Best of 2004: The John Runk Saga
John Runk... well, what can I say? The man just struck a nerve. Part of it is because we were able to follow the story of abuse, even see a little bit of it, and follow it until he received the usual slap on the wrist. As a ref, and one who's had to call the cops twice (and threaten a few more), it really pisses me off. Because no one, I don't care if it's the worst referee in the world, deserves it; and even the best referees in the world park their car in the "getaway position" - because most have had it happen to them.So maybe on one hand John Runk got a bit more hostility from me because of the visibility; but on the other hand, I think he more than deserved it.
I wrote five articles concerning John Runk, and even though most were just short follow-ups, I think it's important, and rare, to see something go from start to finish, and see the reaction of Runk throughout the process (one of, "It's not my fault.")
Here's the first entry, Don't Shoot! It's just Soccer! published on March 4, 2004:
Interesting story out of Maryland:
coach leaves to argue call with referee, allegedly pushes referee,
off-duty cop who's armed comes down and confronts coach, and
allegations fly about said coach threatening the referee, cop
threatening the coach, and lots of naughty words being thrown
around.... in front of eight-year-olds.I have some advice for coach John Runk: all of this would have been avoided if you just shut up and did your job. I mean, do you have the next Freddy Adu on your team? Did the other team bring in crowbars to beat your players with? I highly doubt it. But we do know that the players are eight frickin' years old! Why did you take that game so seriously? What did it matter? There's no money on the line; no trophy; heck, some leagues don't even keep score at that age!
I'll do Mr. Runk the honor of completely ignoring the whole "who said what" and "who pushed whom" thing - all that is strictly "you had to be there". But let's go through what we do know that happened:
- You showed very poor sportsmanship by arguing a call in front of eight year old boys and girls.
- You were standing close enough that, even if you didn't push
the ref, your position was close enough to have people reasonably
assume you did. You see, we have this thing called "Personal space",
and in the US, it's huge. No really, I mean it. Go talk,
face-to-face, to someone from France and you'll understand how much
personal space we're accustomed to. Most of the time in the US (of
which you are a part), it's barely touching distance, let alone shoving.
- It apparently was nasty enough to warrant a parent, a cop no less, to come down onto the floor to confront the situation.
As for the referee tripping over himself, yeah it's possible. But I have hard time believing it. I have tripped while reffing indoor, over seams in the carpet, even over my feet when running; but I can't think of the last time I tripped over my feet while walking. I think Runk's in it deep.
Apparently Runk's also the chair of the soccer club he coaches, and is afraid that he'll lose that job. I would hope so - do you want this guy setting an example for your kids?
Maybe you don't have to be there, after all, originally published March 5, 2004:
Hey wow, video reply in soccer I support. Looks like the altercation between a ref, a coach, and an off-duty police officer I wrote about earlier today was caught on tape!
Unfortunately, the news blurp doesn't say if the coach actually pushed the ref or not, nor is it downloadable. Pooh, bad news-people! We're not all in Baltimore, you know!
Video of Baltimore Altercation Now Available, originally published March 6, 2004 :
Now that the 10 o'clock news is over, WBAL has placed the video on their website (I take back the bad things I said about you - thanks for making it available).
Only problem is that we can't see if the coach actually pushed the ref not. But what we CAN see is the coach coming out to middle of the court (it was in a gym). Basic stuff here coaches: You don't belong there; unless your beckoned out there to attend to an injured player, you ought to be prepared to keep on walking, because chances are, you're committing dissent (at the very least), and you've certainly entered the field without permission. In other words, the ref has every right to throw you out.
Also what's on the video is the referee clearly ordering the coach either back to the bench or out of the building. Guess what? The coach didn't leave, and in fact followed the referee who was trying to end the incident by simply walking away.
Coach Runk and the cop have their own matters to deal with, but judging from what I saw on the tape, yeah I can see why the off-duty cop came down. Runk is clearly agitated, clearly not following instructions, clearly invading the ref's personal space, and clearly (very) larger than the ref.
Apparently this guy's a teacher, too. I'm very frightened for our children.
You have view the video by following this link: http://www.thewbalchannel.com/news/2901344/detail.html#
And more of the continuing story of John Runk... asshole coach, originally published on March 11, 2004:
Yet another story from the Dundalk Eagle on coach John Runk, the man who definately is a prick on legs, who was allegedly pushed a ref to the floor... in front of eight-year-olds. The fun really starts when an armed off-duty police officer jumps in, and well... read stuff over the last week.
In the latest installment, we hear that Runk was indeed, ejected from the game and refused to leave (in front of eight-year-olds), and then after pushing the referee to the floor (in front of eight-year-olds), kicked him (in front of, you guessed it, eight-year-olds).
I think that gets the most about all of this, is that Runk is trying to play the victim here. I'm suspended as a coach! Wah! Wah! I'm suspended from my job (kid's skateboard park manager)! Wah! Wah! Dude - you made an ass of yourself and assaulted someone in front of eight-year-old kids. You deserve to lose your job! Go see if the WWE is hiring?
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John Runk Update! Published on August 14, 2004 - the last official entry, but he'll live on in our memory like a bad meal.
Over the past year, we've tracked the woeful storyof Baltimore youth soccer coach John Runk. How youthful was the soccer? He coached eight-year-olds. Oh, and did I mention that he's so involved in a game, that he physically assaulted a referee in one of the U8 games?
Despite a large crowd of people, and video evidence of his refusing to leave (if there was more, it wasn't shown by the television station that put it on the web), our favorite, mild-mannered coach was acquitted (note: this is the new link). He did get a $250 fine, a requirement to take an anger-management course, and two years unsupervised probation.
What the hell is unsupervised probation? By it's own title, it means nobody is going to keep track of him. I can imagine the court explaining what it is: "It means, Mr. Runk, that the next time you assault a referee, don't do it in front of a video camera!"
Hopefully the clubs around him will have more sense and at least prohibit him from going near a soccer field ever, ever again.
Ladies and gentleman, wake up. It doesn’t matter if it is a youth league game of 8-years olds, a Middle School or High School game or even college, coaches (and spectators) that like to throw out the little barbs to officials, are just plain ignorant, self-serving individuals with very low self-esteem. Sports officials make mistakes. Coaches make mistakes. Players make mistakes. Have you EVER seen a sports official go up to a coach or a player and question their ability or competency? NO. “It’s just part of the game.” Show it to me in the rulebook or in any class offered to coaches by any organization. It’s not part of the game and in 99.9% of the cases, it is just a coach (or spectator) that is wanting
to blame someone else for their own deficiencies and/or that of their team. But until every organization and administration at all levels agrees that this is wrong, we will all suffer for this asinine behavior that ultimately negatively impacts the kids. What a sad world we live in.
Steve () - 20 January '08 - 09:25
Are there any updates on Runk- Where is he now?? I hear Bear Creek Rec causing issues…Edward - 11 December '09 - 08:01
Not that I’ve seen or heard about.The Ref - 16 January '10 - 16:22