Olivia Fowler

On the Way

By Olivia Fowler

A story in the news last week both astonished and worried me. And if you’ve ever attended a little league game when parents were distressed about the umpire’s call, you would take this pretty seriously.

Apparently during a soccer game in Brazil the referee made a call that was disputed by a player. The player in question had an altercation with the ref and struck him. The referee then stabbed the player, who died on the way to the hospital.

After the player was stabbed, fans stormed the field and stoned the ref before beheading him and quartering his body. It was also reported that after the decapitation, the head was mounted and displayed in the center of the field on a pole.

Now I don’t know how anyone else feels about this, but it has brought some of my concerns to the forefront.

I know that not all of us plan to take our guns with us everywhere we go. But consider this. If we can take our weapons with us into restaurants and bars, can we also take them to sporting events?

I was not in favor of taking a loaded weapon into a bar, but that is nothing compared to the possibility of attending a game knowing the umpires or referees as well as the fans are all armed.

If I were on the team. which thankfully I am not, they wouldn’t be able to drag me out onto the field. I might even super-glue myself to the bench.

Years ago at the movies I saw Captain Hook shoot a player on the opposing team who stole a base during a ball game.

This would be nothing compared to what would happen to the player who fumbled the touchdown pass at an important Clemson game.

Yes, I know they’re all important, but I’m thinking of the rivalry shown at a Clemson-South Carolina game or even a Clemson-Georgia game.

As football is just another form of warfare, only without weapons, think of what it could be like if everybody at the game did have weapons.

Now add beer to that mix. Of course, only the fans would have beer, as I don’t think the referees and players are allowed to drink at the game. I don’t know who monitors them and controls their alcohol intake, but this surely this is frowned upon.

Unfortunately, plenty of fans could be loaded in more than one way. So to everybody who plans to attend, it might be wise to carry in tear gas, along with pistols and six packs.

I believe I’d rather throw tear gas at someone than shoot them. Of course if an angry fan takes issue with my choice of teams there’s nothing to say he isn’t packing a machine gun instead of a pistol. Tear gas might do no good, as everybody on my row and beyond could be shot multiple times before I managed to fire off my tear gas.

I’m not saying I believe fans would decapitate a referee after a bad call, but should an unpopular referee disappear for the second half of the game it might be wise to have security check out what tailgaters are actually grilling in the parking lot.

I’m just saying. Think about it.