"Either people are learning the value of calm, or they’ve decided to channel all the aggression into their driving, because you can really get your point across there."

Well, I was actually wondering how long it would take for the local TV media to diagnose the situation as "Rec Sport Rage", similar to how "Road Rage" seems to subtley drain the responsibility away from the "rager", or "Dance Fever" somehow seems to excuse the improptu lousy dancer caught up in the moment.

Seriously, the sinister jerk at the baseball game? Why is it so many people tolerate such angry, dangerous people in their midst. Worse yet...make KIDS with them? Yeesh.

I have three daughters participating in a number of sports activities and have seen my share of "intense" sports parents.

The worst example was last fall with the coach of my 7-year-old's soccer team. The coach, a female, also had a daughter playing on the team. There was a scrum of kids in mid-field, all trying to get to the ball. The coach's daughter kicked the ball, which flew up and hit my daughter in the face. It was purely an accident and one of the inherent risks of the game. The coach came screaming onto the field, grabbed her daughter by the ear and ran her over to the sidelines. Then she made her daughter get down in the front leaning rest position and start knocking out push ups. The girl was crying and the coach/Nazi mom was yelling "What did I tell you about wild kicks?" and then coach/Nazi mom swatted her hard on the butt right there in front of all the parents. Not that I'm against spanking your kid, just don't do it in public. I admit that I (and everyone else) was scared to say anything to the coach/Nazi mom in her rage. I'm surprised the referees didn't kick her out of the game. She left at half-time with daughter, saying they had a tournament to go to, and the assistant coach took over. Needless to say, there were many calls to the school's athletic director and coach/Nazi mom didn't come back for the rest of the season.

It was noted in the Strib article that the angry parent had been previously sentenced to 20 days in "the workhouse" for a previous stalking offense. Can someone tell me what the workhouse is and how it differs from county jail?

This is for jeischens. I've also wondered what the difference between jail and the workhouse was so I went to the Hennepin County site and found that the workhouse gives those in jail an opportunity to work while they're incarcerated. Whether they work IN the workhouse or go outside of the facility to work wasn't detailed. Hope thta this helps.
Woffie

I live in Central MN where we have several small towns (avg population 600 per town). With open enrollment, there are basically three schools kids can go to. The most popular one is so due to the "great sports program". Our local school consistently wins out in academics and extra-curricular programs such as debate, music, trial, and so forth. We do have sports, homecoming, cheerleaders, but the teams rarely make state finals.

I played some sports growing up and think it was an important part of my overall education. I never excelled in anything, but had a lot of fun. I never had an overbearing coach or crazed parents. I mention this because I'm not anti-sport by any stretch. Heck, being a decent golfer helps out now and again with business.

What I don't get is when other parents tell me they're sending their kids to a lesser academic school because of sports. I ask them, "Do you really expect little Johnny to play in the NFL some day?". Personally, I believe the truly gifted will rise up regardless of where they play. I feel particularly bad for the kids because they have very little say in the decision.

I guess anyone who could commit their grade-schooler to a "B education" for the sole purpose of being part of a "great" sports program in high school is a candidate for future sports rage. I mean after all they probably expect their kid to go to college on a scholarship and are miffed that they'll have to pay the bill when Johnny fumbles the ball.

I've seen quite a bit of this parental anger when I was an umpire in my younger years, but am stunned at just how early this can start.
Just today, I was at my daughter's introductory level soccer class (for ages 5-6). The class had their very first scrimmage style situation, where the kids learn that there are actually positions to be played in the game of soccer (never mind that it still instantly turns into a cluster of kids chasing a ball).
Lo and behold, one dad starts hollering/whining constant critiques of their kid using the kid's name. "Your kicking the ball the wrong way, Thomas! Get going, Thomas!!!", etc.
Nary a hint of joy or cheer in this fellow's voice, just annoyance and disappointment, like he's cheering on a losing horse he had just bet on.
In the kid's first scrimmage. Ever.

Is he not applying the lessons learned in countless camps you sent him to? Misapplying the lessons in all the coaching videos you bought? No. IT'S HIS FIRST TIME!

Not living up to some imaginary standard you've dreamed up in your head? Not giving you a crutch on which to boost your self esteem? Highly probable.

Of course, when finished, the kids come streaming of the field smiling at their parents, exuding fun.

Except for Thomas.

Great job Dad.

You've probably never seen this kind of behavior....unless you've had any kids go through the array of kiddie sports, and then it's got to happen some time. Ours went through Tee-Ball, which is OK, too early to bring out the cave dweller, but Little League'll do it, every time. Makes a fellow proud to be swimming in the same gene pool. Wait! Maybe not....you've had enough time to look at him. Closest relative? I'll go with Jabba the Hutt.

