the wake of the latest debacle \u2014 a physical altercation \u2014 between parents during a 4th Grade hoops game<\/a>.<\/p>\nYes, 4th Grade! And how it gets to the point when an individual comes close to even attempting to strike another at a CYO game is nothing short of mind-boggling.<\/p>\n
But regardless, what are those new policies? <\/p>\n
For starters, spectators who are ejected by a referee for disruptive behavior during a CYO basketball game will now face a one-year ban. <\/p>\n
Anticipating the new rule might not be enough to deter individuals from acting irrationally, second-time offenders will receive what I liken to the NCAA \u2018death penalty\u2019 \u2014 a lifetime ban.<\/p>\n
In addition, the \u2018death penalty\u2019 will also apply to any individual who takes part in a physical altercation at a CYO game. They will automatically receive a lifetime ban from competition as well.<\/p>\n
Why do I agree with these stiff punishments? <\/p>\n
Because although I\u2019ve seen at least three physical altercations caught on video the last three years or so, I know there are other incidents that have taken place without the benefit of a camera nearby.<\/p>\n
Neely and his staff, in fact, have been bombarded with incidents \u2014 some minor, some major \u2014 through the years and, in my eyes, they\u2019ve made fair, agenda-free decisions to punish offenders.<\/p>\n
But unfortunately, setting an example for what is likely hundreds of individuals hasn\u2019t done much to influence others to behave. <\/p>\n
There\u2019s still temper tantrums. There\u2019s still verbal abuse. There\u2019s still threats of violence. And sadly, there\u2019s still physical altercations. Despite a host of ideas and policies with the hope of keeping heads cool, this has been going on for decades.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve heard dozens of stories. I\u2019ve seen it up close and personal as a reporter and coach. And some people just don\u2019t stop.<\/p>\n
Threats of punishments fall by the wayside. Fair punishments have caused shoulders to shrug. <\/p>\n
Now, with the thought of missing your son or daughter\u2019s CYO game for a year, maybe they\u2019ll think twice. <\/p>\n
Maybe there\u2019s a handful of spectators who will actually take a second and consider, \u2018if I go after this guy and physically harm him, I\u2019ll never be able to attend my children\u2019s games when they\u2019re playing CYO.\u2019<\/p>\n
Maybe.<\/p>\n
The new policies are not too harsh. They\u2019re not overkill. They\u2019re not unrealistic.<\/p>\n
They\u2019re actually long overdue. Period.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 Please, do not act surprised. Don\u2019t roll your eyes. Do not let out a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":102183,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":{"0":"post-102182","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-staten-island","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-city","10":"tag-nyc","11":"tag-staten-island","12":"tag-staten-island-headlines","13":"tag-staten-island-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102182"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102182\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}