All Day, Baby! All Day...

(Originally posted 11/16/2008)

You hear about this kind of thing. You never really witness it yourself. Well, almost never. We have. Twice. Once was during basketball season, which I'll have to fill you in on at some later date. And I would have written about this latest episode sooner, but it took a while to wrap my brain around it.

We were leaving one of Jackson's baseball practices, which were held at a park that also hosts Pop Warner football. On this particular day, there was a game on one of those fields. And as we walked past it, we saw one of the teams score a touchdown. It was a "long" run play (maybe 15 or 20 yards at most). And the parents celebrated. Great.

But then, what we heard after the general celebration rivaled even the most boisterous and fanatical of college football celebrations on ESPN. I don't remember which teams were playing. It doesn't really matter. Because the kids are maybe 10 years old. But all of a sudden, as this kid crossed the goal line, the sideline erupted. Literally.

Now, I'm all for celebrating the successes of our children. Heck, I cheered louder than anyone each time Jackson had a hit this season. But there comes a point... a tipping point... when the celebration becomes, shall I say, a little much.

That tipping point may vary as kids get older and the level of competition increases. But I'd definitely have to say it's gone overboard at this age when the celebration erupts into a cacophony of yells, high-fives, bullhorn sirens and chest bumps (oh, yeah... chest bumps).

But the icing on the cake was what I heard shouted from (I'm assuming) one of the coaches as he glared across the field at his opposition. After bumping chests with another full grown man, this man, who may well have been the kid's father, yelled at the top of his lungs, "All day, baby! All day!" (Picture this complete with a red face and veins popping out of his neck.)

Now, maybe it's just me. But when did pee-wee leagues become acceptable platforms on which to display the most idiotic behavior on the part of parents? But more importantly, how in the world can anyone expect kids to display good sportsmanship if the people raising those kids can't even hold it together themselves?!