This week’s sign regarding the further decline of Western
Civilization comes from Stockton, where an irate parent sprinted
onto a youth football field and decked a 13-year old player,
precipitating a brawl that included parents and children from both
teams.
This week’s sign regarding the further decline of Western Civilization comes from Stockton, where an irate parent sprinted onto a youth football field and decked a 13-year old player, precipitating a brawl that included parents and children from both teams.
Maybe you saw it. The hit, and brawl, was played on television and has been distributed widely over the Internet. From the safety of our own computers, we can watch youth-sports parents, coaches and players engaging in absurd, violent stupidity. It has become entertainment.
When will it ever end? Can it happen here? Every year noteworthy violence erupts at a youth sporting event, each incident seeming to top the next. Some sports have a reputation for particularly nasty behavior from parents – youth soccer and Little League baseball come to mind – but it seems every sport has joined the act and within time will have its own segment on whatever video show caters to this stuff.
We would cry out for an end to this violent behavior, but really, that would be a complete waste of time. Unless our popular culture stops gorging itself on video feeds of every incident, the clips will keep on coming. With every event being recorded these days, we often get more than one angle of the action.
But maybe it is worth it to at least make a mention to take it easy at games. School is back in session and youth sports are blossoming into action. High school, middle school, and even elementary school teams are back on the fields and courts, so the possibility of temper loss will be escalated.
Maybe it is worth it to take this incident from Stockton to remind ourselves that fouls will be committed, and some of them will make us really angry, rightfully so, but we should sit tight and let the officials do their job. Trying to stop a crazed parent from pounding a player probably isn’t in the officiating job description. And if the games are simply too stressful to handle, well, maybe stay at home.
The parent/coach in question in Stockton was actually arrested on suspicion of felony child abuse, according to police. So, for his brief loss of control, this parent could end up doing jail time. Let’s not let anything like it happen here.
