Some people are idiots.

The bottom line arrives at the top of this sad tale.

What other conclusion can be drawn after the outrageous attack on a referee during a youth football game down in Florida last week?

Three coaches and a player have been charged. Battery on a sports official is a felony in Florida with a maximum punishment of four years in prison.
Throw the book at them, please. Make sure it is a large book. Something by Tolstoy preferably.

The assault took place during the second quarter of a youth football game matching two teams populated by 13 and 14-year-olds.

Too bad most of the players were more mature than the coaches.

The Gators, one of the teams involved, disagreed with a call made by referee Jayme Ream. In a video shot by a spectator and later released by the sheriff’s department, Ream can be seen arguing with Gators coaches before turning around and walking away toward the end zone.

The video pans away briefly, but comes back to show the referee wrestling with two men who appear to be Gators coaches. Seconds later, a large group of men from the Gators’ sideline sprint over and join the fray. The referee gets punched. He gets kicked. He emerges with contusions, abrasions and a fractured shoulder.

While it was an outrageous display, conduct endured by game officials is often outrageous.

I’ve witnessed the idiocy countless times in a long sports writing career.

Coaches rant and rave. Players and parents join in on the act.

The verbal assaults are constant. It doesn’t matter if the ballplayers are eight years old, or they are playing in Major League Baseball.

The assault in Florida was much more than verbal. It got physical and it got nasty in a hurry.

Some people are idiots. Sorry for the redundancy. I just thought it should be reiterated.