So, before you go on this post has nothing to do with Christmas Spirit. Ironically, this is probably more about the lack of any type of Spirit. You've been warned.
So, this weekend at my daughter's basketball tournament down in Payson. I was ejected from the game...and I wasn't even in the game, just a spectator. Yes, really.
It was actually a fantastic tournament. The girls played well and made it all the way to the championship, final, game. The team they were playing was very, very good and very aggressive. I had no issue with them at all. The officials however, were horrible. They weren't horrible for bad calls, they were horrible for no calls, and jeopardizing the safety of the girls on both teams. Now, to the incident.
The ball was rebounded by one of our girls and two girls from the other team immediately reached in to grab the ball. Our girl was twisting and turning to keep it away. During the melee, one of the girls reached and arm around the arm of our girls and the other elbowed her in the nose. Our girl says, "Come on, ref." Our coach, stands up and yells, "Call that, ref!" Still no whistle, I then stand up and start screaming, "Call something," as the altercation escalates.
Several parents are on their feet screaming, our coach is livid. Our girl gets lifted off the ground and slammed to the floor. One ref calls a jump ball and the other, yells out at our coach and calls him over and tells him that he will kick him out of the game with another outburst. The other ref comes over to yell at the coach too, leaving our girl on the floor, now crying and injured, as the trainer and assistant coach run over to her side.
At this point, I blow a gasket. I walk down to the court and yell at the ref, "Why are you yelling at our coach, your not calling 'something' just got a girl hurt."
Hey, tells me to shut-up and sit down, or he will call the cops and have me removed from the gym.
"WHAT???"
I have hit my limit. At this point, I call him on his empty threat and offer him my phone to make his call. He then walks over the the person in charge of the game and tells her to get me out of there. She says, he can't do that. So what does he do, he tells our coach that if I don't leave, he is calling the game a forfeit for us.
I decide, that I am a couple seconds away from going postal and walk-out of the gym.
I get out of the gym and am immediately surrounded by people, who to my surprise, are totally in agreement with what I said. No one tells me I have to leave, nothing.
Now, for those of you reading, I can say honestly that I was totally out of line. I completely understand that you have to show respect for sports officiating. I also recognize that losing your temper is not the way to resolve anything. I did remain in some control, I didn't swear, threaten or swing at anyone.
I did end up apologizing to the refs, the coaches and even the players and parents on my daughter's team.
The reality is that, I felt like I was watching someone I cared about get beat up, and here were these two guys letting it happen, not doing anything about it. I would like to say that I wouldn't ever do something like that again, but the truth is, if the situation ever arose again, I probably would.
I guess, that is something I will need to work on...
I think that every Christmas I tend to get into a little bit of a funk. Christmas time was always difficult for me as a child growing up. I think it was mostly because we celebrated Christmas, but the focus was on Santa, the gifts and tangible things. Because of that there was always pressure put on my mom and dad to put together Christmas on a tight budget and if they couldn’t do it, it was depressing. I can remember a few Christmas Eve’s sitting next to a tearful mother, assuring her that it would all be ok.
I truly think that Christmas would have been different for all of us if we could have focused more outside of our family during the “holidays”. Now, I know that there are people of many different faiths. I realize that to many Christmas is the time when Father Christmas visits each boy and girl that was good and brings them gifts. I also know that there is a larger group that believes that Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Christ. I fall into the latter now, but the first group is where I grew up. My honest opinion is that regardless of what spurs you into celebrating Christmas, being gift centric is not necessarily the best way to show you appreciation for the holiday.
I think that Christmas should be a time to think about your influence in the world around you. When you think about the birth of Jesus Christ, it wasn’t just His being born that was important. It was ultimately His life and desire to serve that led Him to His spot in history and for those that believe His role as Savior. For those that encourage the belief in Santa Claus, his service and kindness is also what perpetuate his story throughout generations. There are so many other stories behind the celebration of the Christmas season, but ultimately, the way the holiday plays out is up to us and what we do with it.
I encourage those of all different beliefs and faiths to look for the opportunity to look around you and find ways to help those less fortunate, those that could use a lift, a smile or even just a kind word.
Have a Very Merry Christmas!
