I'm getting cranky as I get older. Things that weren't a big deal to me at one time seem to bother the hell out of me now. I'm not talking about being bothered by the greater than thou mentality of over paid professional athletes. I'm not talking about GM's, Commissioner's, Coach's or Sports Officials who think their way is the only way...regardless of what the right thing should be. I'm not talking about "Sportswriters and Broadcast Buffoons" who think they know everything when in all actuality they may be the least informed and less knowing than their egos can admit. NO...these kinds of people have bothered me FOREVER! So it isn't these kinds of people and things that are making me cranky as I get older. They always have made me cranky. No, I'm getting cranky as I get older and I know exactly what it is. That is why I can say I'm getting cranky and I don't wonder why.
I am a teacher who has worked in general education and in special education. I have coached a variety of sports over the past 30 years or so after my goals and dreams as a player ended on a surgeons table. I have worked with America's youth (and all of their diverse backgrounds) for most of my life. I have seen great kids come and go and have seen the not so great ones come and go as well. I have seen kids struggle in their youth and turn into successful adults and I have seen the popular kids in school struggle with drug abuse and never truly realize their potential. Hell, I'm not sure I've realized my potential yet! Through all of this I think I have maintained a pretty calm demeanor and attitude throughout my life and my experiences. I have had success with kids and failures with kids. I have suffered great personal tragedies and had great personal success. And throughout all of this I never really felt any sense of entitlement to anything. You get what you have worked hard for and you shouldn't have anything handed to you. Well, what have I earned in this period of time? I had to have an experience that bothered me to reflect on what I have earned and what I think I am entitled to.
Last weekend was the MN Boy's High School Hockey Tournament and it ws held at the Excel Energy Center in downtown St. Paul, MN. This is the facility where the Minnesota Wild play their home games. The team I coach did not make it as a participant in this years tournament. In the past we have had access on a first come basis as a coaching staff to tickets to this event in case we didn't make it as a participating team. Last year the Excel Energy Center screwed up and didn't send us our tickets that were ordered by our Blueline club. This year they did but they put us at the bottom of the ladder so to speak. For years we had seats in a level of the Ex that ALL of the coaches sat in. This year the Excel sent us tickets, which each of us pays $72.00 for, behind a goal with student sections and the bands all around us. I've worked with this population for 30 years, right! What could be the problem? Well...there are a couple and they are these.
1.) Tickets that I pay good money for have me sitting with students and bands from other schools.
2.) I have to sit and ATTEMPT to watch a hockey game through students who stand up during play and sit down between periods.
3.) I have to sit behind the drums of a band, watch the gme through the drums and then receive pounding headache as I am forced to endure their pounding at almost every TV timeout and goal scored. Not that I got to see the goal being scored.
4.) And on the last day I arrived at my seat to find the staff at the Excel had re-sold my seat to the band and that I would have to wait for the second game (Championship Game in Class 2A) to get my seat back. How did I find thi out? From the drummer with the green hair and the white and green paint on his face.
5.) An announcement is made prior to every game requesting that people respect others around them and to please not move up and down the isles until there is a stoppage of play. Guess what?
If I wanted to sit with the student section and the band I would have become a band instructor. Then I would relish the opportunity to take my kids to a venue that they couldn't care less about (except for the opportunity to be out of school) to let them #### their drums and screech their horns all day long. This would also mean that number 3 wouldn't bother me at all. I paid $72.00 for my weekend tickets and had to sit next to student sections that the majority of the students didn't pay for. Granted, their parents had to up some dough but they had no intention of attending the game. Much like, I'm sure, their offspring had no intention of watching said game. This was social period for these kids and they couldn't care less who was around them. This also was problematic from a #5 point of view. Constantly, while play was going on these kids were up and down the isle in front of us and some even decided to carry on conversations in the isles...while play was going on. Sadly, it wasn't only students. The parental units of some of these kids found it necessary to bound down the isles and give their kids money or tell them where they were meeting after the game or to make sure they were acting responsibly and respecting the people around them. Yea, like they were pefect examples of being able to follow a request by the PA announcer. And after checking my ticket to make sure I had a seat in that section, why didn't the Excel staffer tell me there was a problem with my seat and that the band had been sold my seat. Why did I have to hear it from the Little Drummer Boy? So...what exactly do I think I am entitled to?
