Quote:
Originally Posted by Smitty
Normally I agree with you on most things, but this I just can't. Fans are not our problem most of the time. The phrases he had a problem with are white noise. They shouldn't bother us to the point of letting it affect our attention. We should be able to ignore these things.
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I am not saying that the official should be over the top and ranting and raving -- but there's nothing that a quiet word with a cooperative game manager can't fix. On our (the schools') end, I'm trying best I can to get schools to be proactive with behavior and keep crap off the officials, who just want a positive experience and want to work.
I officiated at a school last week and the student section was just out of control. There 3 staff members, paid to be crowd control, did nothing but stand in the corner, glazed eyed. I let it go as I recognized that there's a systemic problem there and I wasn't going to fix it, but it made me unhappy, nonetheless.
For me, fan noise usually correlates to coach behavior. (My example above -- not. The coach was a gentleman all night.) I can ignore most of it, but when fans get personal or start in on members of the other team (student sections making fun of opposing players, for example), then it shouldn't just be ignored.