FLASH NEWS

[Anonymous]

This whole thread is OT but I feel a little reality therapy is always relevant to all of us. This is a deadly serious topic.

Please forgive my getting on a soapbox.

This thread is about a very tragic story out of Canton TX (east of Dallas), that is one shade more violent from the way I see a lot of parents (and even grandparents) acting at their kid's HS and youth sports events. As a point of reference (and please, do not even begin to think of this as a boast--only a point of reference), in addition to showing up on the forums occasionally, I referee HS varsity and JV soccer and have for a number of years, and I also coached youth league basketball and baseball for years. My son lettered in four HS sports, played club soccer, and is currently an undergrad asst with a D-1 womens' basketball program (no, I'm not going to tell you who, but that absolutely wonderful bunch of girls and coaches he helps out went to the dance). So I've been there, done that and got the t-shirt and scars multiple times.

The shooter is the father of a HS football player. The victim was the HS football coach. The assailant is in jail right now and is currently on suicide watch. The coach has survived, thus far, and is in the hospital, but is seriously injured. The kid has been banned from all HS athletic activities, at least for the foreseeable future.

WHO WON HERE?????????

Parents and prospective parents (and that includes a lot of you out there on this thread), PLEASE don't take your kids' sports (and other) activities so seriously that you lose your perspective on life, the big picture and real priorities.

Understand that:

(1) your kid may be a great athlete (or student, etc.), but your overpressure, your meddling and intrusion into the legitimate activities of his/her coaches and teachers, and your miserable behavior out in public or private is not going to land him/her in the pros, or on a college or even HS varsity squad, or promote him/her to starter, or do any of those other superhuman, miraculous things that we parents want for our kids.

(2) in the same light, most kids who play sports--youth even through HS "local stardom"--do NOT go on to play even in college, and only a minuscule percentage of college players wind up in the pros, so what's the big problem here that's gettin y'all so riled up?

(3) obnoxious and destructive behavior on your behalf (and this includes verbal abuse) isn't going to score one single point in a game or get your kid a starting slot--it may get him/her demoted or thrown out of the program, the team penalized, and it may get you thrown out, banned, sued or arrested if the behavior is bad enough and the authorities are doing their jobs right.

(4) those adults out there on the field with your kid(s) are also human, and they also make mistakes, and that includes me. I have seen even pro league coaches and refs make whoppers. Here's a little "not-so-secret"--we refs at all levels constantly joke about you experts when we're down on the field and off--we're continually amazed at the Superman-like acuity of your vision, brilliant choice of seat to provide clearly superior positioning, and vastly encyclopedic knowledge of the rules (laws in soccer!), particularly when you're up 25 rows in the stands 80 yards away from the play screaming your head off at a ref who was right on top of the action, or far worse, at your kid or some other kid!

(5) If you think your kids' coaches and the game officials down there on the field or court have an easy time of it, I'd sincerely invite you to come out and try it sometime--we are always in need of more willing and levelheaded adults to learn the ropes, in my community and in yours. Don't quit your day job, though--the pay's not that good.

(6) Some coaches and refs are jerks--no argument here. Leagues, schools and interscholastic associations have ways and means to deal with that. If that's a problem you are experiencing, go thru channels and be persistent--someone in authority can be made to respond.

I have witnessed parents abuse coaches, refs, entire teams, and their own kids. Two weeks ago we had to get a HS field administrator to eject two sets of hooliganistic grandparents (!) from a varsity boys' HS soccer game. And one threatened to have the field administrator arrested for, in his words, "assaulting the elderly". I am not making this up.

A number of years ago, one set of parents and another couple associated with them ran off the volunteer coach and destroyed my son's under-9 youth baseball team with their behavior, because they thought their son should have been the starting pitcher. They were subjected to a hearing and banned from the league. The next game they showed up and the police had to escort them away. I am not making this up either. I, along with two other parents, got volunteered to try and pick up the pieces so the kids could fini***he season.

I ask again--WHO WON HERE??????????

And here's the answer if you haven't already figured it out--NO ONE!

Did the parent get anything good for the kid??

No way! And the assailant's kid really lost. Not only is he out of sports, but his coach is in a hospital bed and dad's in the can on suicide watch. That's a life??

It's time we adults started acting our age, isn't it?

Thanks for indulging me.[soapbox][banghead][banghead][banghead]

[spbed]

Yes that one also made the news in Florida[:o)][:D][:)]

Originally posted by coborn35
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Living nearby to MP 186 of the UPRR  Austin TX Sub

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