Decent seats where I have sat for years for this tournament. After all the years we have put in I think we have earned at least that. I have earned the right to NOT be forced to sit with the band, especially from a school I have no affiliation with. If I am going to go home deaf for the remainder of the evening I have earned the right for it to be my choice. I have earned the right to be able to pay $72.00 for tickets to an event...and to be able to sit and watch it without having to bob and weave like a prize fighter looking for the next great shot at my opponent...just to watch a power play. I have earned the right to watch a hockey game and not have to be interrupted by Mr. Johnny Comeondown as he gives his kid money and instruction while disregarding the request of the PA announcer and disregarding plain old respect for those around you.. Do it before you say good-bye to the child in the concourse.
I know exactly what is making me cranky as I get older and it is lack of respect for other people around you. It is the self-important attitude that is pervasive in society and mocks respect of our fellow man. It is being instilled in children at an early age and you can see where it comes from in situations like this. I have encountered things like this in other venues like college and professional sporting events. There have been quite a few posts on here lately about people accepting personal responsibility for what they do. Does that only count for professional athletes who used performance enhancing drugs in their careers? Does it only count for bloggers who manipulate a computer to alter their appearance and become someone they aren't? I don't think so. Accepting responsibility for behaviors should go beyond the public realm. It has to happen in everyday life. I wanted my experience at the tournament to be about enjoying hockey. The highlight of my tournament experience was this. Four students decided to stand in the isle in front of us (not at a seat) and carry on a conversation. After five minutes of listening to this and asking them to sit own and NOT being able to see the game I got up out of my seat and stepped up to the four students. When I inquired if they were at their seats I was told that only one of them had a seat there. The other three told me their seats were in another section. My response, "Then go to your seats and quit standing in my way." They promptly left. Why should that have been the highlight of the tournament for me? It shouldn't have. But, I'm getting cranky as I get older. At least I know why.
gcoach
Thank God you've not prostate problems or I'd hate to see how you'd keep your wits about you.
Kids'll never have respect for their elders at functions likes these be it a sporting one or not. Much of that can be blamed on the lack of etiquette being taught at home. But that's life nowadays isn't it ? Parents'll leave it up to the teachers to teach the kids almost everything possible.
See my latest posts written under this guise
and let me know what you think as to their merits ? I'll look forward to reading your comments.
Can Tracy Come Out To Play ? We'll Let Him Play With Our Ball Too !
And also there's She Woke Up This Morning And Couldn't Make Her Mind Up Celtics Or Spurs ?
Hi Gcoach - My daughters have both been involved in high school cheerleading and I have had the opportunity to watch both of them compete in State Championship Competitions.
In their case, the championships were held at the Whittemore Center on the campus of the University of New Hampshire. It's probably similar to Excel, maybe a few thousand seats smaller, but same idea.
I have had the EXACT same experiences with students and parents moving up and down the aisles and standing in front of me as if I were invisible. I didn't have to sit in the middle of the band or have my seat sold out from under my ####, though, so I suppose I should consider myself lucky in that regard.
The most frustrating part is dealing with the parents of kids who are just as bad as the kids. It doesn't happen all the time, but when it does, I feel like the top of my head is going to explode.
I guess what I'm trying to say is you have my sympathy. It's wonderful that the MN State Hockey Championships sell out, but the Excel Center or the event administrators need to do a better job of running it....
Gcoach, I have to agree with you. It seems that more and more emphasis is being placed on the "me, me, me" attitude. Things like common courtesy (and common sense?) are taking severe hits in this new age of self promotion gone wild. Things like MySpace and FaceBook are partly to blame, but then again as you point out, the parents can be just as self-centered as the kids sometimes!
I applaud you for being the "cranky old dude" that got up and reminded the aisle conversation kids of their rudeness. Although I'm a bit suprised that the kids were even carrying on a conversation in the first place, figured they would be "texting" each other more than anything.
It's hell getting old. I hear what you are saying loud and clear. I no longer attend sporting events for fear of landing in a court ordered eight week anger management class. The Energy Center screw up with the tickets is a perfect example of the lack of accountability with the corprate structure of the sports world. A true paradox in my home town is the stadium security provided consists of under employed or unemloyed individuals who could not afford the cost of a ticket. They are hired to keep people in line who have paid a premium for high priced tickets and feel entitled to root for the home team however they see fit. The only trainging provided is where to turn in your shirt and pick up your check after the game. Gotta go I'm late for anger management.
It's the criminal activity/cheating that's killing our love of sports. Consequences must be HARSH and public.
I have a family of teachers.
They preach ethics in winning.
