Referee/Fan-in-stand relations?

[Thebballguru]

There is definately a line that should be drawn as to what is acceptable to say or yell from the stands and what is not acceptable. ANY derogatory words, chants, or phrases directed at ANY player, coach, or official should not be tolerated...PERIOD. This is High School Basketball...HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL-where profanity and vulgarities have NO PLACE whatsoever!!!! I know if I had a child who was having things yelled at them like some of things I have heard the past few years especially, that I would not be happy and I would definatlely want it to stop...and if that meant the person spewing them being ejected then so be it...

 

Cheering for your team and getting into the game and being excited is part of it. Yelling at the referees is part of it-until it gets to a certain point at which it has been taken TOO far...Any fan who pays there $5 to get in has the right to cheer and scream and yell for their team, and has the right to their opinion on a call or no-call that the referees make, but this should be done with the mindset and attitude that at the end of the day when the horn sounds it is JUST A GAME...Personal attacks towards referees or players are NEVER right and in my opinion should never be allowed to go on at a high shcool ballgame...

 

Contrary to what many fans believe, referees (for the most part) do not come into the gym trying to "screw" over one team or the other, or wanting all eyes on them. I know that there may be a few exceptions to that when it comes to referees with ego's, because there are a few of them out there, BUT even those go into the game and officiate it as fairly as they can. I can only imagine from speaking with some close friends who referee how difficult of a job it is, and how thankless of a job it is at that. 99.999% of these guys are not out there for the money or "to be seen" or anything like that...they are out there because they LOVE the game of basketball and they enjoy being a part of the game. The money is not that good-especially after you figure the gas it takes to get to the games and the wear and tear on the vehicles, and with the abuse that they take on and off the floor then I would venture to say if it wasn't for the love of the game then there would not be any referees so that the games could be played.

 

As long as there is basketball then there will be referees out there that some people hate to see walk in the gym and that people think have no place out there on the floor, that is just something that is not going to go away...but that is not an excuse to yell personal insults at them or to throw profanity their way either. These guys are just like you and me and all 10 players on the floor and the coaches on the sidelines...they are HUMAN and they WILL make mistakes EVERY SINGLE time they put on the stripes. Cut them some slack and just cheer for your team without the "You suck ref" or "Cheater" or anything like that...Understand that when they mess up that its not the first time nor will it be the last and just move on from it, just like the players move on when they miss a lay-up or shoot a free throw off the front of the rim. Move on from it just like the coaches do when they call the wrong play, or keep the press on even tho they are getting burned from it time after time...Just be a good sport and scream and laugh and yell and cheer, but do it within reason and don't let it get out of hand...its really not worth sitting in the car and listening to the rest of the game on the radio just to tell the referee that you think he is a cheater and that he sucks...

[The Highlander]

There are some very good referee's in our district. One of our first games this year was a very tough game against a rival. There is a little bad blood between a couple of the kids, that we knew would spill over onto the floor. In both the girls and boys games, the ref's did an amazing job. And I told them.

 

I do have a problem with the lack of accountability of the bad ref's. Wish we had an effective way to repor tthem.

[Bobcats83]

Referee's do have too much power but as fara as fans go, refs should never talk to or acknowledge fans. Refs who choose to acknowledge or talk to fans are just asking for trouble. When a ref acknowledges a fan, then the rest of the crowd tries to rile him up as well. The best refs are those that you don't notice on the floor

 

Should fans be thrown out for being unruly, absolutely. Should it be the responsibility of the refs, absolutely not.

[Indian]

Contrary to what many fans believe, referees (for the most part) do not come into the gym trying to "screw" over one team or the other, or wanting all eyes on them.

 

If you could see a tape of the game I saw last Saturday you might change your mind on cheating refs. This game, by the way, was an out of state tournament. The same school's (the hometown school) boys' team got some major help in calls and no-calls in another game I saw, and I had no bias in any outcome of that one.

 

The "bleeding all over the court" incident was at Walker Valley. The looks on their faces as if to say, "umm, maybe we should called one there" said it all. Constant no-calls leading to rougher play and tighter bodying up down the court led up to it. That's why refs need to take control no matter if a foul has to be called every 10 seconds. There's no place for no-calls resulting in injury.

[luv2ref]

... However it does bring out the fact that the official is the point of contact of ejecting someone.I hope you come back after this post and explain if that is so or not. .....

