The THAT GUY Thread

[digamma]

In short, don't be THAT GUY.

We all know that guy, probably come across him every day. He comes in many forms and shows up at all sorts of events. That guy is pretty much the target of the Bud Light Real Men of Genius commercials. He can be annoying or infuriating. He's THAT GUY. Don't be THAT GUY.

So, I thought a thread with a collection of THAT GUY stories might work. My own from yesterday...

I play in a low to mid-level USTA tennis league. I was in a doubles match yesterday. My partner is an older guy, but a very solid tennis player. We were playing two younger guys. As an aside, I actually knew one of our opponents from work. The other guy, who I didn't know, is our villain. He was a 20-something thin, nerdy-ish guy with glasses and a mop top hair cut.

The match was close. We won the first set 6-4, but found ourselves down 5-3 in the second with our villain serving. Their team had better "shots" than us, but we were more consistent. This game at 5-3 goes the same way. We get to deuce and then their advantage. That's when "that guy" showed up.

I returned his serve and he hit a soft ball back. My partner quickly put it away to bring the game back to deuce. But, wait. The villain calls my partner for breaking the plane of the net before making contact with the ball. My partner denies it. A 5-10 minute argument ensues. We offer to replay the point. Not good enough. I just look at the guy I know on the other side and say, "it's obviously a big point, why don't we just replay it?" Not good enough for that guy. He had to be right and had to take the point. He talked to my partner like he was a three year old--I saw it, you may not have realized you did it, but you did it, you may not think you did, blah blah.

Finally, my partner waved the white flag. Point given.

So, the overly aggressive tennis rules guy in a recreational league. DON'T BE THAT GUY.

(We won the match in the third set. Take that, THAT GUY.)

[Dutch]

Yeah, sportsmanship normally dictates that you can't make the winner accept defeat if he doesn't agree with (or see) the technical infraction.

However, ultimately, looks like the "tennis-gods" spoke in the end anyway.

[DanGarion]

So we are talking about people like that dumb bitch that was flipping off some basketball player a couple days ago that ended up on the Internet?

[mckerney]

Has the whole forum gone crazy? Am I the only one around here who gives a shit about the rules?

[Young Drachma]

People who call that in a match like that are desperate. I mean, I can see instances where one would call it on themselves or if the touch the net in some way it's more egregious but if your partner doesn't think he did, if you weren't looking AND this asshat called it before he even finished the point, he clearly was trying to steal a vital point.

But what he did was akin to giving you guys bulletin board material. Not a smart move.

I have lots of these...but need to recall one.

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by mckerney

Has the whole forum gone crazy? Am I the only one around here who gives a shit about the rules?

Tennis is obviously a sport of where you call your own rules. If some asshat wants to spend ten minutes arguing I did something I didn't do out of some faux moral b.s., he might get it, but the reality in this case was...he probably just wanted out of the set before they managed to choke it away.

Plus if you concede points like that too easily it might give him the idea you'll roll over and do that all of the time and it's crap. It'd be pretty unusual to break the plane of the net before hitting a ball. Not impossible but just something someone in a 3.5-4.0 league would do consistently unless they were wiffing on an overhead smash or something. But that'd be obvious to everyone and there'd be no quibble.

This to me sounds like some rules ninny who thought it was a rule digamma and his partner woudln't be familiar with, he thought he'd get in their heads and he insisted on taking the point despite their insistence at replaying it because they didn't see the error.

If it were HS or college, we'd have told them to replay the point unless one of us saw it. It was only because it was league play that they had to just go with it.

This isn't a case of someone ignoring the rules, it's a judgment call that's subjective.

[digamma]

Originally Posted by DanGarion

So we are talking about people like that dumb bitch that was flipping off some basketball player a couple days ago that ended up on the Internet?

Yeah you don't want to be that guy (phrase still works), but it doesn't have to be sports related. Could be the guy who makes the really inappropriate wedding toast or the guy who ruins office casual day by wearing hip skinny jeans.

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by Young Drachma

Tennis is obviously a sport of where you call your own rules. If some asshat wants to spend ten minutes arguing I did something I didn't do out of some faux moral b.s., he might get it, but the reality in this case was...he probably just wanted out of the set before they managed to choke it away.

