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This month, my wife and I will wrap up 16 consecutive years of being professional amateur sports parents.

I mean “professional” in the sense that it was nearly a full-time job, what with multiple practices and games most weeks throughout the year. And I mean “amateur” in the sense of beginning with 5-year-old soccer games and continuing through this final season of high school varsity baseball games, we’ve seen hundreds of our sons’ sporting events.

We’ve moaned, groaned and cheered with countless parents on the sidelines for soccer, basketball, baseball and hockey games. We’ve sat through lots of year-end pizza lunches and burger dinners filled with trophies and speeches, and these were for teams that rarely sniffed championships.

In youth sports, there’s the extremely occasional blaze of glory and the rare inspirational, heart-stopping finish. But what I remember most often are the many minutes of my life ticking slowly away in the most surly of weather, with a beat-down on the field occurring at precisely the same moment rain or wind or sun (or all three) beat down on those of us in the stands.

I’m proud to say the young athletes our sons played with generally kept their thoughts to themselves while playing. Most overlooked a teammate’s booted ball or feckless swing or accidental foul; they were happy to be competing, and that is what the sporting experience is supposed to be all about anyway.

But for some in the stands, games took on monumental proportions, with each play prompting inevitably loud commentary from parents perhaps reliving their own lack-of-glory days and hoping to re- write history through their kids.

Don’t get me wrong: There’s a place in sports for good-natured ribbing of authority, and some parents and grandparents can be hilarious when they’re offering friendly advice to a referee or umpire. (I’ve even seen the refs/umps laugh a time or two.)

But sometimes those charged with administering the rules — regardless of age, ethnicity or sex — became verbal punching bags, with both sides of the inevitably partisan crowd crowing loudly about supposedly mistaken calls, rule interpretations and the like. (The view of accuracy, after all, is much better at a severe angle 150 feet from the action than it is from on the field.)

We were never party to one of those infamous YouTube-fired parent-on-ref or parent-on-parent smackdowns, although I have to say (in jest, of course) that one or two certainly would have brightened some otherwise dismal games. But there were times when we felt sorry for student athletes being loudly embarrassed as their parents — with bulging veins, popping eyes and flapping mouths — made an inevitably futile attempt to influence a game that was of absolutely no long-term consequence anyway.

I would like to believe the collective impact of all of these experiences fueled a sense of fair play, sportsmanship and personal pride in our sons. I would like to believe the thousands of hours invested in these events weren’t simply useless diversions from homework or, more likely, video games.

And I would like to believe our sons, when their own day in the stands arrives, will think twice before turning into family IEDs — improvised exploding dummies.

Honestly, though, my most telling memory of our amateur sporting life comes from a friend, who spotted this phrase on a fellow parent’s T-shirt:

“Lord, if it’s my last day on earth, let me be at a swim meet, since they usually last forever!”

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The Advocate’s bike issue

We have a very long way to go in North Texas, indeed, in the U.S. to match our European counterparts [“Street Smarts,” March Advocate].

A huge first step must include the city of Dallas finally addressing cycling behavior on the shared trails. Many of the stories about cycling have origins from observed behavior at White Rock Lake and Katy Trail.

—T. BARKER

Many White Rock cyclists ignore an ordinance that states: “A person operating a bicycle on a roadway who is moving slower than the other traffic on the roadway shall ride as near as practicable to the right curb or edge of the roadway.” and design.

The cyclists will point out the 14-foot exemption. That’s in there to enhance safety. Simple question: Do you actually believe that the car that has been stuck right behind you for half a mile is going to accidentally run into you if you move over a little to make it easier for them to get out of your life and on their way? Like in most endeavors, common courtesy mends a lot of fences.

—ON THE WHIP

Lane control is just that, first come, first served. Anyone can yield that control at their leisure and allow for passing when safe and appropriate. Just don’t expect it to happen immediately, as soon as you get in the queue.

—RICHARD WHARTON

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen cyclists ignore a large vehicle parked on their side of the street and fail to yield to the oncoming traffic coming the other way. I also see cars following the might is right and ignoring the same. —BUSINESS

I have to second the recommendation for education. I took the Cycling Savvy class and am so glad that I did. I now feel confident and safe riding on the streets of Dallas. Let’s face it. Right now, we have to ride on the streets. So it’s important to feel safe and be safe while you are doing it. That means knowing the laws, and it also means knowing how to protect yourself and how to handle an emergency situation. I love riding in Dallas now and am not nervous like I used to be.

—KAREN FITZ

New sculpture at White Rock Lake

attention to spelling, grammar, difference in equipment and conditions pressroom operations, a color proofs and the completed delivery.

It sounds dreadfully tacky to me [advocatemag.com, “Neighbors want input on White Rock Lake Sculpture,” March 1]. —KAREN

I think it’s way too commercial for a beautiful lake. Besides, if you look on the artist’s website, you can see it has been used in other cities. I’m with the previous midoceanstudio.com people’s comments spending the money to make a two-lane road around the lake.

—BARBARA

The city must, by law, appropriate a certain amount of each year’s budget to art. I’m glad they decided to put some of it at White Rock Lake. It would have been nice, though, if they had looked for a Texas artist for the project.

—BRIAN MARSH

Good Christian Belles, aka ‘GCB’

I hated the show and am mortified that Dallas is portrayed in such a horrible light [advocatemag.com, “There are many reasons to hate Dallas and ‘GCB’ is one,” March 5]. Even if it is a spoof, it was awful! Not even funny. Just really, really bad. —MG

I know women in Lakewood who are portrayed accurately in GCB. They are just not as wealthy. I love Annie Potts.

—HOLLY TERROR

I thought it was silly but pretty entertaining. I read the book, too, which is just as silly.

—MELISSA

I too was disgusted with this spoof. Not worth watching, even for fun. Maybe all that world-class ambition that has always described the movers and shakers in Dallas has led to a sort of pathology. Sure, you can kick us around and make fun as long as you pay big for the privilege. It’s getting to be a bore.

Far West and the TABC

—BETSY W

They violate fire code with too many people in the building, and the parking attendants will wave patrons across Gaston with no regard to traffic laws [advocatemag.com, “TABC approves Far West protest,” Feb. 29]. I never use Gaston to get home on Friday and Saturday nights.

—RHUB

—BLOCKBUSTER 2004

It was the scariest place to live across from. Gun shots, cars hitting each other, cars running off the road. After four years, I had enough.

Del Taco is coming

Yum! I can’t wait for Del Taco [advocatemag.com, ”Del Taco coming soon to Timber Creek,” Feb. 15]. It’s a California staple. Great crinkle-cut fries and chili fries. I am hoping they still have shredded beef on the menu. It seems to come and go for some reason.

—CHEFVALERIEJ

Del Taco is worse than Taco Bell.

—MARK GILL

They do make everything fresh, so it’s better than Taco Bell. However, it’s a California chain. If I was choosing a chain, fastfood, non-taquería taco, I’d choose Texas’ own Taco Bueno.

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—RYAN SUMMER