[wadeintothem]

Originally Posted by cpa

Well, I've got a couple of examples that led to the same bottom line:

14U game -- one team has blown a 7 run lead in the top of the 5th and time is running out -- after the 5th error of the inning a fan yells out "this is just HORSESH.T!! loud enough to be heard anywhere on my field or the adjacent field

All the park administration was at the other end of the complex dealing w/ something else at the time. I call time, I walk slowly to the dugout and I tell the coach -- "coach, he (the cusser) needs to remove himself". And he went.

This is exercising my authority under 10-1 of the ASA rules. And if the PU doesn't have the authority to have that fan removed, who the heck does? Every parent in the ball park EXPECTED me to remove that guy, and would have complained if I did not.

Second situation -- guy behind home plate dressed in a pig suit for a BBQ company (screened backstop so no visual distraction) is operating a "fart box". It took me a couple of innings to figure out what I was hearing but me, the catcher and the batter all figured it out when the pitcher was in her windup and this guy rips one and is quite pleased w/ himself.

Again, no park admin around. I go to the coach, tell him "the guy in the pig suit is running a fart box and has gotta go" and he goes. Any grown up coming to a ball park for kids dressed in a pig suit and running a fart box which is distracting me and the kids is damned well w/in my jurisdiction.

So yeah -- I agree 100% -- I've got more than enough to worry about ON THE FIELD -- but there are some situations that are so wierd that you have do what you have to do.

ABOUT AUTHORITY -- There are some places where you have more authority than others -- authority is not just what the rule book explicitly gives you, it is implicit in the expectations of park administrators, and to some degree the authority ceded to you by the fans.

And it varies from situation to situation. Those parents in the "horsesh.t" incident would have thought I was crazy if I held up the game for 10-15 minutes to get some administrator to come down there and accomplish what I did in 30 seconds. Now, if I was at a different park w/ a different group of people, or a more hostile group of people, or a more litigious group of people, maybe I would have called 911. But in that moment, in those 2 situations listed above, I absolutely had the authority, and it would have been ridiculous not to use it.

But normally I do leave fan conduct up to the park administrators -- but there is some "demarcation line of craziness" that will cause me to act

And one final comment -- I have NEVER, EVER threatened a forfeit in an ejection, removal, disqualification incident. Didn't need to. I don't take on the offender once I've ordered them removed. I find another coach, a head coach, someone w/ a VESTED INTEREST IN CONTINUING THE GAME AND IN GETTING ALONG W/ ME and I get them to do the removing. And it works.

Youre going through the coach...

When you say you ejected a fan the vision is that YOU eject the fan, when instead you are going to the coach.

There is no prob with what you did.. I probably wouldnt have worried about the guy who yelled "this is horse----" .. but the fart box distracting the players is probably a little much.. But you know, people use blow horns and everything else.... heck the girls chanting is probably worse.