Great article for all fans

[Oldschoolpioneer1]

By Dale Stubblefield, Southern Standard Sports writer.

 

 

Negative ‘fans’ ruin game for all

Dale Stubblefield

 

 

The older I get, the less time I spend worrying about the small things in life. Very few things can get under my skin, but every now and then something or someone ruffles my feathers.

 

I ran across an article from a newspaper in Florida recently about a high school baseball coach who was being harassed by a parent.

 

The parent thought her son wasn’t getting enough playing time, and disagreed with the way the coach was handling his lineup.

 

The mother started a one-person campaign to oust him as coach. She wrote letters to the school athletic director, the school principal and school board members and even to the state’s education commissioner.

 

The mother even demanded a meeting with the principal and director of the school system, which was denied by the director of schools. Good for him, that meeting should never take place.

 

If you’re thinking this might be an isolated incident, then you would be wrong. A magazine called “Coaching Management,” which I had no idea existed, gave several examples of parents and even fans behaving badly — as well as what some states allow coaches to do about it. In some places, the coaches could actually sue those parents and fans for verbal assault and harassment.

 

Now I’m not for suing, but if that’s what it takes to keep a few parents from running their mouths, then so be it.

 

Over the past five years I have heard my share of negative comments concerning coaches here in Warren County, and I usually pretend to laugh it off, as do many of our coaches. But sometimes the comments become so negative and on a regular basis it becomes annoying to anyone within earshot.

 

Everyone is entitled to his or her opinion, of course, but you’re not entitled to force other people to listen to it.

 

Just because you paid your $5 to get in the game, doesn’t give you the right to distract others from enjoying it. Paying to get in doesn’t give you the right to shout obscenities, scream vulgarities and direct your assaults at players, coaches or referees.

 

In some cases disruptive parents or fans blowing off steam are no longer permitted to attend athletic events. I don’t believe we have come to that yet, but more and more schools are becoming less tolerant of disruptive parents and fans.

 

Remember, making a public spectacle of yourself helps no one, and only makes you look bad in front of the general public.

 

Mature, well-rounded individuals keep it to themselves — or at least don’t broadcast their anger or disagreements loud enough for everyone in the stands to hear them.

 

It’s not just parents, mind you; it’s fans in general. One fan attending high school football games in North Carolina was banned from all athletic events at the high school for publicly criticizing the coaches during the games.

 

We all want to see our teams win, but the reality of it is everyone can’t win all the time. Sometimes as parents we try to live out our playing days through our kids, however, and that’s unfair to all. It happens everywhere from high school games to little league.

 

Again, I don’t believe things have come to that point here — yet — but we need to understand what we say out in public does more harm than good.

 

Put the shoe on the other foot and see just how disruptive it would be to you if you were being criticized constantly. The consequences of your actions will make you the laughing stock of the community.

 

Hey old school and golden eagle 27 read it 2 times to make sure you understand it.

[WarrenCounty58]

pretty good article.. agree totally

[JEEPING]

bump!

[Phoenix]

I read this yesterday morning good article by Dale.

[Pioneerdad]

This is a really good article for any fan and parent to read. There is no excuse to yell at anyone. Yelling does make people look bad.