Quote:
Originally Posted by Rich
Technically, no.
In practice, sure you can. Or you don't resume the game. In 999 out of 1000 situations, the fan will leave or be asked to leave.
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I have never had this issue in a sport except softball. Working a HS JV game, we had a parent who was becoming a major problem for the teams and for umpires. She was swearing and causing a problem. She had been warned by the AD, but he had to go deal with another sport on the opposite side of the school. When he left she continued her prior behavior. When she decided to start dropping F-bombs at me about a call that went against her daughters team, I had enough and I told her it was time to leave. I explained to the coaches the game would not continue until after she left. She finally packed up her stuff and left. After the game her daughter came up and thanked me for ejecting her, and apologized for her mothers behavior. I actually felt really bad for the girl, because everyone knows that she is the one with the crazy mother. The only drawback to this was having to fill out an officials report.
One other thing to remember on this topic. Depending on the circumstances, you as the umpire, may be the only administrative representative present. I work a lot of games for a city Rec Department where we play in city parks. I am the only representative of the Rec Department present. If there is a fan issue, I have to deal with it. Normally when that happens I do use the coach / manager / players to help control the fans. If that doesn't work, I do have an area supervisor I can call as well, but he could be across town. I have never had an issue with the Rec League with fans being that much of a problem. I have almost had to call the cops because of a player who was ejected however.