ROCKINGHAM – Back many, many years ago when I was a child, my Dad played for a church softball team for a few years. Our home church didn’t have a team of its own so Dad was allowed to play with another church team. I cannot remember the name of the church since it’s been so long ago, but I know we did visit that church on at least one occasion and it was way out in the country outside of Candor, NC.
I’ve always been a real enthusiastic lover of almost all types of sports and also a very vocal and too loud type of fan. If I sit in front of the TV watching any type of ballgame I’m afraid I always tell the players how to play and then let them know how it should be done the next time since they just don’t seem to know the right way to play the game.
Back when I was in high school I tried to attend every single baseball, football and basketball game that I could possibly get to. Whenever I went to basketball games the cheerleaders got so they would point at me whenever they started a cheer so I could help get the crowd fired up. I was always loud and proud of our Ellerbe athletes no matter what type of game they were playing.
Whenever my daughter played on a parks and rec basketball team she finally asked me not to yell out her name and the names of her teammates because it was distracting when they were out on the court. I did try to tone it down after that and have tried to continue that as I have attended soccer games when my grandchildren play.
I suppose I should have learned my lesson about loud cheering back when I attended those softball games my Dad played in. We always went to all of those games when Dad played and like I said I’m very vocal about sports and I always watched the games (unlike a lot of kids who went to the game but didn’t pay any attention to it).
My Dad was always a good softball player and he usually knocked at least one home run in every game. I remember one particular time when they were playing at the ball field beside the school at Candor. Dad hit the ball so hard it went over the top of the building. I’m sure they probably heard me in downtown Candor when that ball landed on top of that building and then fell over on the other side.
Being such an enthusiastic fan got me in trouble at one of those softball games. The game was tied up and I’m afraid when one of the players from the other team stepped up to bat I yelled “Boo; Boo” as he swung at the ball. The cutest little blonde-haired, blue-eyed child of about five looked me right in the face and said: “It’s not polite to boo!” I was probably about eleven or twelve at the time and I felt like sinking down into the ground and hiding.
The trouble was I knew that adorable little girl was exactly right!! You would think I might have learned a lesson from that experience but I’m mighty afraid that sometimes I’m still a little too loud and I often speak before I think.
What about you? Are you guilty of opening your mouth before you engage your brain? Maybe that’s a question we should all ask ourselves. I’m sure the world would be a better place if all of us would build others up instead of tearing them down. Perhaps we should change the Golden Rule to: Speak unto others as you would have them speak unto you!!!
