Help with Ruling on Fight/Forfeit

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by ilyazhito

Not sure what that means. I do work some games in inner-city and majority black schools, so that may account for some odd occurences.

Probably not reasons to have odd occurrences.

[ilyazhito]

I haven't had any weird things pop up in scholastic games in majority white schools (or mixed schools). Most of my games have been uneventful, whether in mostly-white or mostly-black environments.

[Rich1]

Originally Posted by ilyazhito

I haven't had any weird things pop up in scholastic games in majority white schools.

I do not know you but am assuming you are trying to state a broad fact rather than come across the way this sounds. Even though things have gone too far in today's highly charged climate of political correctness it is still wise to choose your words carefully.

Now, if you are working a game that you know has a likelihood of having weird things happen it is important to officiate them out of the game. For instance, if the schools are known to be unable to control their emotions, call lots of fouls early and get the bad eggs sitting on the bench. I have also noticed that most of the time players and fans react similarly to the way the coaches react so address poor behavior quickly and some of these problems may also go away.

Good officiating is as much about what you do to prevent problems as it is about how you handle them!