One-eyed referee ejects father and his son
The father of one of my high school players berated a referee so consistently in just the first half of a game that one of the referees ejected him from the stands.
Later in the game, during a loose ball scramble, the ejected man’s son threw a desultory punch at an opposing player. The same referee ejected him immediately.
The referee didn’t see that the kid who got punched had thrown the first punch. Why?
Because the ref had one functioning eye and one glass eye. Yes, you read that correctly.
In the locker room after the game, the player - normally a composed leader - explained through tears that earlier in the day his mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer, and that his household had been a bit on edge.
A month later, I was at a trophy and awards store. Suddenly, out comes an employee who happened to be the one-eyed referee from that game. He was…easy to identify.
“You’re the referee who ejected a father and a son in the same game,” I said. “I was the head coach in that game.”
“That’s right,” he said proudly. “I was waiting for the mother in the parking lot, to see if I could take her out on a date. You know, hit the trifecta.”
Sports are personal to everyone. But when it crosses the line, and when intentions are malicious, we lose all of the good stuff that sports provide.
Refs, players and coaches are humans - an important thing to remember when in the the arena.