White Trash: Vermont style

[\GoBillsInDallas/]

https://apnews.com/article/sports-canada-vermont-a36bc8d0b7e47c688754d0266a155af4

 

 

[rm -rf /*]

Basketball no less.  Here in the land of cheese and large women, this type of bs sadly happens frequently at youth wrestling tournaments... No deaths though.

 

 

Edited February 2, 2023 by rm -rf /*

[Johnny Hammersticks]

As a sports parent here in Vermont, as well as a hockey/lacrosse coach, this type of behavior from parents has become quite common.  My son is a 14U (bantam) hockey player, and I’ve witnessed 3 fights in the stands already this season.  He also plays on a “select” travel team which plays in tournaments all over New England and Quebec.  Same thing everywhere we go.  It’s absolutely disgusting.

 

After I saw this on the news yesterday, I was thinking back to my youth/HS/college playing career and I don’t remember this type of stuff happening ever.  I graduated HS in 1997 for reference.  Was this type of behavior always a thing?

[rm -rf /*]

15 minutes ago, Johnny Hammersticks said:

As a sports parent here in Vermont, as well as a hockey/lacrosse coach, this type of behavior from parents has become quite common.  My son is a 14U (bantam) hockey player, and I’ve witnessed 3 fights in the stands already this season.  He also plays on a “select” travel team which plays in tournaments all over New England and Quebec.  Same thing everywhere we go.  It’s absolutely disgusting.

 

After I saw this on the news yesterday, I was thinking back to my youth/HS/college playing career and I don’t remember this type of stuff happening ever.  I graduated HS in 1997 for reference.  Was this type of behavior always a thing?

 I graduated HS in 90, and I also dont remember anything similar to what we see now.

[Gugny]

31 minutes ago, Johnny Hammersticks said:

As a sports parent here in Vermont, as well as a hockey/lacrosse coach, this type of behavior from parents has become quite common.  My son is a 14U (bantam) hockey player, and I’ve witnessed 3 fights in the stands already this season.  He also plays on a “select” travel team which plays in tournaments all over New England and Quebec.  Same thing everywhere we go.  It’s absolutely disgusting.

 

After I saw this on the news yesterday, I was thinking back to my youth/HS/college playing career and I don’t remember this type of stuff happening ever.  I graduated HS in 1997 for reference.  Was this type of behavior always a thing?

 

14 minutes ago, rm -rf /* said:

 I graduated HS in 90, and I also dont remember anything similar to what we see now.

 

I graduated HS in 1989 and I only recall one dust-up between parents at a wrestling match.  It was just two dads and no swings were thrown.  De-escalated very quickly.

[BuffaloBud]

Could it be because of all the money "invested" in the travel / select teams and the rush for the almighty scholarship dollar?

[Johnny Hammersticks]

1 hour ago, BuffaloBud said:

Could it be because of all the money "invested" in the travel / select teams and the rush for the almighty scholarship dollar?

The incident referenced in the OP is a public middle school basketball game.  I think this fan misbehavior is across the board.

[Nextmanup]

On 2/2/2023 at 10:23 AM, Johnny Hammersticks said:

As a sports parent here in Vermont, as well as a hockey/lacrosse coach, this type of behavior from parents has become quite common.  My son is a 14U (bantam) hockey player, and I’ve witnessed 3 fights in the stands already this season.  He also plays on a “select” travel team which plays in tournaments all over New England and Quebec.  Same thing everywhere we go.  It’s absolutely disgusting.

 

After I saw this on the news yesterday, I was thinking back to my youth/HS/college playing career and I don’t remember this type of stuff happening ever.  I graduated HS in 1997 for reference.  Was this type of behavior always a thing?

Never saw any of this in my high school hockey playing career. I graduated in 1989.

 

This stuff grows worse and worse around the country all the time now, apparently.

 

People scare the crap out of me.

 

 

[Johnny Hammersticks]

2 minutes ago, Nextmanup said:

Never saw any of this in my high school hockey playing career. I graduated in 1989.

 

This stuff grows worse and worse around the country all the time now, apparently.

 

People scare the crap out of me.

 

 

Part of the reason I retired from coaching varsity lacrosse is because of the parents.  There were times that my team actually lost games due to “bench misconduct” penalties assessed to my team due to parents screaming incessantly at the officials.   
 

There was one pre-season tournament where I walked my team right off the field and to the bus without playing a single game because our parents were being so ridiculous in the stands toward the referees and the other fans.  The only ones who suffer are the kids.  I just can’t understand why grown adults feel that they can behave this way.  I certainly understand why there is such a referee shortage.  You couldn’t pay me enough to take that abuse.

[WhoTom]

2 hours ago, Johnny Hammersticks said:

Part of the reason I retired from coaching varsity lacrosse is because of the parents.  There were times that my team actually lost games due to “bench misconduct” penalties assessed to my team due to parents screaming incessantly at the officials.   
 

There was one pre-season tournament where I walked my team right off the field and to the bus without playing a single game because our parents were being so ridiculous in the stands toward the referees and the other fans.  The only ones who suffer are the kids.  I just can’t understand why grown adults feel that they can behave this way.  I certainly understand why there is such a referee shortage.  You couldn’t pay me enough to take that abuse.

