View Single Post
  #1 (permalink)  
Old Sat Feb 26, 2011, 03:26pm
NoFussRef NoFussRef is offline
Official Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Oregon
Posts: 173
Now there is a first... had our integrity questioned in spanish.

Wreck league 6th grade boys...

Shooting bonus both ways all day. Multiple players from both teams foul out.
Score stayed within ten points but was clear the leading team was going to stay there till the end.

After game a hispanic lady brings her son (#25, he fouled out in the 4th) up to the table and has him translate for us. My spanish skills are "asi-asi"/so-so, but it doesn't take long to tell from her demeanor she is not having her son say "thank you", nor is she asking a legitimate question about basketball. He is polite and obviously embarrassed by her actions, "she wants to know why you guys only called fouls against our team, or why you called fouls on us when we only touched the ball yada-yada"

I know this is nothing new, we get it all the time from uneducated fans, but this was the first time I have ever had a non english speaking mother instruct her young son to translate her rant for her.

I simply responded by telling the player "bien hecho/good job" and told him to thank his mother for coming to support him in his game. Then return to paperwork at the table. She just goes-off in spanish pointing at my partner and rambling in spanish to fast for me to translate. So i gave her the "hasta luego/see you later" and pointed at the door, just as I would with any parent that has nothing worth listening to.

Wish my spanish was good enough to tell her rather than using this opportunity to teach her son good sportsmanship, she was teaching him that it is okay to question the integrity of officials and make a scene.
__________________
Every time you blow your whistle, 50% of the people LOVE you, and 50% of the people HATE you.
Reply With Quote