Plus if you concede points like that too easily it might give him the idea you'll roll over and do that all of the time and it's crap. It'd be pretty unusual to break the plane of the net before hitting a ball. Not impossible but just something someone in a 3.5-4.0 league would do consistently unless they were wiffing on an overhead smash or something. But that'd be obvious to everyone and there'd be no quibble.

This to me sounds like some rules ninny who thought it was a rule digamma and his partner woudln't be familiar with, he thought he'd get in their heads and he insisted on taking the point despite their insistence at replaying it because they didn't see the error.

If it were HS or college, we'd have told them to replay the point unless one of us saw it. It was only because it was league play that they had to just go with it.

This isn't a case of someone ignoring the rules, it's a judgment call that's subjective.

I probably should have done something to make it clear I wasn't being serious.

[Marc Vaughan]

We have THAT GUY in soccer leagues I've played in sporadically - generally speaking I let them know through sarcasm that I think they're idiots but will give way unless they're being total arses ... if the result in what is essentially a non-professional recreational league means THAT much to them then who am I to spoil their day.

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by mckerney

I probably should have done something to make it clear I wasn't being serious.

In these parts, you never know. haha

[Lathum]

At my sons first soccer game a few weeks back, keep in mind we are talking about 3 year olds, and one of the dads is screaming at the top of his lungs KICK IT KICK IT, STEAL IT, TAKE IT AWAY, RUN RUN RUN RUN!!!!!!!!

don't be THAT guy, for the whole game.

[sabotai]

My own "the guy" tennis story.

I forget what the exact score was (this was ~17-18 years ago), but it was a close match and I was serving in a game that was 30-30. I serve (first serve), I clearly see the ball land a good few feet out of bounds and his partner (the guy not returning) says "Out!" The returning guy hits it back. I get ready to hit serve #2 when I hear something along the lines "What are you doing, we just won the point."

"It was out."

"I didn't say it was out!"

"Someone yelled 'out'."

"No one called it out!"

Here's the thing that really gets me though. The returning guy's partner was a kid from our school (someone who is a friend of mine). The schools had uneven number of players and the 3 bottom of the barrel players from our school and their bottom player played. In other words, we all sucked and the match meant absolutely nothing. But the point is, my "friend" turns to total cockroach behavior and denies he called 'out'.

Two "that guy" stories for the price of one. I forget how we resolved it or even how the match ended. The next day, he brings it up at school and I verbally destroyed him in front of people he hero worshiped. So in the social workings that is high school, getting a chance to embarrass him in front of people he was trying to emulate made it more than worth it.

[Galaxy]

Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan

. if the result in what is essentially a non-professional recreational league means THAT much to them then who am I to spoil their day.

I see this in softball leagues. It's really sad and pathetic, as if that is all they have going for them.

[JPhillips]

Last week I watched a coach in my daughter's 8-11 softball league taunt his daughter by repeatedly calling her a quitter.

Don't be the guy that leads your daughter to the pole.

[Young Drachma]

Oh wow. That's crazy.

[Flasch186]

tennis.

[PurdueBrad]

Originally Posted by Galaxy

I see this in softball leagues. It's really sad and pathetic, as if that is all they have going for them.

Yeah, I saw it a lot here too. A few years ago we were playing against the third place team in the league (16 teams) and we were tied for last at 0-9. So in the second inning of a 0-0 game a groundball comes to me at third. I pick it up and see that the guy that was on second (about 10 years younger than me) didn't wait to see if I fielded it and is charging towards third. So I go for the tag prior to the throw to first. I reach out for the swipe tag and...he plows me, full-blown like catcher-baserunner collision. I hold the ball but break my hand in the process.

I stay in for the rest of the game, pissed the whole time. So, lo-and-behold we hang in this game and are up 8-7 in the bottom of the seventh. He's on third, talking a ton of $hit and I pretty much ignore him. The guy at the plate hits a one-hopper down the third base line which I (somehow) dive and snag. I pop up to find that my villain is walking home, jumping up and down because he thinks he's going to easily be the tying run.