 

I would guess that in 95% of the cases where a fan is ejected, the official has requested that GA step in and eject them. Again, if officials do so, it has gone beyond what is normal fan reaction to calls and plays. When fans yell, "if the refs are not going to call it protect yourself; elbow 'em in the gut, push 'em back, knock 'em down, etc...; GA should step in without officials' instructions. I know you can't be in every place at one time, but I believe it certainly can be a little better. Happy and Safe New Year to All.

[T2S2A]

The reason you always hear the phrase, if you don't like the officiating, go take the test and become one, is because the lack of "quality" officials in any high school district is astounding. The "bad" refs that everyone hates to see come into the gym, are there because there isn't anyone better behind them trying to get their games. The good refs move on to college basketball and eventually leave the high school arena. Thus why it is high school basketball.

 

Pay your $5, yell for your team, yell at the refs, but keep it clean. Think about what the implications of "You Suck" and "We got screwed" really mean. Pretty vulgar if you ask me. Just my $.02

[BigDaddy_1]

The reason you always hear the phrase, if you don't like the officiating, go take the test and become one, is because the lack of "quality" officials in any high school district is astounding. The "bad" refs that everyone hates to see come into the gym, are there because there isn't anyone better behind them trying to get their games. The good refs move on to college basketball and eventually leave the high school arena. Thus why it is high school basketball.

 

Pay your $5, yell for your team, yell at the refs, but keep it clean. Think about what the implications of "You Suck" and "We got screwed" really mean. Pretty vulgar if you ask me. Just my $.02

 

Probably the best post of this thread.

[luv2ref]

 

Pay your $5, yell for your team, yell at the refs, but keep it clean. Think about what the implications of "You Suck" and "We got screwed" really mean. Pretty vulgar if you ask me. Just my $.02

 

Probably the best post of this thread.

 

Not probably, this is the best advice we have had in this thread. Thanks, T2S2A.

[BigDaddy_1]

 

Pay your $5, yell for your team, yell at the refs, but keep it clean. Think about what the implications of "You Suck" and "We got screwed" really mean. Pretty vulgar if you ask me. Just my $.02

 

Probably the best post of this thread.

 

Not probably, this is the best advice we have had in this thread. Thanks, T2S2A.

 

I agree about being the best advice...but there are other good posts..I said probably the best "post" not "advice". As there was more to what T2S2A had said in his original post. You just quoted only a part of the original "post". T2S2A gave us fans on some insight why we have a lack of "quality" officials. Thanks T2S2A, that helps.

[luv2ref]

I agree about being the best advice...but there are other good posts..I said probably the best "post" not "advice". As there was more to what T2S2A had said in his original post. You just quoted only a part of the original "post". T2S2A gave us fans on some insight why we have a lack of "quality" officials. Thanks T2S2A, that helps.

 

I apologize for not addressing the entire statement that T2S2A made. Good officials are like everyone else, they want to work the best games at the highest level they can, thus they move on to college. So to my constituents, other high school officials, that read this website; if you are a referee in most of your games, I ask that you make a concerted effort to make your crews better. Be constructive! I'm not saying that we all are bad; I want us to be great and it takes the work of us all to make it better. Referees; we also need to work hard to get better. I see a lot of games, but I have yet to see the call that an official makes that causes a team to loose a game. I think missed shots, missed freethrows, bad passes, bad plays, bad play calls, and turnovers contribute more to lost games than bad officiating. So, we are going to get better; but the next time you are at a game, keep stats on the play and on legitimate bad calls and see which occur more. JFYI: true play: team A up 2 pts.; team A player complains about not having a foul against his defender called fast enough; he goes to the line-misses both freethrows, his team gets possession again, exact same scenario, his team up 2, he gets fouled, complains, goes to the line and misses both throws. opportunity to go up six. he doesn't touch the ball again by coaches choice; official does what he is supposed too. they win the game and I promise you that freethrows were definitely part of his post game talk; but the calls by that official probably weren't. Happy and Safe New Year to all and good luck to all the teams.

[BigDaddy_1]

Great post!

[T2S2A]

I think this type of thread is started every year on one of the two basketball forums. Every year there will be bad officiating, we all (Fans and Most Officials) just hope that it doesn't affect the true outcome of the games. But when it is all said and done, just remember that it is a game, and there a many things in life more important than basketball.