A Police Escort Required from the Gym

NO!! Not for me & my partner. For a Home Team Fan!!

A Home Team Player committed a foul and the Visiting Team Scorekeeper thought it was the 5th on the player. The Home Team Scorekeeper, read that as "The OFFICIAL Scorekeeper," had it as foul #4. When there are discrepancies, we go by the Official Scorebook account by Rule Book Mandate.

"Referees escorted by Police" by KT King via Flickr

That the Visiting Scorekeeper was sitting on their team bench and not at the Official Score Table and was not comparing each score and foul with the Official Scorekeeper made it easy to rely solely on the Home Team Scorebook.

Anyway, while my Referee partner was sorting things out at the Score Table, this crazy fan apparently was in the stands yelling at us Referees and using a few choice words because of the Score Keepers mix up and general discontent about our calls on the evening.

I could hear some ruckus behind me, but having met with the AD and "On Campus" Security before the game (a regular part of our Referee Pre-Game routine) and requesting them to watch the fans and deal with any crowd issues, I just ignored her and let them do their agreed upon job.

As I went to inbound the ball after a number of Fouls mix up was resolved I saw a Police Officer, acting on his own initiative and not by request from either Referee, escort a fan out and could hear that fan making some not kind comments to the Police Officer. By the look on his face he wasn't amused and there was no uncertainty that she was leaving the facility!! Don't know what happened to the fan after the fan was whisked out of the gym but I know that fan never came back in!!

First time in 25 year of officiating basketball I've seen a fan have to be escorted out by the police.....Ejected out by local game management or tossed by myself or my partner, yes. But for a Police Officer to walk from one side of the gym to the stands and take out a fan? First time for that!!

By sheer coincidence, that fan section which had been rather rowdy up until then, was strangely quiet the rest of the game......

Refereeing can be so interesting and entertaining!!

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Coach, It's YOUR Student Section....

I was Refereeing a Girl's Varsity Volleyball Match when some kids in the Student Section decided it would be fun to start calling out opposing team players by their uniform number while making specific and unkind comments.

The Rules do not allow that and I am not gonna allow it.

The school Athletic Director was not present. Neither was a school Administrator. Only a fellow in a yellow shirt emblazoned "SECURITY," So I called over the Security fellow- who was standing about 20' from the offending students and doing nothing about it-  and asked him to stand with the Student Section and calm them down.

This process, of course, takes some time.

In the meantime, the Home Team Coach complains to me, "Can't we just get the Match started again?!"

"UTPA Volleyball 1 by Reynaldo Leal" by thepanamerican via Flickr

"Yep, Coach we can. However, it's YOUR Student Section causing the problem and we aren't restarting until they are under control. As soon as they settle down we can restart the Match."

Want to get a Red Card in Volleyball or "T'd' Up" in Basketball by me? Just start making a fuss about a game delay when it's your students or fans that are out of control......YOUR school is responsible for fan behavior control!!

I'm rather certain this isn't the first time this Student Section has gotten out of line. Some school Student Sections just don't know how to behave and I am constantly chagrined that schools see and tolerate behavior- sometimes even smile & are amused by behavior- from THEIR students at Home Games that I am sure they would object to if they were Visitors......

On the other hand, some Student Sections are outrageously hilarious in their antics and make the games & matches more fun for everyone. I applaud them in that effort.

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3 Reasons Why Fans aren't Allowed to Referee Games

There are reasons why the Fans are not allowed to Referee the game:

1.  Don't know the rule as well as they think. High School Rules are NOT the same as College & NBA Rules. 

2.  Personal bias towards their team clouds their perception of what is or is not a Foul/Violation committed by the other team or their team. 

3. Despite their plaintive cries to "Call it BOTH ways," fans do not see the game "both" ways....

My Ref partner ejected a fan in the First Half. The fan, evidently proud of his antics, took a deep bow to the crowd just before he walked out the door which was met with a loud cheer from his little group of fellow agitator fans. Remarkably, THAT group was conspicuously quite the rest of the game......

Photo by COD Newsroom via Flicker,  available under a Creative Commons Attribution License

Coming back to the court after Half Time Break the Security Person told me another fan in the lobby during Half Time said to him, "Those Ref's ejected my friend and they are going to have to eject me too!"

The Security Person did not identify the fan and I did not ask. I do not need to go looking for trouble...... but I will take care of it if it shows up.

Sure enough, we were barely into the 3rd Quarter when a fan bellows out some inane comment about a call my partner had just made. A very simple and obvious Foul Call, it was.

My partner's back was to the crowds, so he turned and asked, "Who said that?"

The fellow who had made the comment sat silent. Such courage! He can yell when the Ref's back is turned to him but would not own up to his conduct face to face. BUT a woman sitting behind him immediately, and vigorously, pointed to the fellow and with no hesitation said, "He did!"

It seems she was just as tired of his obnoxiousness as we were!

And so my partner ejected that fan, too.

The fan refused to leave, even to take a bow. It was not a stand off he was destined to win......

I trotted over the the Security fellow, who was engrossed in a conversation in the far & other side of the court with some school staff, not seeing the altercation, and told him we had just ejected a fan who refused to leave. Would he please escort the fan out.

"Which fan?" He asked.

I do NOT point to fans. I describe them to the Security folks, so I said, "The one in the back t-shirt next to the guy in the red & white cap."

"Yeah, that's the one who said you Ref's were going to have to eject him, too."

I replied, "Tell him his wish has been granted and make sure he is completely out of the gym,"

I think some fans who delight in being rude and hollering at the Ref's Do not realize:

1.  These are High School Games. Not College or NBA where more outrageous behavior is tolerated, perhaps even encouraged. We abide buy the AIA Motto, "Pursuing Victory with Honor," I believe that standard should apply to the fans as well as players & coaches...... 

2.  Other fans are NOT amused by their outrageous misbehavior. Belligerent fans detract from the other fans enjoyment of the game. 

3.  When ejected, the fan does NOT get to stand in the lobby and watch the rest of the game thru the doors or windows in the doors. They are sent completely out of the building where only a pair of x-ray Vision Glasses from a Cracker jack Box will help them see the rest of the game. 

4.  The game will not restart until the fan is out of the gym.

And the team for which those 2 fans thought we were making such bad calls?

1. Had FEWER Fouls called on them than the other team

2. Won by 20 points

So our "poor Reffing" apparently did not affect the team's ability to win, only a couple fans opportunity to see the whole game. A game they had to drive at least an hour to get to from their school and pay to enter. I hope they felt like they got their money's worth!

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