Had a Grandma in my rec league tourney (5th-6th grade) a couple years ago hootin' and hollerin' YAY when the calls were against the other team and really getting after us when the calls were against her g-son's team. Of course they were all WRONG!
It got pretty bad and I'd really heard just about enough....At one timeout where the ball was coming back in, right in front of her...she was chewing on me pretty good....I turned and asked her how many games she had worked this year....I got this look
...I repeated the question and still got
....I said to her something like "I was just curious how many games you had officiated this year cause this is my 73rd game in this league this year, I don't think I've seen you on the court yet?".....She promptly shut the hell up after that....
One of my favs....in my first year, I had a grandpa on the first row of bleachers right at the end line opposite the table....I had a kid step on the endline, tableside, and I whistled it OOB and pointed the other way....During the next timeout, I was bleacher side and the old fella said to me..."Are you SURE he stepped out?" I said, well sir, I blew the whistle and gave the ball to the other team, so yeah!"....He said "I think you missed it"....Me- "Wow, I was standing right there by it and your telling me you saw it clear over here that he was IN?....I better get my eyes checked!" We laughed together about it...he came up afterwards and told me I'd done a good job and that he was a former official himself back in the day...Gave me a little confidence boost in my first year.
I tend to just ignore the fans....I
hear them, but I don't
listen, generally....it's much easier to ignore them after 7-8 years of doing this...