SUMMARY
- Parent embarrass their kids. Many do so in a playful manner. Others do it that causes a scene.
- Examples of parents who caused a scene
- Daryl Brian Clemmons : Shot a coach several times because the coach would not start his son.
- Jorge Aponte Gonzalez : Charged after an umpire who gave his son an ‘unsportsmanlike conduct warning.’
- Matthew Eddy : Charged the stage during his daughter’s graduation so that a black superintendent from shaking hands with his white daughter.
- Sports parents often want to see their kids in the major sports league, but should understand that the chances are not up to them and are highly unlikely.
- The chances of your son/daughter making into the MLB, NFL, NBA, wNBA…is 1/250,000
- Work to improve your child’s performance ; get a coach or tutor
- Work to improve your child’s relationship with a teacher
TRANSCRIPT
Do your parents ever embarrass you? If they do, that’s what parents do. There’s a playful embarrassment. My son tells me I embarrass him a lot, which kind of makes me sad because I’m not aware that I do. When I make a silly TikTok videos or sometimes how I jokingly behave.
But never do I cause a scene and that’s the topic of this podcast. It involves embarrassment from a parent’s overreaction that causes an altercation or a scene. We hear stories of parents attacking teachers, officials, and coaches. People who are supposed to teach and train kids whether its in sports or school
Imagine being a kid, you’re up at bat. The umpire calls strike three on a questionable pitch. You look up at the ump and like, ‘What the heck’. Then you walk back to the dugout, you hear a commotion, look back and it’s your dad attacking the umpire. How would you feel? I would imagine most kids would experience the shock of their lives.
Or you are a student, sitting in class. You get back an exam and see that you failed. You are devastated. You then text your mom. In 20 minutes your mom storms into the class, cussing at the teacher for failing you. This is being in front of your classmates. What would you do?
I’ll tell you one thing. You’re going to be the talk of the semester. If I were the ump, I would fight like crazy. Then I would tell the league to cut the player and ban his dad from attending any more games. Then I’d call my lawyer. As far as the crazy mom entering the class, I’d just call the police. Then get a restraining order against the mom. I’d also call the counseling office to get that student out of my class.
By the way, both are true stories. Here’s more.
Case of Coach Shaquille Latimore, a youth recreational football coach in St. Louis, was shot four times by a disgruntled father who was pissed off that his son was not a starter. The entire season for that football team was canceled. The shooter, well he’s still in jail, charged with with first-degree assault and armed criminal action
You have this other idiot, Jorge Aponte Gonzalez who was attending his son’s baseball game in north Florida. He was upset because the umpire issued an unsportsmanlike conduct against his son. You wonder how this kid learned to be unsportsmanlike. Gonzalez approached the umpire — a disabled veteran — and sucker punched him in front of ballplayers, the crowd, and coaches.
He was arrested and banned from ever attending any more city games. Look at the smirk on this guy’s face if you’re watching on YouTube. He shows no remorse and thinks the whole thing is funny.
The one story that got me is the story about a parent named Matthew Eddy who has a daughter who attended Baraboo High School, in Wisconsin.
During the daughter’s graduation ceremony, students were to line up, get their diplomas and shake hands with board members and the superintendent, a gentleman by the name of Dr. Rainey Briggs.
Just as she is about to shake the hand of the Superintendent, her father Mathew Eddy, charges up the stage and pushes SI Briggs to keep him from shaking his daughter’s hand.
He walked onstage in front of a crowd of 225 students, and 3000 guests.
All eyes upon them. Embarrassing his daughter, ruining the moment for not only his daughter but the entire student body. This incident is what they will remember the most. After four years of study and earning their well-earned diplomas, it all boils down to an alpha male who could not keep himself from making an ass of himself not only in front of the crowd but before the entire nation.
That video went viral on social media. It drew a storm of criticism calling him out. Some say that because Eddy is white and Dr. Briggs, in black, that the action was racially motivated. I don’t know about that.
