Well today was blah.. Mondays just suck in general. Work was crazy busy, but the leads were less than stellar. Honestly, I love being hung up on by elderly a-holes -said nobody ever. Nonetheless, I still pulled out a respectable day. It was just less than I expected from myself. Oh well, I’ll just have to make it up tomorrow.

My BBG workout went well this morning. It’s still quite a change getting a heavy workout in that early in the morning. Immediately afterwards I feel like I want to puke, but that doesn’t last too long. Once that wears off, I feel amazing. I love getting the workout done before work, so I have some freedom to myself after work.

In the hockey world, our state governing body sent out a letter to all parents and coaches. With the asinine rule changes implemented this year, the abuse of the officials has been exacerbated. Prior to the rule changes, the situation for many officials across the US, not just in South Florida, had become untenable. Now it’s exponentially worse.

Perhaps the most entertaining forum on Facebook is the Florida Youth Hockey Forum. It’s infamous for it’s highly uneducated keyboard warriors. They have big opinions and nothing to back them up. Nevertheless, it’s pure entertainment. It’s alway fun to read the comments after a tournament especially in the spring. It’s a complete gong show.

Today a gentlemen posted that the maltreatment of officials was unique to Florida because of the lack of quality officials in the state. Now he knows this because his kids have travelled all over the country playing hockey. Obviously, he missed the news reports out of Massachusetts about their official shortage, which is due to the misbehavior of parents and coaches.

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There’s more than a couple holes in his argument, but the biggest is the simplest. He blames the quality of officials for the parents and coaches poor behavior. Except for those individuals have full control of their reaction. There are plenty of parents and coaches that react to what they feel is a bad call with civility and not barbarism. If these folks are unable to control their reactions and keep them within the realms of decency, perhaps they no longer have a place at the rink or the sports field.

My younger two are refs. Are they perfect refs, probably not. I guarantee you, however, that like their fellow officials they go out and do their best every game. I guarantee they know the game and it’s rules infinitely better than the asshole parent and coach. My boys have thick skin, so this stuff rolls off their back. However, everyone has a breaking point. The one time it did bother my son was because of how the parents’ behavior would negatively impact their child. Nobody wants to see a kid miss out on a game they love because their parents are tools.

Anyway, thanks my soapbox on the blah Monday. I’d also like to point out that today a Florida born official is making his NHL debut as a linesmen tonight. Congrats Killian! I guess Florida does have some quality refs after all.