This is a tragedy. I am not making light of it. But the following paragraph underscores several basic problems in our society:
Johana Portillo said she hopes her father's death leads to more security at sporting events and better self-control from players. She said her father had been attacked by players twice before in his eight years refereeing soccer matches -- even having his ribs and legs broken.
LINKThe death mentioned was of a referee at a soccer game. 17-year-old player gets carded for a violation of some sort and reacts by punching the referee in the head. The referee died later in the hospital.
Problems
1. Violence is not exclusive to football. For some reason football has taken a lot of heat recently because it is a violent sport. Other sports are violent, too. Life in general is frequently violent.
2. The answer is not necessarily more security. At least part of the answer is proper punishment of violent individuals. I would be surprised if this incident is t the first one for the teenager involved.
3. There is no gun involved in this story. How can that be?
Lopez said players need to respect referees and remember it's a sport meant to relieve stress -- not cause pain.
"Remember that we are human beings, and we make mistakes," Lopez said in Spanish. "Don't take justice into your own hands."
4. Because if a gun had been involved the referee would have been just as dead. Where is the outrage? I'm not condemning the family members who are being extraordinarily kind, understanding and (potentially) forgiving. I'm just saying that there is a pretty significant component of outrage missing from the coverage of this story that would always be present if there was a gun involved. I submit the following:
Johana Portillo said Sunday she doesn't care what punishment the teenager gets -- saying nothing will bring her father back.
"When he did that, he took a part of me with him," she said, crying. "He took my daddy away from me."
She added: "I feel sorry for him. I feel for his family. But if he was old enough to do what he did, then he's responsible to pay for it."
Pedro Lopez, his brother-in-law and a fellow soccer referee, said the teenager made a mistake and isn't solely to blame. He said he's been involved in soccer his entire life, playing and refereeing, and seen a troubling trend emerge.
"It's not the ignorance of the child, it's the poor manners of the parents," said Lopez in Spanish, who played soccer professionally. "The yells and insults from the sideline from the parents make kids more violent."
I don't know...something about this story is just odd and it bothers me.
