When it comes to sports, I have done everything from play, coach, take the book, video, scout, write stories, take photos, run the scoreboard, hold the chains, fix the net, relocate the hoop, and officiate.

I’ve pretty much seen it all.

Including the different personalities and types of players, coaches, and fans surrounding sports. 

This is probably going to ruffle a lot of feathers, and I’m OK with it because it’s hard for people to stand outside of the box and know what’s going on inside the box unless it’s pointed out. As a journalist and someone who has lived, breathed, and paid bills off of sports, I’m appointed to toss and turn feathers.

The factor which hurts sports the most isn’t anyone or anything directly involved.

It’s not the players whether good or bad on the court or field, or behavior. It’s not the coaches whether throwing tantrums or not. It’s not the officials whether calling bad calls or not.

It’s the fans, or more directly, the parents.

A student-athlete is going to have a bad day. Some more than others. There is going to be the 0-for-4 game at the plate, or the zero assists and seven turnovers on the basketball court. With those come irritation and bad body language. As we process through the years, even bad verbal language.

Most of the time, a coach or an official gives a warning and they cool off.

The same can be said about coaches. A call or a play rubs them the wrong way, they rant, they let their opinion be known. Then they either calm down on their own or with the help of their bench. If need be a technical, a red card, or an unsportsmanlike flag is thrown. They calm down or they’re ejected. The former happens more than the later.

As an official for the last four years for basketball, three for volleyball, softball, and baseball, and I just officiated my first four football games Saturday, I’ve had bad days where I don’t see the strike zone or personal fouls the same way I usually do.

And officials I’ve worked with have the same kind of experiences.

We’re humans. We all make mistakes and try to right them moving forward.

For the athlete, the coach, and the official, they all want the next play, the next quarter, the next game to be better than the last.

For some odd reason, some parents don’t. They continue to carry on the sideline as they must think they’re actions and, more times than not, their voice, is the most important part of a game or society. I’ll always contribute social media to this, by the way.

I see it and hear it all the time. 

A fan or parent begins, again usually, by yelling at the ref. They may think the volleyball was hit out of bounds on a close call while the referee had the better angle of the round ball, not flat, that in some occasions is on or off of the line according to where your position is.

Screaming from the bleachers isn’t changing the position of the ball or the call from the official.

Yelling or trying to make an impact from the sideline doesn’t go in your favor or the favor of the team you’re rooting for from officials. Honestly, when they hear you, they’re thinking how do we tick them off more. Or, how do we get him/her to shut up. Which is never by going according to your play calling from the bleachers.

When a parent yells strike before the ball thrown by their pitching child even gets to the plate, the first thing thought of is shut up, followed by let me do my job, followed by have some class and some sportsmanship.

If it’s not at the officials, it’s at the coaches and the players.

At a junior tackle football game on Saturday, a dad literally stood on the top row of the bleachers and shouted at the coach to change his game plan. I’m paraphrasing because he used language my editor would edit anyway.

Or parents and fans are yelling at players from the other team whether it’s directly to a kid, I’ve heard it all ages including at fifth grade students during travel sports, or screaming statements to throw them off like drop the ball or that’s a miss.

Although this seems like a sports column because it’s centered around sports, this column is really about human interaction and how we treat each other, most noticed at a sporting event.

There is no reason to harass young athletes, coaches, or officials because they don’t see things the way you do. I would love to do what Jerry Seinfeld did and go to every loud-mouth parent’s place of employment and scream in their face for everything they do incorrectly.

None of us are perfect. None of us.

A player is going to make a mistake while playing. A coach is going to have a bad game plan or send a base runner into a tag. An official is going to miss something you think is obvious because you’re singled in to one kid or maybe your kid and his/her friend, while officials are watching 22 on the football field, 12 on the volleyball court, and nine on the baseball and softball fields.

While also making sure everything is kosher in the dugout and outside of the fence or gate.

The parents have one job, cheer on their children and their friends, the team.

Not to be indecent human beings and dull the love, passion, and enthusiasm to do something their kid loves to do along with the rest of the team, the coaches, the officials, and the school or league staff. 

We should be decent human beings first and foremost over everything.