A Wylie father accused of assaulting a referee during a football game in Grapevine said through his attorney Thursday that he threw the first punch because he felt threatened.I used to officiate youth football when I lived in Phoenix. I really enjoyed doing it. My first 4 or 5 seasons, in addition to high school ball, I also did Pop Warner. The kids were 10 to 14 or so. For the most part, the kids were fine. Their coaches and parents were often assholes of the highest order.
Charles Kirkland, 47, wants to defend his actions at Saturday's game, said his attorney, Todd Shapiro.
"He's kind of tired of reading just one side of the story," Mr. Shapiro said.
Grapevine police have said that they plan to seek an arrest warrant on a Class A misdemeanor assault charge against Mr. Kirkland for walking onto the field and punching referee Culley E. Phillips, 58. But the detective handling the case has been unavailable, said Grapevine police Sgt. Bob Murphy.
An official could get up at 7:00 am on a Saturday morning to basically volunteer to do 4 games, and the coaches and parents will hassle them unmercifully. The vast majority of people have no idea what it's like to officiate a game, or even know what the rules really are, but they think they could do it so much better. They're wrong, and sometimes the abuse just gets ridiculous.
I actually quit doing the Pop Warner games because of the coaches and parents, and did only high school games, where you're pretty much insulated from the spectators. Still, I've had people come up to me or other officials after a game to offer their opinion in a less than friendly way. They are generally high strung, and overly competitive types that use athletics and their kids as compensation for their own failures.
One game, I was doing the "pee wee" teams (10 year olds) and the coach threw a fit at something and said "that's a bullshit call". He yelled it twice. I threw him the hell out of the game, and would not let it resume until he left the field. The parents bitched at me the rest of the game, in a very derogatory way. Finally, I stopped the game, turned around, and said "Great example you're setting for your kids here. You must be so proud".
These are 10 year old kids. I swear to god when you wonder where conservatives come from, they are born to parents like that.
But there are also some really good coaches out there, and people who do respect officials and know how to place a game in the proper context. It is, after all, a game.
And I almost never had a problem with a kid, but I often felt bad for them being stuck with parents like the guy in the story. He's trying to pass off his assault on the referee as "self defense". Ya.. right. Not only did he totally fuck up and let himself get out of control, now he's not accepting responsibility for what he did. What an asshole.
Why don't we get a constitutional amendment banning people like that from getting married and having kids?
1 comment:
"I swear to god when you wonder where conservatives come from, they are born to parents like that."
You were doing so well, and I was enjoying this post, until you got to this stupid, non sequitur. What the heck is that supposed to mean? I'm a conservative, I suppose, and I would never, ever behave like these douche parents you describe. And neither would any of my conservative friends or family. Everything is not political.
Otherwise, I found your post interesting and informative.
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