LOL! This guy really think he was bringing justice to a crime against humanity?!
"9-1-1, what's your emergency?"
"Please send the cops immediately! I just witnessed a bad call that injured my ego and bruised my child's self-esteem!"
H.S. Parent Follows Ump into Parking Lot
- Thread starter Long Baller
- Start date
Welcome to Discuss Fastpitch
Your FREE Account is waiting to the Best Softball Community on the Web.
"9-1-1, what's your emergency?"
"Please send the cops immediately! I just witnessed a bad call that injured my ego and bruised my child's self-esteem!"
- May 20, 2015
- 1,119
- 113
what makes it worse: at the time our HS offered a soccer officiating course as a PE credit......our middle school games ran one board official, one kid that had completed the class....ALWAYS got a very experienced official (board president taught the class)
the way our field was set up, fans were on one side.......usually we put the kid on that side, so the board official was on the side of the coaches......fans generally got that it was a kid, especially our home fans, and were chill
this game one of our OWN fans rode the kid all first half........2nd half the board official switched with the kid because he was making comments (i was on site, and was up the hill 100 yards or so at a field hockey game at this point, no one thought to give me a heads up)
after the game he wanted the board officials name, he wouldn't give it to him......so he followed him to his car to take his license plate
it was super fun........but the meeting on this was pretty short, and his ban was not
The HS umpire crew that was contracted to do our conference were so unbelievably bad that if any parents followed them to the parking lot, it was to help them find their car!
I hear there is a shortage of officials all over the country due to veteran officials retiring or not coming back due to Covid concerns or just because they are being scheduled to cover spring football seasons that were rescheduled from last fall. I bet there are openings for anyone who thinks they can do a better job.
You witnessed an exchange of words. Then an umpire peel out the the parking lot.He thanked me again, then also said that the plate ump was an idiot too.
I was going to let this whole thing drop, but the more I think about it, I am wondering if I should report this parent to the other teams Athletic Director? It’s one thing to chirp in the stands about a call, but I think that following an ump to the parking lot after the game is WAY over the line. Did I prevent a physical altercation? I don't know. I’m not going to say that he went out the parking lot to physically beat the ump up, but you never know how things can escalate. I definitely think he went out there to at least verbally intimidate the guy. There is no place for that! So, should I report the guy, or let it drop?
Then the other umpire that was there told you that they think the plate umpire is an idiot.
Make sure that makes it in your report.
Trust me, I know and understand where this last comment came from, and no one is a bigger fan of umps than me! But this crew would be easy to replace with anyone including the blind! The one compliment I'll give this crew is they were HORRIBLE on both sides of the ball!
I know you are a supporter of umpires. But, get out there and contribute! Even if it is to encourage others to strap on the 'idiot's gear'. Ex-players, especially Cs make great umpires, and now more than ever, new officials are needed.
Good on you for turning it in.
It's when we don't turn things in that bad things happen. We have a neighborhood thug who still lives at home. He commits relatively minor crimes and no one reports him. Turns out he punched a cop inside the Capitol Building on Jan 6th and will be in jail for a long time. Crazy stuff.
Gotta get these events on record. No idea what they might do next.
It's when we don't turn things in that bad things happen. We have a neighborhood thug who still lives at home. He commits relatively minor crimes and no one reports him. Turns out he punched a cop inside the Capitol Building on Jan 6th and will be in jail for a long time. Crazy stuff.
Gotta get these events on record. No idea what they might do next.
As a long time sports official, the way this is handled in my state at any HS game is that the official checks in with the home team site manager when he/she arrives on site, and that site manager (or designated security person) should be available upon request (at the very least) to walk the umpires to their cars after the event. The parent was looking at a felony charge if he laid a hand on the umpire. I saw something very similar to your story when I was attending a kids' tournament a few years ago, with the umpire also being in his 70s. I did the same as you. Reasonable people have to stand up for the officials or there will be none left to work at the games. There is a reason why there are so many with grey hair. Younger people just aren't interested in dealing with idiots. It's a crisis that a lot of people don't know about. Thanks for doing the right thing!DD had a varsity high school game last night. It was a pretty close game through the first few innings, then we broke it open. Ended up winning 17-5, or something close to that. Things were pretty calm, except for the belligerent parent for the opposing (home) team that got louder and louder about his displeasure with the umps strike zone. He must have been the pitcher’s dad. The ump did seem to have a tight zone, but was definitely consistent both ways. I never heard either coach chirp about the strike zone.
Fast forward to after the game, and I notice that still belligerent parent B-lining to the parking lot with that familiar “I’m a pissed off obese person waddle” yelling about the umpire. Ironically, he was parked right next to the ump. Parent immediately pop’s his hatch back open and is shuffling through his stuff, yelling at the ump the whole time, while the ump is trying to change his gear and get the heck out of there ASAP. You could see that the ump (probably in his 70s) was intimidated and visually “shaken”. He called the other ump over and asked if could “keep an eye on me”, which he did. Now, I saw this whole thing playing out from the beginning, so instead of waiting for my DD to tell her good job, something in my head told me to go to the parking lot to incase “something stupid” happened. It was small parking lot, and the two umps, belligerent parent, any myself were the only four people there at the time. I walked up about 20 feet away from their position and postured myself to where it was obvious that my entire purpose was to be a witness to their confrontation. I think I took the 2nd ump by surprise as he started to stare me down with that “what the heck” look. I gave him a wink and nod to let him know that I had no ill intent towards them. Belligerent parent then noticed me and gave me a stare down too, to which I stared back. He then turns back to the ump and starts yelling, “I never threatened you…NO! I never threatened you. I just had to tell you what a bad job you did!” Parent gave me another stare then started walking away. Plate ump is now changed out of his gear, and then peels out of the parking lot. 2nd ump asks me “What’s the deal with that guy?” to which I reply, “I don’t know, I’m a parent with the opposing team. It looked something stupid might happen so I thought that if there was a witness, that might diffuse the situation.” To which he thanked me. I then told him they umped a good game, and that I would not want to be an ump because of parents like that. He thanked me again, then also said that the plate ump was an idiot too.
I was going to let this whole thing drop, but the more I think about it, I am wondering if I should report this parent to the other teams Athletic Director? It’s one thing to chirp in the stands about a call, but I think that following an ump to the parking lot after the game is WAY over the line. Did I prevent a physical altercation? I don't know. I’m not going to say that he went out the parking lot to physically beat the ump up, but you never know how things can escalate. I definitely think he went out there to at least verbally intimidate the guy. There is no place for that! So, should I report the guy, or let it drop?
Witnessed a parent follow 2 umps into the parking lot after a Saturday of our tournament. Watched as his 12 yr old daughter was in tears telling him to stop. Absolutely ridiculous - it’s one thing to be vocal on the stands.. another thing to follow someone.. much less 2 umps who are probably 60+ Yrs old into a parking lot. Several parents witnessed this and hope they ban this parent from all tournaments.
