Sports parents have lost their collective minds.
I have personally witnessed this in a middle school gym in my quaint, peaceful, art-loving town. As young teenage girls played a moderately competitive basketball game, their parents yelled the most bizarre, irrational things I've ever heard. For my own entertainment - and to keep me from yelling something back - I started taking notes on my phone.
The winner of the "Most Clearly Out of Touch with Your Daughter's Reality" award goes to a well-dressed businessman who expressed more than one comment about his daughter's need to be more manly. Really?
"You gotta take that hit!"
"Be tougher than that!"
"Be tougher than EVERYBODY, Emily!"
When his shouting did not produce the desired results, this Dad soon decided it was someone else's fault. He quickly shifted blame to the expected source of all things terrible - the officials.
"You are ruining this game!"
"Your are ruining her life!"
"You gonna call this game, or just run around?!"
Finally, another Dad couldn't allow Mr. Insanity to be the only voice in the gym. When an opposing player fouled on a rebound, Dad #2 simply responded with a burst of, "That's a foul!"
And the reaction from the crazy loudmouth Dad was priceless. In his sudden desire to teach everyone proper Dad behavior at ballgames, he turned to Dad #2 and protested, "Don't yell at kids."
I hope he was trying to teach us all a lesson that he needed to learn.
I have personally witnessed this in a middle school gym in my quaint, peaceful, art-loving town. As young teenage girls played a moderately competitive basketball game, their parents yelled the most bizarre, irrational things I've ever heard. For my own entertainment - and to keep me from yelling something back - I started taking notes on my phone.
The winner of the "Most Clearly Out of Touch with Your Daughter's Reality" award goes to a well-dressed businessman who expressed more than one comment about his daughter's need to be more manly. Really?
"You gotta take that hit!"
"Be tougher than that!"
"Be tougher than EVERYBODY, Emily!"
When his shouting did not produce the desired results, this Dad soon decided it was someone else's fault. He quickly shifted blame to the expected source of all things terrible - the officials.
"You are ruining this game!"
"Your are ruining her life!"
"You gonna call this game, or just run around?!"
Finally, another Dad couldn't allow Mr. Insanity to be the only voice in the gym. When an opposing player fouled on a rebound, Dad #2 simply responded with a burst of, "That's a foul!"
And the reaction from the crazy loudmouth Dad was priceless. In his sudden desire to teach everyone proper Dad behavior at ballgames, he turned to Dad #2 and protested, "Don't yell at kids."
I hope he was trying to teach us all a lesson that he needed to learn.