Quote:
Originally Posted by Dexter555
From the news article: "All of the fans were forced to leave by local authorities, but the game’s officials did not assess any technical fouls or eject any players, despite the fact that punches were thrown and several Epps players left the bench to participate in the brawl."
So many questions pop into my head if I think about what I would have done:
- I want to say I'd have been noting jersey numbers for all players fighting and leaving bench. Given that it was instigated by the crowd, I think in conferencing I'd be open to not issuing Ts or ejections, but would be hard to convince me.
- After the gym is cleared, what is the discussion like on whether or not to continue the game/T's/ejections?
- It took 10 minutes to get it under control. Wearing stripes makes you a target from some knucklehead. Do you stay in the gym when the stands are emptying for a brawl?
Given the accounts, it seems this crew did about as well as they could. I commend them.
I pray none of us ever has to deal with this in any of our games!
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As soon as the stands start emptying, I am on my way to the safest spot I can think of. If that means leaving the gym, I am gone. Diffusing/ending this type of brawl is the responsibility of game management, security, and local law enforcement. I will be nowhere near it. This makes your first part about getting numbers irrelevant. I most likely wont be there to get them. Once the gym is cleared, I would have no problem finishing the game.
The first year I officiated, I worked some games for a catholic grade school league. During a sixth grade game, we had a home player commit an intentional foul for excessive contact. We called the intentional foul, and the home coach removed the player and gave them a lecture on how their behavior was inappropriate. This apparently was not satisfactory to some fans from the visiting team who started saying some derogatory stuff about the home teams players and fans. Needless to say, an all out brawl started in the stands and spilled onto the court. My partner and I looked at each other, ran off the court to the cafeteria/concession stand, which was where we kept our stuff and waited for the police to come and take care of the problem. While we were in there, the home school AD came and asked us what we were going to do the breakup the fight in the gym. We both told him absolutely nothing and suggested he call the local police. They came and arrested a number of people, and we finished the game in an empty gym.
Last catholic grade school game I ever officiated.