncharacteristic outburst resulting from the added stress of that event. But at the same time, the quote mentioned above was supposedly from an email prior to the beginning of the season and that is simply despicable. How embarrassing.
Let’s not overlook the fact that it is Dan Hinkle’s son who has to live with this flaming fool. God only knows what happens in the Hinkle household away from public scrutiny. After all, look what Dan Hinkle does in public! For heaven sakes, what if this kid ultimately lacks the size, skill, will even to play high school football? If this youngster doesn’t turn out to be another Lawrence Taylor his father will probably chain him in the basement. Stay tuned–I’m sure we haven’t heard the last of this wingnut.
First, a correction: At least according to the Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/03/AR2006110301819_pf.html), Hinkle didn’t disband the league, he simply fired the coaches concerned. It was the youngsters themselves (who obviously picked up lessons in sportsmanship, team play, and loyalty somewhere, because it wasn’t from Hinkle) who decided that they wouldn’t continue the season without their fired coaches.
Second, a rejoinder to “A concerned mom”: You claim to have knowledge of the “real story,” but then state that you will defer to Hinkle to tell it. If you are truly concerned about what the community thinks about this man, then it should behoove you to get as many of the facts out as possible. Don’t, however, expect any sympathy simply by giving vague hints to the effect that you know better than the rest of us, but failing to divulge any of those supposed “real” facts.
Are you saying that the Washington Post fabricated the email from Hinkle to the coaches? If not, how can you defend him? His odious comment alone that “This entire league exists so [my son] can play defense on the best team in his weight class” should have the rest of the parents up in arms. I thought the league existed so that the boys could have fun while learning about teamwork, camaraderie, and good sportsmanship, not as a monument to some bully’s vanity.
Furthermore, what does this sort of behavior teach Hinkle’s son? If Scott is talented enough, then his play on the field should earn him a spot on the starting defense, without any help from his father’s money. If Scott is not talented enough, the other kids will resent him for (a) taking the spot away from a more talented kid, and (b) making their team worse as a result. If he’s not careful, Hinkle’s attempts to buy his son’s way through life are going to leave Scott spoiled and unliked. Let’s put it this way — as a “concerned mom,” would you spoil your child the way Hinkle evidently has tried to?
First, a correction: At least according to the Post, Hinkle didn’t disband the league, he simply fired the coaches concerned.
Actually, it’s kind of ambiguous. Apparently, it somehow abruptly ended the season of the team. The article implies the league ended, but it appears it was just the season of this particular team. My bad.
You must be on his payroll as well.
From the South County Youth Football website (there is a picture of Hinkle as well but it doesn’t paste into this forum … but picture the actor Larry Drake as he looked in the early 90’s movies like “Darkman” with dark hair, receding hairline and a really bad goatee):
” A Letter from the Commissioner Welcome to South County Youth Football!
South County Youth Football is an exciting program in Fairfax County and I’d like to personally invite you and your child to be a part of our club. Our goal is to provide a safe and fun environment for players of all ages and skill levels to learn, play, and develop a love for the game of football. Our staff, coaches, and administrators are all dedicated to meeting those goals.
Safety: It is nearly always the first question asked by many prospective players’ parents. “Will my son/daughter get hurt playing football?” At South County Youth Football, the safety of our players is paramount and it is stressed in everything from equipment fitting, to ensuring all gear is worn by every player, to closely supervising the players during practices and games to ensure safe and proper football techniques are used, to having the proper first aid available in the unlikely event of an injury. We have a section on safety in the FAQ section of this site for more information on this important topic.
Fun: Let’s face it, football is a huge investment in time. Time for parents, and time for players. It has to be fun or who would want to do it? We want the players to have a good time and enjoy the game, and yes even the practices. We never lose sight of the fact that it is youth football and youth football is fun.
Learn: As I previously talked about, youth football is about fun but it’s also about learning. Our coaches are here to teach the game to the players. The game seems simple enough when you are watching but at the snap of the ball each player is forced to make numerous choices all with split-second timing. That requires teaching and quite honestly nobody does it better than South County coaches do. You’ll notice that each coach’s style is different but the end result is the same, players learn the game of football and their role as a member of the team. Of course football, like any sport, is not just about the game. It’s about teamwork, honesty, hard work, self discipline, pride of accomplishment, and so many other of our valued ethics and we strive to ensure each player is surrounded by examples of those ethics in our coaches, our administrators, and of course the players themselves.
Play: All players play. It’s the rule in Fairfax County but more importantly it’s our philosophy as an organization. There isn’t a single player who can’t or doesn’t contribute significantly to their team so we need them all – and we play them all.
Love the Game: It’s late October. First playoff game, late in the 4th quarter, 4th down and 1 yard to go. A cold front has parked itself over the rain soaked field. Eleven 8, 9, and 10 year olds, wet, muddy, and tired – their teammates huddled on the sidelines – approach the line of scrimmage.
As one they move at the call: “down”.
Again in unison: “set”.
A hush falls over the crowd.
Their breath condenses in the air in front of them. “Go!”.
At that moment, there is no cold, no mud, no aches, no crowd. Just determination as each player lunges forward in unison. A single unit. A team. And with that, victory – or perhaps defeat – but they play as one. For themselves, for their teammates, for the love of the game.
Again, I welcome you to South County Youth Football if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me or any of the coaches. I wish you success in all your endeavors.
GO RAPTORS!!
Dan Hinkle
Commissioner
South County Youth Association ”
The paragraph titled “Learn” makes you want to puke after the actions and true mindset of Mr. Hinkle became public. But this whole letter makes you think “what an absolute hypocrite”. . . Access it yourself via cache.zoominfo.com