One of the greatest aspects of our sport is that it is generally referred to as a game of honor. Unfortunately, the actions and attitudes of a few bad apples are blackening this reputation of honor. I do not refer exclusively to those notorious tournament players we read so often of, but also the few recreational players who have turned their backs to sportsmanship. As a retired referee from one of Michigan’s oldest fields, I have seen, and experienced, first hand the disrespect some players have for the game, its commandments, and the brave and dedicated souls who enforce them.
I do not mean to say that the majority of our sport has crossed over to the dark side, as the population of players who are sportsmen and women far outweigh those who are not. It is regretful that the few players who emulate negativity, get much of the publicity. My intention is to cast light on some instances I have personally encountered in my experiences as both a referee and player.
Most accounts have come to be while I was a game official. One major incident sticks out in my mind, haunting me as a bad dream would. It was Sunday, the final day of the Tippmann v. World IV game. The game had ended and I was doing my job, patrolling the parking lots, picking up litter and enforcing the safety rules (no dry-firing and no drinking were the biggest two issues of the day).
As I was putting litter in its place near the vendors’ tent, I heard shots to my left, so I made my way over to investigate where the shots had originated. The guilty party was cooperative and apologized for his err. This satisfied me, as I did not want to start anything major at the end of an already long weekend. I then turned to continue on my daunting task of garbage patrol. I had traveled no more than twenty paces before I had heard what sounded like dry firing from where I had just left. So I turned and headed back, only to discover that a players air system’s pressure relief valve was malfunctioning and venting all of his remaining gas. While the owner of the faulty tank and I were conversing (I prefer the term “guest relations” personally), another group member, sitting no more than arm’s distance from my standing position, raised his plug-less gun and started to bleed the air from the valve and line by pulling his trigger numerous times while he unscrewed his tank. Being the very forgiving person I am (what can I say, it’s a terrible fault), I politely asked the man to cease his infraction of one of our largest safety concerns.
His reply was a simple, “unless you want a reason not to like me, I suggest you walk away.”
I was flabbergasted! I had been authoritatively challenged before, but never physically threatened in the form that followed next.
After I attempted to explain to this individual that it was against the rules to dry fire his marker in the parking area, and that the rules apply to everyone, and that he was no exception, he stood up and turned to face me.
Keep in mind I am only 5’9” and 150lbs on a good day. Before now I didn’t really think he would do anything to me, but the 300lb 6’5” man looming over me was about to prove me wrong. At least he wanted to prove me wrong. Luckily, I had managed to keep my head, and retrieve my supervisor.
This was an extreme case, but the point is, that I was merely doing my job, and this individual went out of his way to cause as much difficulty for me as possible. This player showed absolutely no respect for me, or for the rules, but most importantly, no respect for the players who follow the rules without thinking twice.
Another case of disrespect for rules comes when I was enjoying a walk on day at the field where I work. We were playing advanced class, which keeps experienced players from walking all over the newer players. Myself, along with a few of my teammates were advancing very quickly, and one of them was shot in the back, by one of our guys. Simple friendly fire incident happens all the time. What was so unordinary about this incident was that the player, who was hit, came up to me and asked if it broke, and I confirmed that it did. Up to now, everything is fine. When the player said, “this is bullsh*t man! Wipe that sh*t off, its from our own team!” You don’t have to be a fool to know that friendly fire counts. We go over it before every session of play. At this time I identified myself as a referee and told him that friendly fire counts, he is out, and to walk off the field. He complied, muttering angry words under his breath about either me, the player who shot him, or the fact that he was caught attempting to cheat. Again, a lack of respect for the rules.
This lack of respect is something that we all have to face, and need to face if we want our sport’s image to remain in positive light. We, as upstanding players, need to join together to discourage this type of behavior, so that situations like the ones I have been in don’t happen to someone with less experience who may not keep his or her cool and maintain composure.
Both of these examples are true, regrettably. The first one scared the life out of me, and the second infuriated me. Do we really want to allow people to portray our sport where people are threatened?
Peer pressure can be our greatest ally. If you witness a non-sportsman like act, tell the person who is committing it that their actions are not appreciated. They are most likely going to cease what they were doing erroneously.