Tolerance for Fans
 

It seems like the older I get, my tolerance for fans goes down and for coaches goes up. And I'm drawing a big distinction here between fans who are 18+ (mom and dad) vs. the kid who is in school. I am really speaking about the adult fans.

What is your tolerance level for fans?

I teeter on this issue, I've seen veteran guys toss fans in a JV game without a second thought. And yet the other night, another veteran official, heard a fan say, "you can take that ball and shove it up your ass." And nothing...

I'm torn where to draw the line.

Generally dont pay attention to the crowd. If its enough to get my attention, which takes an especially unique kind of stupid, you might want to have game management deal with them.

+1

I would say I have a high tolerance for fans because I generally don't notice or hear/register what is being said. However if you are that "special" level that gets my attention you probably aren't going to staying around long. Our assigner cleared a middle school gym at a tournament last year, so we get pretty support for low tolerance of nonsense.

Agree. In 15 years I've tossed 1 fan.

And the longer I do it, the higher that bar gets.

I tend to tolerate coaches less, though, but I also have worked on tools to use before it escalates too high.

Mainly it's about figuring out when to communicate with them.

I deal with fans in a simple way. I just keep doing what I am doing. That will upset them more than anything I say to them or deal with them.

It is like going to the dentist. You will have some discomfort for a little while, but you will be healthier and better for the short time.

I let GM take care of fans. I would only care if the players or coaches are influenced in some negative way by what is being done by a fan.

Peace

How high did you toss him? :rolleyes:

BTW - HS gyms around here don't have fans. They're all air conditioned. ;)

OK - I'll go back to the asylum now.

after every game i do, at any level of play, it still continues to amaze me...the audacity of people and what they choose to say and how they choose to act towards officials, just because we have a striped shirt on.
and there's just no way (most of these people) would dare say these things to another human being in real life...like their boss or co-worker, or person on the street...even if the "transgressions" were similar.
i often akin it to road rage vs. sidewalk rage: once people get behind the wheel, they are protected inside their car and say and do whatever they want if someone cuts them off...but the same cannot be said if someone was to cut you off walking on the sidewalk. bball fans seem to act very similar in the fact that they believe they are somehow protected.

wherever the idea started that you as a fan, can say whatever you please to an official, has in fact grow exponentially worse and unfortunately in some cases, has been passed down to kids and players. it's a shame for sure.

but...we just keep on plugging away. and for Gods' sake: don't engage. just don't engage. if the fans knew the rules and stood where we stand on the court...then they wouldn't be fans anymore, they'd be officials.

Fans? There are fans there? I never notice (well ... other than the one that came onto the court 2 years ago when her kid got hurt, and stopped tending to the kid to yell at me for it being my fault that the clumsy junior high kid managed to step on a ball he was dribbling and faceplant).

Unless they're dropping F bombs, I couldn't care less what they say. Even then, I'm letting them look like idiots until it becomes a problem. Had some f bombs at the end of a V boys game earlier this year, and it was so close to the end that it wasn't even worth it. I do once in a while smile when they direct a comment directly at me (and not the crew in general) if I hear it, which I can imagine only serves to annoy them further.