A Fool and his Words are Soon Parted

Fanaticism, Sportsmanship, and Christianity February 10, 2006

A good friend of mine officiates middle school and high school basketball games. Last week, he was officiating in a game that my son was playing in, and there were several questionable calls.

Over the course of the game, several of us in the stands were becoming very vocal in our complaints, and addressing the officials very directly from the stands. We weren’t using foul language, but our comments were far from friendly. By the end of the game, it became bad enough that afterward, a couple of us felt compelled to apologize directly to my friend for our actions.

As I considered how my friend must have felt as he went about his job, I started to think about my behavior as a spectator. I considered the message I am implicitly sending to my officiating friend, the message I am sending to other fans, and most importantly, the message I’m sending to my sons. What does it say about sportsmanship? More important, what does it say about my faith?

To be continued…