Admittedly I considered drilling him in the back of the head but instead logic wins out and I peg the throw home to where the catcher makes a nice play and is simply waiting for him with the ball, easy out.

So we got to 1-9 and they fell to 8-2. When it was time to shake hands, he stayed in the dugout.

[CU Tiger]

My sons little league coach....is THAT GUY.

my sons team is undefeated, Saturday they won 34-4.

In the last inning he had all the starters in, stole third twice and had a kid who hasn't hit all year squeeze bunt the 32nd run in.

Then after the game he told the kids, I could have backed off but you guys would have known I cheated you and you would hate me for it, so we play to win.

[Izulde]

Your league doesn't have a mercy rule I take it.

[Desnudo]

That guy isn't a that guy, he's an asshole

[digamma]

The guy who brings up an irrelevant item at the end of a meeting and ends up extending the meeting for no good reason. Don't be that guy.

[CU Tiger]

Originally Posted by Izulde

Your league doesn't have a mercy rule I take it.

It does
20 after 2
15 after 3
10 after 4 or later..

17-0 after 1
19-2 after 2
34-4 after 3 when it was called.

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by CU Tiger

It does
20 after 2
15 after 3
10 after 4 or later..

17-0 after 1
19-2 after 2
34-4 after 3 when it was called.

..Ouch. Just ouch.

[Breeze]

Originally Posted by digamma

In short, don't be THAT GUY.

We all know that guy, probably come across him every day. He comes in many forms and shows up at all sorts of events. That guy is pretty much the target of the Bud Light Real Men of Genius commercials. He can be annoying or infuriating. He's THAT GUY. Don't be THAT GUY.

So, I thought a thread with a collection of THAT GUY stories might work. My own from yesterday...

I play in a low to mid-level USTA tennis league. I was in a doubles match yesterday. My partner is an older guy, but a very solid tennis player. We were playing two younger guys. As an aside, I actually knew one of our opponents from work. The other guy, who I didn't know, is our villain. He was a 20-something thin, nerdy-ish guy with glasses and a mop top hair cut.

The match was close. We won the first set 6-4, but found ourselves down 5-3 in the second with our villain serving. Their team had better "shots" than us, but we were more consistent. This game at 5-3 goes the same way. We get to deuce and then their advantage. That's when "that guy" showed up.

I returned his serve and he hit a soft ball back. My partner quickly put it away to bring the game back to deuce. But, wait. The villain calls my partner for breaking the plane of the net before making contact with the ball. My partner denies it. A 5-10 minute argument ensues. We offer to replay the point. Not good enough. I just look at the guy I know on the other side and say, "it's obviously a big point, why don't we just replay it?" Not good enough for that guy. He had to be right and had to take the point. He talked to my partner like he was a three year old--I saw it, you may not have realized you did it, but you did it, you may not think you did, blah blah.

Finally, my partner waved the white flag. Point given.

So, the overly aggressive tennis rules guy in a recreational league. DON'T BE THAT GUY.

(We won the match in the third set. Take that, THAT GUY.)

Just an FYI...he can't force you to concede the point. It is your partners call. All your partner had to do was say..."No I didn't break the plane, it is my call and I didn't. Now go serve, it's our point."

Then he can argue until he's blue in the face, but it won't do him any good.

Of course...then your partner could end up being "That guy"...

[Breeze]

I got one not sports related...

Ran into the grocery store on the way home from swimming. We didn't have anything for dinner, so I grabbed some eggs. Was walking up to check out, when a lady with a full card, quick stepped in front of me so she could check out first. So I waited for her 40 items and $150 total, for my 1 item...

This is a "That Person" moment..." I'm equal opportinity when it come to recognizing jackasses...

[Suicane75]

Maybe not in the vein of the op's premise, but I know a guy who insists on using the phrase "It's funny", in just about every sentence. It never is. He's THAT GUY for a lot of reasons besides that, but it's the most annoying.

[AnalBumCover]

So I asked THAT GUY:

Me: "So I hear you're trying to get into the Wedding Videography business?"
TG: "No. Wedding CINEMATOGRAPHY."

