A lot has happened in the past 24° related to football and I wasn’t going to say anything after Friday night, yet yesterday’s games took things over the edge! Friday night was Mount Tabor’s Homecoming and it was nice to see classes as early as ‘89 come to the game. What wasn’t nice is the one or two Couch Coaches who tear my nerves up EVERY game!
One of them has bad knees with a touch of racism. Not clowning his health, and at the same time making it known that he can’t do the things he complains about the coaches, players, and refs doing every week. His racism keeps him far away from me. He’ll talk to Michai, though, because he thinks Michai doesn’t know how his racist tactics affected Michai and his team when they played in the 8th grade. I also don’t think he thought his son would end up being the minority on Tabor’s team and surrounded by so many Blacks every day 💁🏾.
The other Couch Coach yells the most random football terms/plays. I think he wants someone to pick him up for a coaching job from the stands, however, he’s incredibly annoying. What was more annoying is that he and others surrounded me at yesterday’s WSSU game.
A friend used to provide game day amenities. I could get there early, be in air conditioning, and AWAY FROM PEOPLE! So much has changed with game day operations and I now have to be WITH PEOPLE 😏. People who call for coaches to get fired. People who yell for the offense to not sit down since, “they ain’t done nothing all game.” As if they aren’t out there running in the same heat we are sitting in, with equipment and helmets on. And who is going to raise the money to pay for these new coaches?!? These are also the same people that have Michai calling me, DURING THE GAME, with his frustration about ‘us’ calling in to Apple and being some of his rudest customers. He and Jayauna (she works for a technology vendor, too) say that ‘we’ can do better. Shout out to Deanie for saving me a seat and laughing with me, though.
Back to the Couch Coaches…
Now, I put on my Coach hat when I was talking to a high school official yesterday and asked if his colleagues had to call ALL the penalties in the rule book Friday night, and did they not understand we had worked all week and didn’t want to be out there until 10p?!?!? He and another man, who is also an official, laughed and they both agreed with me. The one who was at Tabor said he was on the headset telling them, “okay guys, that’s enough.” He also said he heard a lot of unrealistic complaints, aka Couch Coaching, outside the press box. I told him I knew who he was talking about (the racist I mentioned earlier) because I sit outside the press box, too. I told them my dad was a ref and I wanted to be one, yet, these parents, coaches, and some fellow refs who they both agreed can be racist and cheat, would have me in jail and I can’t afford bail. They both put their heads down when I told them who my dad is 🫣🤭, and one said, “Come on and suit up, I’ll bail you out!” 😂🤣
I stopped by a tailgate tent where I walked up on somebody talking about Tabor football and I had to speak up. That took us down a rabbit hole that ended with me being asked, “How do you know so much about football?”, and someone else saying, “It’s refreshing to hear a woman know so much about sports.”
Both were insulting because all the women I rock with can speak to football, basketball, tennis and golf (thanks to my grandmother and mother, Venus and Serena. I prefer women’s tennis and golf is boring 🫢), baseball and soccer (thanks to Michai playing and both games are too long 😳), so watch yo mouf, sirs🙄💁🏾.
Came home and watched the Florida State Miami game in preparation for the Colorado game. That’s a whole ‘nother line of Couch Coaching. Instead of celebrating a Black man, with a primarily Black staff, who is transparent about his professional career and parts of his personal life, who is involved in all his kids’ lives and has the opportunity to coach them, people find all the negative aspects about him and the STUDENT (many are still kids) athletes. I shouldn’t be surprised after the ridicule and bid for failure people offered LeBron and Bronny.
Encourage the players. The game takes a toll on their mental health. You don’t know what they dealt with all week. You don’t know what is happening at home that they can’t control or get back to help with. You don’t know the pressure social media offers because most of y’all are so ol…nevermind. The pressure to perform because they are living up to the best athlete in the family, or their parents are trying to live through them. These high school players are TEENS. What were you doing in YOUR teens? These collegiate athletes are trying to figure out life. Based on some of the comments being thrown at them…many people clearly haven’t figured their lives out, otherwise they wouldn’t be so critical.
Stop calling for coaches to be fired. What you’re asking for is for the coach and their family to starve. Over a SPORT? A GAME? You want people to starve…🤦🏾
Have some humanity. Be kind. Mainly, be QUIET, because there aren’t many who will get off their couch to COMMIT (it is a true commitment), and who are capable of doing what you’re expecting the STUDENT athletes, coaches, and refs to do 💁🏾.
So grateful for technology to be able to watch the games on my phone and on TV because y’all can get on my nerves. 🤫🤐
