Man, I would love to know where you got your information about this incident, but I suspect it is just random social media gossip and I hope you are taking it with a couple of tons of salt.
Yes, for my maiden post to VN, I’m digging this one up from the back pages (in my defense, I’ve been waiting for posting privileges after making an account). Then again, I knew as soon as this incident happened at my son’s game, it would show up here and be the reason I finally made a VolNation account.
Backstory: I’ve been lurking this site for years. I’m experienced enough that I stay away from the FF and exclusively browse the RF. I grew up in and around Knoxville and became an avid fan of the Vols in ’85--my dad and I made the Sugar Bowl VHS tape bleed over the years. I was a student during the Peyton years and was in the stadium with my brother for many memorable games-- Graham capping a comeback against Bama in ’96, Jamal Lewis breaking out against Georgia, and, of course, watching the kick sail wide and rushing the field against Florida.
I moved to OKC for grad school with the intention of splitting as soon as I could. But then I met a local girl, had a kid, and then a divorce. His mom wasn’t going anywhere, and I’m not leaving my son, so I’m seeing it through in this god forsaken place until he is 18. Fortunately my family is scattered around Knoxville, Chattanooga, and Nashville, so I never stay gone too long.
Anyway, as mentioned, that team in yellow in that video is my son’s team. My son is a 6’1” 13-year-old and loves basketball. His team has spent the past year winning multiple local and regional tournaments.
Their coach is a good man. I consider ourselves fortunate to have our son playing and learning from him. I’ve never seen him lose his temper in practice or in a game. We’ve played for other coaches who single a kid out for humiliation, or make the game about themselves. This guy is not that kind of coach--he is one who makes sure the entire team knows they are accountable for any single mistake. He never hesitates to follow stern instruction with praise. Again, I’ve never once seen him lose his temper or act the fool on the sideline.
This incident was completely out of character for this coach and this team and has shaken everyone to the core. The national social media narrative (that some here have taken to all too easily) is this is another instance of a ref getting pushed too far, but that is far from the truth. First, it’s important to know that our coach and both refs involved know each other outside the game. Second, our coach is also a ref, so he knows both sides. The ref who started this is well-known in the area as a hothead, and our team (and others) typically request he not be allowed to ref any tournaments we enter. Still, with all of that, there is no excuse for how it escalated like it did.
Prior to what you see on the video, the ref had called two consecutive Techs on our team—both calls were weak and seemingly targeted (incidentally, the second came after a call on my son for a block that was as clean as a Celsius bank account). Winning can put a target on your back--this is youth sports and there are petty agendas—you live with it. But this time we didn’t live with it. This is where our coach wishes he could have reacted differently, but when he complained about the second tech (not politely, granted), the ref tossed him out of the game. Again, I’ve never previously seen our coach react to refs, but he was in the moment and ran out on the court and got in his face (remember, these two know each other well on and off the court). The ref, standing within a foot of our coach, it him square in the face with a basketball.
I say this clearly: the ref’s actions were completely unprovoked for anyone not nursing a fragile ego.
Our coach reacted like 99% of you here would after a ball is deliberately thrown at your face—he swung, but fortunately missed. All hell broke loose. Some parents ran out and held our coach back. There was yelling and pushing and chaos, but the incident in the video never had to happen.
The guy who got punched was just out there trying to make sense. I guess he could have stayed in the bleachers, but when your kid is out in the middle of that, you don’t process, you react. He is the ‘nice guy’ on the team. He is the one always giving kids rides and making sure they have everything they need. No one, not even the ref who threw the punch, can say why he was targeted. He was out before he hit the ground. He has multiple skull fractures. My ex is an MD, and she attended him while he was unconscious on the floor gurgling blood.
The woman who got knocked over is going through chemo and was just trying to comprehend the situation. The kid who helped her up is her son.
The entire team is shaken—more so the parents and coaches. We had a pool party and long talk as a team the other night. We are laying low. Our coach asked us to stay off social media and not respond to any of this, but here I am writing this. I just want people to understand there is a human element behind these types of videos, and a lot more to the situations than what a short clip and a lot of loud mouths on Twitter/Reddit reveal. The ref who threw the punch feels terrible. Our coach feels terrible. A lot of people are talking out of their… .
Our kids will be stronger though.
Tl;dr: An a$$hole ref went overboard, a man lost his temper, things got out of control, another man got sucker punched, a lot of people came out with bs opinions and bad hot takes. OU sucks.
