The weather has grabbed our attention this week, and rightfully so, with the windchill factor dipping below zero for the first time this winter.
But something else grabbed my attention this week. It was learning about yet another parent who thinks he has the God-given right to bully officials and coaches at a kids' ballgame.
Will the insanity ever end?
In this particular case, it featured a game between two junior high boys basketball teams -- Pinckneyville 204 and Oakdale, a feeder school for Nashville.
The regional tournament game was played Saturday at Nashville High School.
As the story was told to me by a member of the media who was at the game, the father of one of the Oakdale players -- with his team ahead by seven points late in the game -- began berating the officials and the Pinckneyville coach.
And when that parent refused to shut up and tried to force a confrontation, an off-duty state patrolman and two other men intervened and escorted the unruly "dad" off the court and into the waiting arms of the police.
It's but the latest example of an adult behaving badly. And there is absolutely no place for this in athletic competition. The kids are the show, not the moms and dads, grandmas and grandpas, aunts and uncles, cousins, whomever.
Can you imagine being the son of that leather-lunged parent? It must be fun around that household.
When I related this story to a friend, who also has officiated, he told me he wasn't a bit surprised. He said that he was working a volleyball match one night in which there was a similar outburst from the parent of one of the players on the floor.
My friend said the man's daughter had tears streaming down her face as she said, "That's my dad. He does this all the time."
If the parent could only see the faces of their kids when they act so childishly and irresponsibly. Only then, maybe, would they understand how embarrassing they are to their family and their entire community.
I've seen some atrocious behavior at sporting events in my lifetime. I've seen fistfights between fans, players punching other players, fans punching players, coaches fighting other coaches. Whether it's 1989 or 2019, it matters not. People don't seem to check their attitudes at the door, only their brains.
Is it any wonder there are so few young people interested in officiating games? Not many are willing to put up with the verbal abuse, not even if they are fairly well compensated. The paycheck just isn't worth being raked over the coals repeatedly for two hours or more.
That fan from Oakdale -- and so many more throughout this country -- may think for whatever imagined reason that they are being slighted, or even screwed over by the officials. But here's a reality check for them. They almost assuredly aren't.
Maybe what these bad-behaving fans need is to try stepping into the shoes of Gerry and Vickie Glasco, formerly of Johnston City.
They just lost their beautiful, young daughter in a car accident last week.
If anyone has a right to scream foul, it's them, wouldn't you think? That's true loss, folks. Not some meaningless ballgame.
And for the record, this 24-year-old young lady was no ordinary young lady. She was a softball sensation in her playing days, earning the 2012 Gatorade National Player of the Year Award as a senior at Oconee County High School in Georgia. She was also an outstanding college player at both Georgia and Oregon and was serving as a volunteer assistant coach to her father at Louisiana-Lafayette University.
She had her whole life ahead of her ... until she didn't.
I think the lesson to take away here is gaining a proper perspective on life.
Games are meant to be fun. And yes, they may be important to some, but never so important that you lose your mind over them.
Go cheer for your team as loud as you want, but be smart enough to lay off the judgmental comments and insults.
