A few weeks ago I took the girls to a high school girls' basketball game to watch our favorite coach do her thing. I figured that since it was a freshman game it would be tame and not very crowded so my girls wouldn't be too hard to control...
Well it wasn't too crowded and the girls weren't the ones who needed to be controlled. Aside from the constant questions from A1 and A2 and the non-stop lap jumping from A3, the girls really were well behaved. We sat across from the team's bench so we could have the best view of the coach. This just so happened to be on the same side as the fans from the other team.
Some of the crowd from the opposing team should have taken some lessons from my girls. We were playing a local school that has a reputation for poor sportsmanship, especially from the parents. Parents screamed at the refs after almost every call. Parents clapped and cheered when the girls from the other team missed a shot. Parents yelled at their daughters for missing shots or losing the ball. Parents encouraged their daughters to hit their opponents.
At one point a girl pulled her arm back ready to punch the point guard who got tangled up with her while stealing the ball. The mom yelled, "Go ahead!" Then the player back talked the ref and the mom continued to encourage her daughter's awful behavior. Thankfully the coach had the sense to pull her out of the game at that point. However; I did later question her judgement, as she walked off the court and looked at the crowd consisting of her team's parents and said, "I hate them, I really hate them." Talking about the other team.
The fact that there were only about 25 parents in the gym made the poor sportsmanship even worse because everyone could tell exactly who said what comment. My girls really didn't seemed too phased by most of what was going on. They were too busy trying to distract their aunt to listen to the insults.
The man behind us chose an inopportune time to shout at the refs regarding a call with which he disagreed. The gym was almost completely silent when we heard a deep loud voice bellow, "JESUS!" Only it wasn't a quick "Jesus" it was a long drawn out, "JEEEEEEEEEEEE-SSSSUUSSSSSSSS!"
Well of course this got A2's attention. As soon as she heard it, she spun around with wide eyes and a large dramatic, Um-I'm-Telling-You Gasp, that caught everyone's attention, including the man who yelled. She continued while I tried to lock eyes with her and give her a please stop look, "Did you hear that man?" I nodded and put my hand on her shoulder hoping that somehow my touch would send the message of, "Be quiet NOW!" It didn't. She went on in her best tattle tale voice, "He said, Jesus. You shouldn't say that. He broke one of God's Ten Big Rules!" As she finished she gave him the most shame inspiring disappointed look she could muster, which caused him to wilt in his seat.
Even though I wanted to hide at that moment, I was very proud of A2 for standing up for what she thought was right. Since we didn't hear another sound out of that man I am guessing he learned a lesson from the A Team. I did have a few parents from the other team praise my girls for how well behaved they were. I think they were just trying to suck up because they were afraid but we will take it!
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