What the H, Mario?!

I have a problem.

Okay, I have many problems, but at the moment, I have one specific problem that is gnawing on my brain and irritating me. It's been poking and prodding at me for the last few days, so the only logical way to deal with it is to write a blog post, right?

Right.

Anyway, my problem has to do with sports. Or more specifically, youth sports. Now, I will admit that the extent of my sports experience is limited to cross-country and cheerleading, and even then, there aren't too many rules regarding both. But, in Ryan and Jeff's cases, their sports have long lists of the do's and don'ts which should always be followed for safety's sake and fairness of the game.

When the Crack Monkeys first started getting involved with sports, we always made sure they had a general idea of what the rules were, and if they didn't, we'd teach them. We've lucked out in that sense with great coaches in both the past and present, coaches who hold their players to fair play and obedience to the rules.

My problem is with coaches, players, and even parents who don't.

Case in point, Jeff had his first soccer game of the season this past Saturday. I've already mentioned we've been with his coach for the last three seasons. This is a man who loves soccer, knows the rules, and values little kids having fun while learning how to play. At every practice, he'll go over the basics and show the kids the proper way to kick the ball and defend their goal. His own son is on the team, which makes his goal to teach the kids all the more important to him.

The coach for the other team seems like a nice guy, but he didn't seem to be present at the game. And, what I mean by that is he wasn't on the sidelines encouraging the kids or even correcting them when they did something they clearly weren't supposed to. Granted, these are 7- and 8- yr. olds, and they're bound to make mistakes or do something on accident. This wasn't the case, as I very clearly heard the parents' of these kids encourage them to do things that are against the rules.

One boy's parents were yelling at him to knock down our players, and another's dad kept telling him to slide-tackle. Now, I know slide-tackling isn't illegal, but even in professional soccer, referees discourage it because of safety issues. And this kid clearly didn't know how to do it properly.

The parents I sat next to were from the other team, and you could tell that the dad was a soccer enthusiast. The only problem was, his son wasn't living up to his expectations and every move the kid made just seemed to infuriate his dad because he wasn't moving fast enough or he didn't kick the ball the right way.

Sad.

I usually try to ignore this kind of behavior by telling myself Jeff is enjoying himself, and that's all that mattters. But, Ryan had a lacrosse game yesterday, and the same situation presented itself, and with it being just days after Jeff's game, my nerves were a bit frazzled.

Ryan plays on the JV team for his high school; this team is made up of mostly Freshmen like him, which puts them at a disadvantage, size and strength wise. Since the season has started, they've faced much bigger players, which Ryan considers a learning opportunity. However, some of these teams have proven to be immature and arrogant on the pitch, and after attending these games, it's not hard to see why.

I've seen coaches taunt our players as they run by, I've seen parents bully our players and their parents during and after the games, and there are too many instances to count where an opposing player took trash talking too far. I'm not saying our players don't trash talk, but that's all it is, trash talk; they've never made it physical, unless physically provoked. The coaches have always told Ryan and his teammates to take care of business on the field, which is proper.

Yesterday's game, there was all of the above mentioned, plus deliberate illegal plays that were ignored by the refs. The refs were inconsistent throughout the game, and most of their calls were questionable. They lost control of the game from the very start, which put the players' safety in danger by allowing certain things to go unchallenged.

Long story short, fights on the field as well as on the sidelines almost broke out. The mother of one of our players had had it with a dad from the opposing team who had made it his mission to be obnoxious from the get go, and she moved to confront him. Meanwhile, two of our players were taken down with some illegal moves, then taunted, but the refs were able to intervene quick enough.

As much as this was a disappointing game for Ryan and his teammates, what appalled me was the attitudes of the parents afterwards. There were passive-aggressive comments thrown out and cursing, all in front of the players. In what universe, is this kind of behavior acceptable? As parents, we are the adults, we are the example, which our kids learn by. Why would you want to teach your kid that aggressive behavior, whether peer-to-peer or adult-to-child, is acceptable?