Ramp - I know how excited kids get with stuff like this and being a teacher I have often accepted it for what it is. But it really hasn't been as bad as I saw it this past weekend...until this past weekend. An employee of the EX said that they ask the AD's and administrators at the participating schools for help in making sure their students respect the event, the facility and other people around them. Seeing as they couldn't listen to the PA announcer makes me think that anything from a school official went in one ear and immediately out the other. Thanks for dropping by.
Half - welcome to my world. I see issues with parents enabling improper behaviors on a daily basis. Quite often when dealing with kids there is clearly a "nut doesn't fall far from the tree" connection to the parent. The tournament itself was, and generally is, run very well. The Excel usually does a first rate job as well. However, I was very disappointed in the fact that they re-sold my seat to accomodate the band. As with most everything else...money, money, money...MONEY!
bc525 - My wife hates it when I am the "cranky old dude" when she is around. Doesn't always stop me from stepping up. I want kids to have fun and having their school make the tournament is a big deal. However, people around them shouldn't have to suffer through disrespectful behaviors just to insure the kids enjoy themselves. As for the conversations...most of the ones I heard had nothing to do with the game. They were just standing up while play was going on talking about who is going out with who and who did what to who. No concern at all for people who might actully want to watch the game. Thanks for dropping by.
Rev - I am definately too old to be forced to sit with high school band at a sporting event. My nephew was in the band in HS in Oklahoma and the one game a year I went to about the only way to get a seat was to sit with the "band" parents and the band. Yippee, skippy! I know I have been better off playing and coaching the sports. I agree with you. It was too loud...where I was sitting...and I am too old to have to sit there.
goutdaddy - great point about those who work the events. I have decided that in my retirement I will be seeking employment at a facility that hosts large sporting events so that I, too, can wear a green jacket that is way too small or way too big for me so I can sit around and watch people act the fool while I do nothing but talk on a walkie-talkie every now and then and look more important than I really am. Bingo! Thanks for stopping by.
YeeMum - I look alot like my avatar (although I am NOT him) standing 6'0" and 240 lbs and it has its perks. I learned a long time ago that looking like I do and being a screamer and yeller isn't conducive to success when dealing with students. It either intimidates them so bad they will never function or makes them so mad that they will never cooperate. So my style is much more subdued and laid back. However, a well placed growl and a sudden bark do have a tendency to achieve the desired effect. It did in this instance. Thanks for your visit.
outlaws - I usually don't ever need to lighten up and generally won't until the situation is rectified. But, like I told YeeMum, sometimes stepping up works. Thanks for stopping by.
husker - ethics in winning could take me on to whole different rant. Wow, a post of mine stayed on the page for that long. Yep, server must have been down.
edclinch - Maybe if I just got my old seats back...! Thanks for commenting.
Lisa - How would you like to take in a football game in a crowded stadium with a cranky old dude such as myself? Of course, neither one of our teams could be involved.
cont. -- I am getting to the point where I want to enjoy the event I am at for the reason I am there and my patience for rude and boorish people is at an all-time low. So, who do we see and where? Pick out the place with the rudest fans you know if you want to see me in action. Thanks for coming by. See ya, Sooner!!!
Great rant gcoach and you are so right! Common courtesy and consideration for other human beings is disappearing. Stupid people seem to be out-breeding the average people. You can't even go to a movie anymore with all the mouth breathers talking and rustling their friggin popcorn sacks and chewing with their friggin mouths open. Nicely written gcoach!
Viking - thanks. My wife and I went to see The Bucket List the other night and some girl behind us was talking on her cell phone during the movie. As my wife doesn't enjoy it when I step up...I stepped out and got an usher who told her she needed to leave the theater if she wanted to talk on her cell. She was alright after that, however, this was after they ran a thing on the screen requesting that patrons respect their fellow movie goers and PLEASE turn off your cell phones. Rude...self important...can't read...or just pain ignorant. Or the offspring of stupid people!
edclinchsaint - Sooner born, Sooner bred and when I die I'll be a Sooner dead. But a long, long time ago family and the woman I eventually married brought me to MN. My love for those things and coaching hockey keep me in MN. Still married to her. However, as my dad gets older and with the loss of my mom a couple of years ago I have licensed in Oklahoma and am entertaining the idea to back for a while. After all...I was born there. I'll check out your post. Thanks for checking out mine.
I am an educator and a coach. I was a goaltender in hockey until my playing days finished but now coach hockey and soccer. Once a goaltender always a goaltender. I am an Oklahoma Sooners fan, hold most professional athletes in low regard and have no time for prima donna athletes who think they are better than others who were not fortunate enough to get where these guys, or girls, are. I don't think celebrity puts anyone higher than anyone else in any capacity which, I think, is contrary to our society perception.