 

My brother coached Little League, Babe Ruth, and HS baseball and he quit all three for the same reasons. He still had the itch to coach, so he ended up coaching girls' HS softball until he retired. He said that they, and their parents, were better behaved than the boys' sports. Somewhere upthread someone mentioned the push to get kids into college sports programs. I think there's some truth to that. Parents are living vicariously through their kids.

 

As you wrote, the kids are the ones who suffer.

 

[Simon]

By the time my youngest hit middle school, I was wearing large headphones in the bleachers for his basketball games.

I'd head to the top row with the fewest people nearby, have a wall to lean back on, sit quiet as a churchmouse and not have to hear a bunch of jackasses screaming about kids playing ball.

I enjoyed the irony of them thinking I was the rude one. 

[BADOLBILZ]

40 minutes ago, WhoTom said:

 

My brother coached Little League, Babe Ruth, and HS baseball and he quit all three for the same reasons. He still had the itch to coach, so he ended up coaching girls' HS softball until he retired. He said that they, and their parents, were better behaved than the boys' sports. Somewhere upthread someone mentioned the push to get kids into college sports programs. I think there's some truth to that. Parents are living vicariously through their kids.

 

As you wrote, the kids are the ones who suffer.

 

 

 

I mean, growing up in the 1980's a high % of my friends parents(boomers) were divorced and/or were kinda' indifferent to their kids extracurricular activities.

 

Numerous kids I grew up with just lived wild lives and there were lot's of deaths and accidents and it was a real survival of the fittest and luckiest situation.

 

So starting with GenX we started to see a lot more helicopter parenting, IMO............and when you do that parents really start living "vicariously thru their kids" as you said and that takes everything out of perspective at the events.   

 

I've seen it coaching and officiating.

 

It's a real issue when you are in those positions........but at the same time I think the kids themselves behave a lot better on the field/court then we ever did.   The behavior of kids in The Bad News Bears movie actually bore a good deal of resemblance to a lot of games I played in back in the 70's and 80's.    

 

The parents are a pain in the ass.........but we are getting more dynamic and pro ready professional athletes despite much less participation..........so I suppose in some regards it benefits us sports fans.

 

 

[WhoTom]

11 hours ago, BADOLBILZ said:

The parents are a pain in the ass.........but we are getting more dynamic and pro ready professional athletes despite much less participation..........so I suppose in some regards it benefits us sports fans.

 

That climate breeds more Antonio Browns than it does Josh Allens.

 

My brother was also a teacher, and he stressed that student-athletes are students first, and then athletes. As a teacher, he had coaches and principals who asked him to let someone slide on grades because they were needed for the upcoming game; he refused. As a coach, if a player - even the team's superstar - skipped practice without an excuse or engaged in some other "entitled" behavior, he didn't play the next game. Being a great athlete doesn't absolve one from the responsibility of being a decent citizen. Fostering that mentality produces great athletes who recognize that they're part of something bigger - whether it's the team itself or society as a whole. That benefits us sports fans even more.

 

 

 

[BADOLBILZ]

7 hours ago, WhoTom said:

 

That climate breeds more Antonio Browns than it does Josh Allens.

 

My brother was also a teacher, and he stressed that student-athletes are students first, and then athletes. As a teacher, he had coaches and principals who asked him to let someone slide on grades because they were needed for the upcoming game; he refused. As a coach, if a player - even the team's superstar - skipped practice without an excuse or engaged in some other "entitled" behavior, he didn't play the next game. Being a great athlete doesn't absolve one from the responsibility of being a decent citizen. Fostering that mentality produces great athletes who recognize that they're part of something bigger - whether it's the team itself or society as a whole. That benefits us sports fans even more.

 

 

 

 

 

I don't know.........what I tend to see are worse behaved parents and better behaved kids.

 

But the greater investment in the kids by the parents.........along with easier access to information and instruction........has created better, more prepared and predictable behaving,  polished players.    

 

As for things like players slacking on grades and being allowed to slide?   That's always gone on.   In spades.   I can remember the day of the biggest baseball game in my HS history numerous members of our team skipped school, showed up for the bus, no questions asked and then we won that night. 🤷‍♂️   I went to a D1 school and had star athletes in classes with me that never came to class and there was no discipline so I assumed they were passing.    This was the 1980's and 1990's.

 

In general,  kids can get away with A LOT less bad behavior nowadays and their lives are a lot more structured.  

[ExiledInIllinois]

Not really the parents,  but the grandparents.  What the hell is a grandparent getting involved for?

 

Millennial parents... Living their dream, foisting their children off on the grandparents?

 

60 year old man died... Boomer, probably a grandparent. They don't call Millennials "Echo-Boomers" for nothing.

Edited February 4, 2023 by ExiledInIllinois

[Johnny Hammersticks]

1 hour ago, ExiledInIllinois said:

Not really the parents,  but the grandparents.  What the hell is a grandparent getting involved for?

 

Millennial parents... Living their dream, foisting their children off on the grandparents?

 

60 year old man died... Boomer, probably a grandparent. They don't call Millennials "Echo-Boomers" for nothing.

My wife’s a millennial.  Born in June 1981.  I remind her of this regularly and it pisses her off so much. 😆  I’m pure Gen-X, 1979, the real greatest generation…