It's difficult to teach my child that playing fair matters, especially when he sees that not doing so wins games. It's disheartening for me to hear how disappointed and frustrated he is after these kinds of games, knowing he played his best and by the rules, and was still thumped.

And, all I can tell him is that he can hold his head up high and be proud that he chose to do the right thing even though it would have been easy to stoop to their level. I've tried to reiterate the fact that his team, while with a less impressive record, will ultimately be known as a good, fair team that plays hard, but opponents like these will most likely be dogged with less than stellar reputations on how they play.

It isn't much, but it's all I can think of to try and comfort him and myself. And, right at this moment, it sucks.

GOAL!!

Spring Soccer for our local rec center has started, and Jeff couldn't be happier! We're once again on his coach's team (this is our 4th season with him), which works out because Coach loves having Jeff play for him, and Jeff thrives under his coaching. Win-win situation all around.

Here's some of my favorite shots from the game. Excuse some of the blurriness; the fast pace of the game makes it hard for me to try and focus my camera, especially with my left arm still hurting,

Waiting for the kick-off (is that what it's called?)

Go, Jeff, Go!

Setting up for his first goal

Don't know what exactly is happening here ;-)

Get the ball, Jeff!

Jeff's team won, 7-1. He was tired when we got home, but he couldn't stop smiling. He lives for this sport, I tell ya!

While we were at Jeff's game, Ryan was up in Logan (I think), helping out the Freshmen/Sophomore team. His high school lacrosse team had enough players for 1 varsity, 1 JV (which Ryan plays on), and 2 Freshmen/Sophomore teams. The F/S coaches invited any of the Freshmen on the JV team to play, and since Ryan can't say no to anything lacrosse, he went. They lost the first game, but won the second one. Ryan came home sweaty and exhausted, but happy. He's way into it, just like Jeff is into soccer. The only thing that could make Ryan happier?

If Jeff would play lacrosse so he can have a mini-me.

I told him one of him is enough, ha!

Field Trip!

One of the many things I love about homeschool is that are schedules are flexible. Nothing is ever set in stone and we can change anything at the drop of a hat.

When we woke up this morning, it seemed like a really lazy day. The kids did their math and reading, but nothing at home seemed to interest anyone. While checking my email, I saw a Groupon for the Loveland Living Planet Aquarium here in Utah: buy one admission, get the second FREE!

Guess what we decided to do today. ;-)

Unfortunately, when we pulled up, there were six school buses parked in the parking lot and two more arrived as we walked inside, but the kids were undeterred. They were too excited about the fact that they were going to see real live penguins and sharks!

We wandered around for about an hour, just taking in the exhibits and the animals. There were a lot of questions asked that we had to hunt down the answers for by reading the signs, and a few interactive displays that the kids enjoyed. At one point, Ethan got to pet a stingray, which he totally got a kick out of. Jeff tried, but unfortunately was too short too reach over the pond wall. And Vanessa outright refused, lol.

Afterwards, we hit the gift shop and I allowed the three to buy something; they all ended up with plushies of some of the animals from the aquarium: Vanessa chose a pink otter, and both Ethan and Jeff walked away with stingrays that came with a baby stingray attached.

We left the aquarium with their souvenirs and them excitedly chattering about what they had seen and what they enjoyed the most. All the way home.

I think we had a pretty awesome day. ;-)

Nothing like...

......having an MRI done and finding out that you're claustrophobic!

I've had one done before many years ago, and everything went fine, but this time, no such luck. Didn't even make it five minutes before a full-on anxiety attack hit and I was screaming and shaking. Luckily, the technicians encounter people like me quite often, so they were kind and understanding. But, man! I don't think I've ever been this embarrassed!

I'll have to reschedule it, but I'm hoping to find an alternative procedure. They suggested Valium, but that makes me extremely loopy and I won't be able to lay still. So I'll have to call my doctor to see what can be done.

Now to try and relax. It's been hours since my attempted MRI but I'm still shaking.