I wish I could say the same about some of the Mission Viejo football fans that were in attendance. You see, it was an important game for Mission. They were playing Servite, a formidable team, and there was a good chance Mission would not be advancing on. Most of us were there to watch a good game, be proud of all of our children, and enjoy the evening. Then there were the others.
As the teams took the field, I heard more than cheering. I heard booing. From Mission fans. Directed at Servite's team. Not directed at a bad play, or a lousy call; neither team had taken its first snap. Nope. This was just bad sportsmanship at its worst. Especially loud was a man wearing a "Madden's Posse" tee-shirt, yelling "boo" through his wadded up program. Nice way to represent, Mr. Grown Up. The rest of the "posse" followed suit. Tre Madden, btw, is a player for Mission Viejo, so his "posse" was either parents, cousins, uncles or fans. It's okay to be wild about your kid, but to boo someone else's? Not so good.
The boo's came from other parts of the stadium, as well. It made me wonder: What is this teaching our children? In a world filled with people who continue to step it up with the most entitled, self-absorbed antics, this isn't helping. I've seen it all: parents who park in teachers' parking spaces, and then get belligerent when caught; every kind of road rage imaginable (well, I do live in Southern California); parents screaming at other kids on a team for underperformance; parents yelling at coaches; coaches yelling at parents; even a shoving match at Target. To say it's getting out of hand is an understatement.
But last night was the last straw for me. Collectively, Mission Viejo fans looked obnoxious, thanks to the "booers." And, as for Madden's Posse? Well, Madden is supposedly going to USC, so I guess I'm glad I quit going to those games.
Here it is: Nothing says you're a loser like booing at the opposing team. Sure, we've all seen bad plays. We've seen bad calls. We can be disappointed. But let's keep it civil, folks, especially at a high school game.
By the way, Servite won. Guess who left early. Yeah. The booer. Why am I not surprised?
