Taking fair play and respect out of the game

(Warning: This blog post uses explicit language. Reader discretion is advised.)

I've heard of crazy hockey parents. Those are the people who lose control of any rational thoughts while in a hockey arena watching a game and they scream obscenities at the referees. It changes nothing but makes everyone around them uncomfortable.

My guess is these crazy hockey parents also frequent lacrosse, soccer and baseball games in the summer. I hadn't had the pleasure of meeting any of these parents until Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. I hope I never meet them again. Let me explain...

Tuesday night I was coaching the Pee Wee Pirates down at Lakeview Park. We were playing the Giants and it was a close game. The Pirates held a narrow lead heading into the fifth inning when the Giants coach got into a dust-up with the umpire about a game ball. I didn't hear what was said from my dugout but it must have been nasty because the coach got ejected. Off he goes to the parking lot and his assistant steps in.

Two pitches later the assistant starts encouraging his players to scream at our pitcher while he's in his windup. The base umpire gives him a warning it's against the rules and he's to control his team. He argues his players are only cheering. The next pitch his players continue what their coach was encouraging them to do and the umpire stops the game. The two go nose-to-nose and before you know it the assistant coach gets ejected from the game. At this point the fans are getting lippy so the plate umpire asks the one remaining Giants coach and myself to get control of our fans or else the game will be called.

I saw three guys sitting on our side of the field and they were yelling a lot of obscenities at the umpire so I went up to them and asked them to cut it out or else the umpire would call the game.

The guy with the biggest mouth turns to me and says, "Why don't you shut up you four-eyed little faggot before I come over there and beat the shit out of you." He stands up and with him is a giant rottweiler dog. I shrugged my shoulders, turned around and walked back to the dugout. Obviously this meat head was not one of our fans.

As I'm standing there waiting for the game to re-start this guy walks up behind me on the other side of the fence and starts making baby sounds trying to get under my skin. A parent of one of our kids says, "Buddy just go sit down."

"You going to fucking make me. I'll lay you out too," meat head says.

He stood there waiting to be challenged but we didn't engage him so he and his dog went back to their place in the stands. I fully expected him to wait for me after the game but he sauntered off with his kids and only glared at me as I walked back to my car.

That was my first experience with a nut-job. The next night I was at my daughter's soccer game with my parents watching Connaught play Glen Stewart. No referee showed up so a parent familiar with the rules of the game volunteered to officiate.

Everything was going fine until about the three-quarter mark of the game when two players got into an altercation. The referee told both girls to head to the sidelines to cool off. They weren't being ejected from the game, they were just being given time to compose themselves.

This big lug of a father on my right starts dropping f-bombs at the poor parent/referee telling him to pull his "head out of his ass" because it was the Glen Stewart player who was in the wrong. A Glen Stewart father to my left yells at the guy to shut his mouth and let the kids play. The big lug stands up and says, "You want to fucking go?" A woman yells at him to sit down and to that he replies, "I'll take you on too lady."

I hadn't heard anybody challenge somebody else to a fight since I was a teenager. That's what happens with teenagers because they're young and stupid and figure disputes can be settled by beating one another up. It's not how the real world works but don't try telling those nut-job sports fans I met. Apparently they felt beating the snot out of me or another parent would solve the disputes on the field. Unbelievable.

Clowns like those two should be banned from viewing any kids sporting events. I don't care if their kids are on the teams, they shouldn't be allowed anywhere near the playing fields. Threatening physical violence and bullying coaches teaches EVERYONE the exact opposite of what is supposed to be encouraged on house league sporting fields -- respect and sportsmanship.

What happened this week was a poor display by a few parents that left a bad impression with a lot of kids. And that's wrong.