In all my years of covering sports, I have watched all kinds of dads watching their children’s games.

I have seen fathers who cuss and rant at the umpires for the terrible calls.

I have heard fathers second-guess the coaches’ decisions even when they are winning.

I have witnessed fathers berating their own kid’s efforts on the field or court.

But I have also witnessed dads consoling their kids after a loss or a bad game.

I have watched dads carry their daughters off the field after suffering an injury.

I have seen the good, the bad and the ugly sides of fatherhood.

While I have been appalled to see those kinds of actions by the dads, I give them credit for being at their kids’ sporting events.

Some games I have covered the team outnumbers the fans in the stands, and I wonder : Where are all the parents?

I understand not every dad has the freedom to get to every game their kid plays.

My dad didn’t get to very many of my events, but I did see him there on occasion.

When my daughter was young, I was a summer league coach for her softball teams and I helped with her elementary level basketball program.

I missed a few of her high school games because I was covering another school’s teams for the newspaper.

Now that she is an adult with a two-year old, I look back fondly to the time we spent riding to games with her teammates and the excitement to see her athletic skills improve as she grew up.

Being a dad is one of the greatest joys of my life.

My heart and prayers go to two of my coaching friends who will not have their dads to celebrate Father’s Day today.

While the Eunice High Bobcats were making a run to the state baseball tournament, head baseball coach Scott Phillips had to deal with the illness and death of his father, Tommy, on April 26.

On May 31, former Carencro High head football coach Mac Barousse’s father Frank passed away. Frank was a coach in Lafayette Parish for more than 30 years and I remember spending time with him watching his son’s team - the Golden Bears - shine on the gridiron.

I know there are many like Mac and Scott who have only memories of their fathers. Nothing I can write will ease their loneliness or take away the pain - but maybe today they can remember the happier times and the legacy that their fathers left to their children.