If God were a football referee...

170

So today was Christian's and Wesley's first football games of the season.  We left at 7:45 this morning for Joplin to play the Cornerstone Spartans.  Christian's game was first and at the end...it was a tie, 12 all.

Then the varsity game started.

The Lions drove the ball to the 10-yard line but turned it over on downs. The first play for the Spartans was a hard run by #31, 15-yards straight up the middle.  The second play the Spartan QB threw a bad pass over the middle which was intercepted by the Lions' middle linebacker and returned for a touchdown.

#31 was livid.  He threw off his helmet and began to scream at the ref, "I WAS HELD! I WAS HELD!"  The ref threw a penalty flag for unsportsmanlike conduct.  #31 screamed at his coach, "I WAS HELD! I WAS HELD!" as he tugged on the front of his own jersey.

Then the hayseed head coach started yelling at #31, then another coach started yelling at #31, then even another coach started yelling at #31. #31 then flung off his shoulder pads and jersey and stomped off the sideline cursing and fuming.  As he made his way behind the bleachers he was then surrounded by a crowd of parents, fans and others all trying to "calm him down."

Now maybe the "calm-him-down-mob" surrounding  #31 wasn't listening earlier because I got the distinct impression that #31 didn't like to be held.  Yet one of the "dad-types" of the "try-to-calm-him-down-but-actually-enrage-him-more-mob" grabbed #31's shirt (always a good tactic to de-escalate a situation) and of course #31 proceeded to punch the dad-type in his bearded face repeatedly, (however, the bearded dad-type inexplicably continued to hold onto #31's shirt.)

Later in the game #85 also stomped off the field and threw his helmet because one of the Lion's players knocked him to the ground when he was trying to run with the football (this maneuver is typically called "a tackle.")  #85 was subsequently surrounded by the villagers holding pitchforks and torches yelling CALM DOWN! CALM DOWN!

At this point the hayseed head coach calls a timeout and gives his team a "pep-talk" that I couldn't hear over his own shouting.

The next series one of the Spartan players displayed a bit of frustration. To this the hayseed coach bellowed at him, "Not only do I see you," as he points to the sky "BUT HEEEEEE SEEEES YOU!"

That's a lot of pressure on a 15-year-old kid.

After the game Wesley said #31 "rage-quit." Apparently "rage-quitting" is a gaming term where a player of an on-line game gets shot in the virtual world and just throws his controller and quits.

I like that term.

chris

PS: On the Spartan sideline, where I was sitting in the bleachers, they had a table with water coolers and water bottles.  When I went to the Lion's sideline they had a table of cut-up watermelon and homemade oatmeal-raisin cookies with M&Ms.  Ahhhhhh homeschool sports!