The game stopped. The gloves were dropped. The punches began to fly.

And apparently schoolchildren of all ages were horrified and traumatized.

Oh my God, they went to a hockey game and a fight broke out. How appalling.

This is the latest controversy from educators who know nothing about sports and don’t seem to know a whole lot about educating.

It was School Day at the Portland Pirates game Tuesday. Apparently a couple of fights got some uptight educators and over-protective parents in an uproar. Little Billy and Susie saw a fight and are now scarred for life.

They went to a hockey game expecting the ice capades and got old-time hockey, where players play hard and aggressive – battling for a win and their jobs.

It left these appalled adults griping and searching for counselors while forcing Portland Pirate owners and coaches to apologize for the obvious – hockey games sometimes have fights.

These are the same types that would go to a car race and complain that it promotes speeding.

What happened is that the Pirates played a morning game on Tuesday. The arena was filled with grade school and middle school kids. It was an opportunity to recognize these kids and reward them for their efforts in school. It was the second year this event was held. Last year, there were no fights in the game.

This year’s game featured a few throw-downs, some game misconducts (sent home without any supper) and time spent in the penalty box (a timeout seat).

 By the reaction of school officials and parents, you would have thought they’d been taken to gang war and had to witness bloodshed and murder. Is a hockey fight really any worse than what these kids see on TV? Is it any more disturbing than the language these kids hear at home or anywhere else they might go?

If these people are educators and parents, isn’t this a moment to educate and parent? They could explain the role of fighting in the game of hockey and inform the kids why it might be allowed there but inexcusable in other circumstances. 

Life is full of teachable moments. You can learn and benefit from them. Once again, this situation is a case in which the adults let the kids down. Those that are crying foul would rather complain than educate and shape the young minds they are there to nurture.

 I heard that Pirates coach Kevin Dineen even apologized. He said last year he suggested his players tone it down and this year he forgot to mention it. Is this really where we want to go? Having coaches tell their players how to play the game to appease the overly sensitive people in the crowd that might be offended?

What’s next – a PA announcement that warns people that the players might be naughty and misbehave?

 This is so ridiculous. First of all, if these parents and educators had a clue, they’d know there is fighting in hockey. They may not understand its role and the culture that exists in the game, but they should have at least known it exists. To take kids to the game and then be offended by what happens after it happens is their responsibility. Don’t blame the game or the people that play it for a living. It’s your fault if you didn’t know what you were taking the kids to watch.

 The Pirates have hosted a large number of church groups over the years. I never once heard pastors complain that the game didn’t feature God-like behaviour. I suppose some might have thought it too violent and stayed away. Those that came to the game kept it in the proper perspective. Maybe the minister even used it in his message afterwards.

 What really disturbs me is these people who know nothing about sports and the way the games are played that try to invoke their will upon the game. What happens on the ice and on a football field or on a basketball court can’t be compared to every day life – especially at the professional level. Certainly there are acceptable behaviors and unacceptable ones and a need for class and sportsmanship. Those are all proper lessons to be taken from these games.

 But when games are aggressive, intense, violent and there’s lot of money, jobs and careers at stake there’s an atmosphere that non-sports fans just don’t understand and can’t be governed by imposing their laws to the world of pro sports.

 I often cringe when I attend meetings of the Maine Principal’s Association and listen to some educators who have no clue about sports making vital decisions about school programs and athletics.

 I remember one principal, when discussing the high school hockey scheduling system, clearly state that he knew nothing about hockey and cared nothing about hockey. Yet, this guy was voting on this item – and his school had a hockey program.

 There are plenty of wonderful administrators and educators that understand sports. They know the environment and culture of sports. They also know the educational role it plays for athletes, parents, coaches and communities.

 But there are some that are just downright scary. They know nothing about competition and just see sports as a way to instill their feel-good agenda on the world around them. They want to prepare little Billy and little Susie for life without them getting their feelings hurt or facing any kind of challenge or difficult situation.

 It would be like people who know nothing about music trying to dictate how music programs should be run and how instruments are to be played. They’d take kids to a concert and complain that the music is too loud.

 These people shouldn’t be protecting young kids from the scary sports world that they don’t understand. If anything, the sports world and its kids should be protected from them.