Great game mgt vs. "its the umps fault"

[kcg NC2Ablu]

Originally Posted by IRISHMAFIA

Parents often turn into complete idiots anywhere near an athletic field.

A few years back, Men's D FP State Championship. A team was using a non-rostered player and it was known. The manager was told numerous times that if a team protests eligibility, his team will forfeit. The manager was adament that he was told by someone else on the tournament committee that it was okay. I'm UIC, TD was state commissioner.

Well, sure enough in the "IF" game of the championship, the opposition protested the eligibility of two players, one was the ineligible player. I called the umpires off the field and the TD and myself addressed the protest and the game was forfeited.

The TD and myself were threatened and called names most Navy SEALS would find offensive. As I was exiting the field behind the TD, a man with his son (around 7 years old) must have saw a little bit of a grin on my face and confronted me. He wanted to know if I thought the forfeit was funny. I told him I thought it was hillarious that a bunch of grown men were acting like juvenilles and sad that with his young son standing by him, he supported such a reaction. Reality light bulb went on!

But he wasn't done. He wanted to know how I thought they should act after being screwed over by ASA. Told us we should have warned them first. That's when I informed this poor b@stard that the manager WAS told numerous times what would happen including right before the game started.

Deer in the headlights stare. He just couldn't believe that considering the way the team reacted. Funny thing was that the ineligible player (Arena Football League player for Las Vegas) didn't say a word. He knew it and played anyway.

Yes, athletic fields just have a weird touch on adults in the area.

It is just amazing how these people treat authority figures and how it translates to the kids. I bet that 7 year old kid in his/her next game will mouth off and be disrespectfull to an umpire bc his/her father did it so it must be ok