Blaming the refs

Old Wahoo heard an awful lot of complaining, not to mention screaming and yelling, about the referees at high school basketball games last week, and all of that whining angered me. People moaned about calls if their team was ahead by 20 points or down by 20 points. It didn’t matter. Can’t these people see, Old Wahoo wondered, that the refs are doing the best they can? It’s a high school basketball game. It’s not life and death. Besides, the best team won each time, and the officials’ calls had little, if anything to do with the outcome.
Unfortunately, Old Wahoo caught himself complaining about the referees’ calls in a college basketball game between Virginia Tech and North Carolina. To the chagrin and sometime embarrassment of others, I’ve long believed that officials had a UNC bias. While I should a college basketball game may (or may not) have higher stakes than a high school playoff matchup, I’m worried about my actions on a larger level. When my sons participate in athletics on a more competitive level, will I become one of those parents who embarrasses his kids with his yelling and screaming? Will I become one who berates officials?
I know I have in the past, and it’s something I must be vigilant on in the future. I know that my job has forced me to settle down somewhat - there is no cheering in the press box, after all. Maybe I’ll have to keep stats, or somehow keep myself occupied to be less focused on the outcome and the calls and more focused on the purpose of athletics - to grow physically and mentally to become a more complete person.