I'm betting that Thomas has an older brother.

I live in a classic suburban town that has a "great sports program." In a town with a population of fewer than 15,000 people, we get about 2000 kids showing up for little league and soccer. The town's got all sorts of teams, and the high school regularly wins state championships in baseball, softball, wrestling, you name it.

All well and good--sports are good for the body, good in some ways for social interaction (the whole "team" thing, etc). I'm all for getting kids to get off their butts and do something that requires physical exertion.

Here's the thing, though: How many years can the average person play a sport? I mean, if you're an amazing quarterback, and you make it to the NFL, how old are you when you retire? 30? 35? Baseball fans talk about these old players like Roger Clemens, who are in their 40s, and they are amazed that these guys are still playing "at their age." And those are the pros! The average high school or college athlete is through actually playing their sport by the time they're 22. And then what? Watch the game on TV? Maybe coach your kid's team?

Compare that with the arts: Theatre, writing, sculpture, painting, etc, etc. Those are activities that receive far less attention and money from the average school system, and yet participants in the arts have an inverse relationship to participants in sports: They actually get BETTER as they get older (with the possible exception of dancers, though Fred Astaire was still pretty damned good when he was in his 50s and 60s). I'm an actor, and I'm a much better actor in my mid-40s than I was when I was in my mid-20s. Ditto writers, painters, poets, etc. And yet we don't place half as much emphasis, or spend half as much money, on arts education as we do on sports programs. And not to be elitist, but folks in the arts tend to have a heck of a lot more to talk about than those in sports (and I know, that's a MASSIVE generalization). And Lileks is right--you rarely hear the father of the kid who played Sky Masterson in "Guys and Dolls" screaming at his kid because "Luck Be a Lady" wasn't as compelling as it should have been.

So why do we place so much importance on sports, which are so fleeting, and so little on the arts, which have such permanence?

I have been a coach for the Special Olympics off and on for the past 15 years. I can thankfully say that I've never seen this dispicable behavior at any one of those sporting events. In fact last weekend was the Summer Special Olympics Games at the U and it was so awesome to see so many people come out for a wonderful event such as the Special Olympics. These people truly understand what the reasoning behind sport is.

After the opening ceremonies I went to my 8 year old nephew's soccer game. Dear Mother help me. Some of the parents were screaming at the kids, the coaches and the refs. I sat in the not-crazy-just-disgusted-and embarassed-adult section. I told one mother to "calm down, you're ruining the game for everyone", oh if looks could kill.

I wonder if some of the "sport rage" is due to people seeing their child as a lottery ticket courtesy of the NBA, MLB, NFL, NHL, etc...

From the article: "There was no answer at the door at Campbell's home Tuesday evening when a Star Tribune reporter sought comment."

You think?!? A guy's just been at his house threatening to shoot him - you think he's just going to open the door for every knock?

I also think the organization should change it's name to Minnesota Youth Athletic and Sporting Services for obvious reasons...

Click on the Strib link and look at Dad of the Year's picture. Sheesh! Anyone seen Jabba the Hutt lately?

I am in a very large city in the South, and the little league in our neighborhood is one of the largest in the nation. It's not the best in town - that's the next one over - but it does have even some of the local pro ballplayers children in it and is, as I said, HUGE (120+ teams). Anyway, they are big on stopping the screaming and all that, but consistently turn a blind eye to the scores of parents who prefer to humiliate their kids by hissing through the dugout fence after the child has had a particularly bad time at the plate. We are in the 7-8 year old league, and I can't count the times this spring a child would strike out and his dad would inevitably get up and begin whispering a berating lecture through the fence. It's as if these parents have figured out what will get them (and their kids) kicked out of the league, but still can't stop themselves from doing some emotional damage over a stupid SPORT.

On the other hand, my son, not the best player on the team (he doesn't play 12 months a year like most of the others - we do other sports besides baseball) but definitely into his team and winning, pushed a child from the other team out of the way instead of shaking his hand after a close loss in our last game of the season. No, not the behavior I want to see, and we had a talk about losing well, and his father explained that in 14 years of competitive sports he only had one season end with a win, and all that - we definitely wanted it to be a "learning moment" and for it to not happen again. But the coach! He was all over us the minute it happened - "if this happens again he is OUT FOREVER and I MEAN IT!!!!!!" No empathy, no "take the kid aside and explain how it stinks to lose but let's learn from this" - nope - just threats. How exactly are the kids supposed to learn the values that team sports supposedly teach you, if there is only screaming and no teaching?

I sincerely hope my son opts for another sport next spring, and we can walk away from the nuts that seem to congregate around little league baseball.

>So why do we place so much importance on sports, which are so fleeting, and so little on the arts, which have such permanence?>

Because you can bet on sports, but not on the arts? ;-)