Bringing Out The Best..

I am not sure how many of you know that Tim is a football referee. Every Friday night I lose him to the guys on his crew and some high school team somewhere in southish Alabama. If you have never had a close relationship with a referee.. you probably don't quite understand how you look as a fan (not all of you, just to clarify). It has been my experience that most teams decide pretty early on in the game that the refs are out to get them. Maybe they think that it is a personal reason, something that the referees are holding against them from years prior, maybe the refs just plain dont like their school.. whatever it is.. the team you are rooting for is most likely, if not regularly, at least occasionally, viewed by you and your fellow fans as the victim.

When Tim first started refereeing it would hurt my feelings so when people would yell at him. They would criticize the decision that he made, or nag him about something they think he didnt see (and for the record, No, he is not blind. :) )
I would want to fuss back and tell them he was doing the best he could. I mean lets get real honest.. giving up your Friday night for pennies.. it isn't because you want to do a great injustice to a high school team.. its because you love the game.. and you want to be involved. With that said, I am sure he does miss an occasional call and he would probably even tell you in retrospect that he should have done some things differently.. but at the end of the day.. he is doing the very best he can.

I guess the humorous part to me is when referees make calls that benefit your team.. they are brilliant for that moment.. but in the blink of an eye.. when you are penalized.. it is back to.. "where in the world did they find these guys..".

On just Tims crew in past years I have seen the air let out of their tires, grown men follow them to their cars after games wanting to fight, I have seen police escorts for the referres, I have heard hurtful names called, and I guess I say all that to say.. I have seen how being a fan doesnt always bring out the best in people.

And now I will admit, myself included. Growing up in my daddy's house you pretty much had two options.. learn to love watching sports.. or spend alot of time extremely bored. So I learned to love. And Tim now is very thankful to my dad for this result. I have stood in front of the tv in my own home yelling. Yelling at the refs (or umpires), yelling at the coaches, and telling everyone in the room how things "should have been done". Being a fan doesnt always bring out the best in me.

We will add that to be list of things I am working on :)