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Referee/Fan-in-stand relations?


dawgballfan
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Does it seem to anyone else that every now and then a referee listens way too much to the crowd? Recently at the Marshall County/Hickman County girls contest in Lewisburg, it appeared that one referee in particular was more concerned about what was going on in the stands than he was with what was happening on the court. I know that on at least 3 different ocassions this ref stopped play to get a security guard to go address individuals who he apparently thought were being unruly. I think he did this once regarding someone in the Marshall crowd and at least twice with individuals on the Hickman side. I understand that there are certainly situations from time to time in the stands that need to be dealt with by the refs and security in the name of safety for all involved. On this night though, I dont believe that this was the case with any of the 3 times that play was stopped. As happens in almost any game, the fans for both sides were giving it to the refs in the usual measures. The final incident actually resulted in the ref in question tossing one of the Hickman fans out of the gym. I think the statement that was the final straw for him was "you suck!" Now, that is not exactly the nicest thing to say to someone, but ..... this guy was an official involved in, at the time, a closely contested ballgame. Surely this was not the first time this dude had been told that, and to be honest, if his game calling is the same every night, I am satisfied he is told that "he sucks" frequently. It just seems to me that if an official is doing his job and is concentrating on the action on the court, then he should be able to drown out a majority of what is being yelled at him. I know, I know, there are some fans who go overboard but this was not the case in this situation. This ref needs to buy some cotton to stick in his ears and grow some thicker skin. I realize that Mr Ref is human and he is entitled to having a bad day every now and then, but he has to somehow learn to forget that when he steps on the basketball court.

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People in the stands need to watch the game , cheer for their team and act like they would want to be treated, if they were officiating. If you can not officiate better than those on the court, you have no right to say anything. 99% of the people on here can not. If you need attention to your self that bad, get a dog or something.

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Irregardless of what is thought, officials are in charge of the game when they enter the gym and if it is thought the game is unruley things like that will happen. This happened on both sides of the gym so doesn't seem he was showing partiality. If either coach thought he was calling a bad game they had a chance to say so in grading him after the game. He could have cleared the gym and the game could have been finished in an empty gym but that doesn't seem exactly appropriate. Maybe the schools can put someone in the crowd on both sides to warn fans as to how partison they might be. Were these students or adults?

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Adults ..... in fact, I believe one is an assistant principal at Marshall

 

dawgballfan - You make some very good points. I for one think the TSSAA has given officials entirely too much power at ballgames, i.e. the power to have fans thrown out. That should be left to school administration and local authorities that are present at games. Let me say that I do not expect officials to tolerate being cursed, threats of bodily harm, etc. However, too often they come into a game with a chip on their shoulder just looking for an opportunity to show everyone who is boss. From my experience, the best officials don't even hear the comments from the crowd. I know from my playing days, I was focused on the floor and didn't even hear the comments from the crowd good or bad.

 

Admittedly, I am critical of the officials. I just have an expectation that when someone takes a job, they should strive to do a good job. I do not expect them to be perfect, just competent. A big part of the problem lies with the supervisors. I'm afraid that a lot of supervisors tend to stroke egos rather than providing constructive criticism. I have made similar complaints to officials supervisors in the past and get the same old tired response, "if you can do better, go take the test and become an official." What a weak, predictable reply. They totally miss the point. Even if I could do better, I choose not to for a variety of reasons. The point is that the folks that choose to be officials took a job! Quit making excuses and do the job (or get out if you're incapable). In my professional life if my boss came to me and pointed out a deficiency it would not be prudent to say, "If you don't like my performance, why don't you just do the job." I would expect any self-respecting boss to simply fire me and get someone competent to do the job! I just wish officials would just stay out of the stands. If an official is concentrating on the court he/she will likely not even hear what's going on in the stands. More often than not, this type of behavior has very little to do with the safety of the players, coaches and fans; and everything to do with egos. Just my 2 cents...

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I believe that officials don't need to have rabbit ears. Fans have the right to yell at an official if they think the official kick a call or calling a bad game. The only time officials needs to go in the stands is when they or the players are being threatened. Otherwise it is all on the adminstration they take care of the fans that are out of control, but most adminstration to have the guts to take care of the fans. They are afaird they are going to make someone mad. If the official needs to get someone thrown out of the gym they need to do it quietly as possible maybe during a timeout so no one knows what is going on. Otherwise the fans are just going to get on the official worse than what they were.

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you got to watch saying you suck. there are some cry baby refs that willo toss you for that. i got tossed. refs have way too much power

 

Officials have been instructed by their supervisors and from the state office that "you suck" is deemed very inappropriate for any high school (or any level) athletic arena. Game administrators are very much aware that if the officials hear that phrase they will be asked to address the person who says it. Officials don't leave home looking forward to ejecting fans. In the opinion of some people, officiating is getting worse; but, when you are at games, you should also realize that some fans are getting worse. But that's the nature of the beast. Merry Christmas and Have a safe new year.

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The thing that is bad about refs is that the refs will listen to the crowd or coach then make a call according to what they(crowd or coach ) have said. Also the ref (if being corrected on a call ) will then take it out on the players of the team. Refs should call the game the way they see it and not by persuasion. They should be neutral.

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you got to watch saying you suck. there are some cry baby refs that willo toss you for that. i got tossed. refs have way too much power

 

Officials have been instructed by their supervisors and from the state office that "you suck" is deemed very inappropriate for any high school (or any level) athletic arena. Game administrators are very much aware that if the officials hear that phrase they will be asked to address the person who says it. Officials don't leave home looking forward to ejecting fans. In the opinion of some people, officiating is getting worse; but, when you are at games, you should also realize that some fans are getting worse. But that's the nature of the beast. Merry Christmas and Have a safe new year.

 

I attended a game last week when the student sections was saying "push it", rhyming with well you know..what is that deemed? Or the old "nuts and bolts"? What is that deemed? Isnt that inappropriate? I agree that both the ref (not all mind you) are bad and some fans are getting worse/bolder in what they say, but who is supposed to be the professional? If you are not being threatened (no place for that-kick em out!), then why not just leave the comments in the stands. Officiating I am sure is not easy and we do need them, but it does appear some do have the "Almighty" air about them when they walk in the gym.

 

Merry Christmas to you and all as well!

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well im in our student section and we say push it, boo that ref and nuts and bolts. is that against the almighty tssaa rules or can we do that? also the regional game last year we ws allowed to do the zombie nation when the other team inbounded the ball but in the sub-state game we couldnt so could anyone shed some light on this. and another thing when the guy behind me was screaming mf sob but i said you suck and get tossed. wel i geuss that SUCKS. merry christmas hope yall didnt get as much snow as i did

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BTW, I do not advocate "push it', "nuts and bolts", cursing the refs, etc. I was asking where the supervisors say to draw the line if those cheers/jeers are allowed? I think as a fan we all get excited, especially in a heated contest and I also think that alot of things said are inappropriate...But couldn't/shouldn't school administrators be more involved? Most of the time they could put a stop to alot of the ugliness of each respective team's fans easier and probably with less attention. Not trying to make the refs powerless...but most of the things said, whether I approve or not, are not threatening to the crews...And some seem to take real offense when someone disagrees with their call.

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