Baraboo High School is also famous for a picture where a bunch of predominantly white male students saluting the nazi sign, laughing, thinking it’s funny. Idiots.
If it’s not motivated by racism, it’s certainly motivated by stupidity.
Eddy was arrested for disorderly conduct. He was led away by police. SI Briggs filed and granted a restraining order. Sentencing is pending.
His poor teenage girl must have been so shocked. This poor girl, well I don’t want to give out her name, but I would be pretty certain she may not have her social media accounts. Her friends would be talking about it for months to come.
Wow, these incidents I just mentioned. Well, you embarrassed yourselves and your kids and your families. What you did was dumb.
What these parents need is counseling, perhaps some anger management classes. If you feel your blood pressing rising while watching your kids play, leave the game. Take a walk, and come back later.
What are you so uptight for? You have dreams of seeing your kids become an MLB player, or in the NFL, or NBA…or WNBA. Maybe even the Olympics?
Ask yourself why you are so uptight that your kid is not playing. Chances are the kid is not playing because maybe he just plain sucks at the game. Maybe your parents forced him to play when he/she doesn’t want to?
When I was a little league baseball coach the first thing I told parents was to behave themselves. We are here to have fun! Everyone plays regardless of skill level. If you think that I’m here to help your kids reach the major leagues, you got the wrong coach. Call up the main office, and ask them to move your kid to a different team.
For those of you who have young kids under 15, you need not worry, no scouts are attending these little league or youth football games. No recruitment is being done. Unless the kid has some physical gifts like being 6’5” at the age of 13 and can slam dunk a ball, maybe they will go see him in action.
But for 99% of the time, the game your kid is playing in, is pretty much insignificant. It’s the college level where most of the athletes get looked at and unless you are amongst the 5% of high schoolers making it into D1 schools, the chances of making the pros is slim to none. If you happen to make it into the NCAA, still your chances are less than 2%.
Then you have to get Drafted, and unless you are picked within the first 5 draft rounds, you may as well forget it.
There are many different eyes, many different people, and many different variables that decide how far a student-athlete will go. So parents, chill out. Leave the coaches alone, let them coach. If your kid is being benched there is a reason, but whatever that reason, you do think that attacking coaches is going to get him to start your kid? Do you think writing stuff against the coach or umps or referees on social media is doing to get your kid anywhere.?
Do you think that barging into my classroom throwing tantrums on why your student is failing is going to make me enthusiastic enough to keep helping him?
Writing me nasty emails, threatening me, or attacking is not going to change me! Just a warning, teachers are fighting back. Society is getting less tolerant of vigilante parents who can’t control themselves.
There is no doubt there will be some jerk coaches, jerk teachers, and bad calls made by officials. No doubt that exists. I didn’t like my son’s 5th grade teacher. She was one of the worst I’ve ever seen. But that’s life. Jerks exist! I had to deal with them, you had to deal with them…your kid is going to have to deal with them.
Instead of attacking, how about working with your kid and honing their kids? How about talking with the coaches and asking what it will take for my kid to get into the starting lineup to help this team? Or get a change in attitude. I’m here to have fun. I’m here to grow. I’m here to learn. Then if you’re good enough to be the next Patrick Mahomes or Noble Prize Winner, that energy will carry you there.
Focus on the journey, not the destination. There are lots of athletes of the caliber of Patrick Mahomes who are now working for UPS. There are lots of Geniuses who ended up as, well, high school teachers.
Parents, please don’t embarrass your kids. Your behavior will do more damage to your kids and the kids around him. Look at this opportunity to get close to your kid. Find him/her coaching outside of the team.
Learn to work with the teacher / the coach / and respect the referees. It’s only a game. It’s a day in the life in a classroom. Encourage your kid to stick with the sport and never give up. Keep trying. All the kids once crawled as babies. When that baby tried to walk, the baby would often fall. You as the parent encouraged him to keep on walking and keep on trying. Then they walked.
Be civil. Be encouraging. And just have fun.
LIFE is a Marathon. Not a foot race.