Me (thinking to myself): "Yeah, bro. Cinematography. Every bride and their mother will still call you the video guy."

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by digamma

The guy who brings up an irrelevant item at the end of a meeting and ends up extending the meeting for no good reason. Don't be that guy.

This

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by digamma

The guy who brings up an irrelevant item at the end of a meeting and ends up extending the meeting for no good reason. Don't be that guy.

My business partner is that guy. Drives me nuts.

[spleen1015]

I think I was THAT GUY this weekend.

Playing in a friendly poker tournament at a friend's house with 17 people playing. This lady kept folding before it was her turn. When called on it a couple of times, she stopped saying fold, but she would throw her cards in and then say fold when it came to her.....

She did this 3 times as the big blind and every time some of the other folks at our table told her she shouldn't fold because she was the big blind. After the the 3rd time, I said that was her last chance. She wasn't allowed to fold and then unfold when reminded she was the big blind anymore.

[Lathum]

When you say friendly does that mean there was no money involved?

[spleen1015]

Originally Posted by Lathum

When you say friendly does that mean there was no money involved?

$20 entry fee, but all chips = $1.

[Lathum]

If there is money at stake I don't think you are being that guy

[Silver Owl]

Originally Posted by spleen1015

$20 entry fee, but all chips = $1.

I have hosted a monthly game for the last 9 years and my Mother-in-law still does this. Considering she is almost 80 years old we let it slide and let her take the cards back.

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by Young Drachma

But what he did was akin to giving you guys bulletin board material

Literally

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by digamma

The guy who brings up an irrelevant item at the end of a meeting and ends up extending the meeting for no good reason. Don't be that guy.

At my previous workplace, I was that guy somewhat regularly. At my new workplace, I am almost never that guy because at least half the team is THAT GUY.

SI

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by digamma

In short, don't be THAT GUY.

We all know that guy, probably come across him every day. He comes in many forms and shows up at all sorts of events. That guy is pretty much the target of the Bud Light Real Men of Genius commercials. He can be annoying or infuriating. He's THAT GUY. Don't be THAT GUY.

So, I thought a thread with a collection of THAT GUY stories might work. My own from yesterday...

I play in a low to mid-level USTA tennis league. I was in a doubles match yesterday. My partner is an older guy, but a very solid tennis player. We were playing two younger guys. As an aside, I actually knew one of our opponents from work. The other guy, who I didn't know, is our villain. He was a 20-something thin, nerdy-ish guy with glasses and a mop top hair cut.

The match was close. We won the first set 6-4, but found ourselves down 5-3 in the second with our villain serving. Their team had better "shots" than us, but we were more consistent. This game at 5-3 goes the same way. We get to deuce and then their advantage. That's when "that guy" showed up.

I returned his serve and he hit a soft ball back. My partner quickly put it away to bring the game back to deuce. But, wait. The villain calls my partner for breaking the plane of the net before making contact with the ball. My partner denies it. A 5-10 minute argument ensues. We offer to replay the point. Not good enough. I just look at the guy I know on the other side and say, "it's obviously a big point, why don't we just replay it?" Not good enough for that guy. He had to be right and had to take the point. He talked to my partner like he was a three year old--I saw it, you may not have realized you did it, but you did it, you may not think you did, blah blah.

Finally, my partner waved the white flag. Point given.

So, the overly aggressive tennis rules guy in a recreational league. DON'T BE THAT GUY.

(We won the match in the third set. Take that, THAT GUY.)

I play basketball with a bunch of high schoolers and college students at the local rec center. So, on the one hand, I may be THAT GUY- the "older guy who plays basketball with younger people" (tho I have been asked what school I'm going to so it's not all bad). I can't be the "reliving my former glory" THAT GUY as I never had any glory in basketball: I'm just as I was then- tall, slow, and with a bad shot. That makes me decent at grabbing boards, put backs, and distracting their taller, likely more talented guy but that's it.

Well, invariably, there will be some college kid who feels he is getting shown up and about point 10 (on the way to 15), everything becomes a foul against his mad charges at the basket.

SI