Tennessee House Member Apologizes After Being Tossed from High School Basketball Game

There is nothing quite like the compassion and energy that parents give off while watching their children participate in extracurricular activities, especially sports. While every parent wants his or her child to do well, it doesn't always go, well, perfect.

Some fans lose their temper when referees make bad calls against their child.

Case in point: what started off as a normal Tuesday evening boys basketball game between Providence Academy (Knights) and Lakeway Christian Academy (Lions) in Johnson City, Tenn. ended with 56–51 victory for the Lions and complete fiasco involving Rep. Jeremy Faison (R-Tenn.), the third highest ranked Republican in the state's House of Representatives. 

Faison, who serves as chair of Tennessee's House Republican Caucus, was tossed from the game after he reportedly threatened to fight the referee, and also attempted to pull his pants off in frustration.

On Tuesday night, after his exit from the game, Faison apologized for his actions, saying that he was “bad wrong”.

“For years, I thought how wrong it is when a parent loses their temper at a sporting event,” Faison said. “It's not Christian and it's not mature and it's embarrassing to the child have always been my thoughts. Unfortunately, I acted the fool tonight and lost my temper on a ref. I was wanting him to fight me. 

“. . . I've never really lost my temper but I did tonight and it was completely stupid of me. Emotions getting in the way of rational thoughts are never good. I hope to be able to find the ref and ask for his forgiveness. I was bad wrong.”

It's great that Faison can admit he made a mistake in this situation. Hopefully, he learned a lesson to not let his emotions cloud his judgment going forward.