What happened to a good hand shake?

[bigG]

LOL! LOVE #5, Mack.

I've seen #6 too many times. Do parents have any idea what they do to their kid when their happiness is hinged on the athletic prowess of a kid? How 'bout the sibling who isn't athletic?

[npope]

I was reffing a spring freestyle tournament one time (pro bono) and had this mother sitting in the front row of  the bleachers yelling constantly about this and that. When the wrestlers went off the mat near her I walked over to her and tossed her my whistle and said, "Your turn."

She was a bit stunned and gave me the whistle back and shut up. Perhaps the most seminal moment in my life.

AWESOME!  AS A FORMER REF, I WOULD HAVE LOVED TO SEE THAT!

It was a good moment for refs everywhere. After tossing her the whistle I sat down beside her and crossed my legs and then said "Your turn." Of course, I had had about seven minutes on the mat prior to the moment having to have to listen to her belly ache about every little thing (and of course, she didn't have a great grasp of the freestyle rules, anyway). So I had a long time to contemplate as to how to handle the situation. Wish I could have said it was spontaneous, but I had it planned. On the other hand, nobody expected it - especially the lady. It was delicious.

[ramjet]

Thats is just the best. But that said, I had a ref throw me the whistle once and I went out and reffed the next match. Walked by him handed him his whistle back and said ; "See it's not so hard." 

[npope]

Thats is just the best. But that said, I had a ref throw me the whistle once and I went out and reffed the next match. Walked by him handed him his whistle back and said ; "See it's not so hard." 

That's equally good. Memories to last a life time.

[dman]

Thats is just the best. But that said, I had a ref throw me the whistle once and I went out and reffed the next match. Walked by him handed him his whistle back and said ; "See it's not so hard." 

Awesome!

[ramjet]

Except is was tough multi tasking at it's best 

[OldAbes72]

Different situation but related story. My old man umped bar league men's fast pitch softball. This is before the 38-36 home run fest of slow pitch softball began. I'm at a park watching the game he's umping and this guy is on him constantly about everything (sounds like a coach or two I know  ). I'm a bit upset about this guy berating my dad. In between an inning, my dad walks around the backstop and up the stairs and sits right on the bleachers next to this guy. Now people around me are nervous and the guy looks at my dad and says, "what the blank are you doing up here?" My dad looks at him and says, "the way you were calling balls and strikes makes me think this is a better view. I'm calling the game from up here." A tense moment and then a few smiles before my dad walked back down to ump the remainder of the game. I Know I wouldn't have been able to do that but he was just one of those kind of guys.

[imnofish]

Different situation but related story. My old man umped bar league men's fast pitch softball. This is before the 38-36 home run fest of slow pitch softball began. I'm at a park watching the game he's umping and this guy is on him constantly about everything (sounds like a coach or two I know  ). I'm a bit upset about this guy berating my dad. In between an inning, my dad walks around the backstop and up the stairs and sits right on the bleachers next to this guy. Now people around me are nervous and the guy looks at my dad and says, "what the blank are you doing up here?" My dad looks at him and says, "the way you were calling balls and strikes makes me think this is a better view. I'm calling the game from up here." A tense moment and then a few smiles before my dad walked back down to ump the remainder of the game. I Know I wouldn't have been able to do that but he was just one of those kind of guys.

Love it!  Your dad must have had some great interpersonal skills to pull that one off.   

[ramjet]

Different situation but related story. My old man umped bar league men's fast pitch softball. This is before the 38-36 home run fest of slow pitch softball began. I'm at a park watching the game he's umping and this guy is on him constantly about everything (sounds like a coach or two I know  ). I'm a bit upset about this guy berating my dad. In between an inning, my dad walks around the backstop and up the stairs and sits right on the bleachers next to this guy. Now people around me are nervous and the guy looks at my dad and says, "what the blank are you doing up here?" My dad looks at him and says, "the way you were calling balls and strikes makes me think this is a better view. I'm calling the game from up here." A tense moment and then a few smiles before my dad walked back down to ump the remainder of the game. I Know I wouldn't have been able to do that but he was just one of those kind of guys.

Awesome