Well considering whom you are, I consider the source. Keep telling everyone that the NBA has a problem with fights. When in the past 10 years I saw more fights with fans in the NHL. But then again, there is a reason I do not listen too much of what you say. I recall you were the person that told me our state was violating NF Rules and your state decided to do a few things completely against the NF Rules and you saw that as OK. Thank you for proving once again that your posts are useless.

Peace

Hypothetical situation: The player comes to you as lead after a basket and tells you he has been hearing disrespectful comments from the same fan all night long. What do you do as an official?

Have him notify his coach and let the coach inform facility management to be attentive to it. As an official I will address it when I feel it has crossed the line such as profantiy or threatening behavior that cannot be ignored.

Easy, simply tell the player:

"Some fans are ignorant jerks. Just ignore them - be the better person and make your statement on the court."

If I personally hear the comments & think it is over the top, I'll have game management talk to the fan - condensed version "Sit down and shut up, or leave".

I tell the player to keep his game on the court and let me worry about it.

Has Purdue had any comments about this kid? They might think twice about having this guy in their program or is this what thay are looking for?

Now I agree that this kid ought to get the punishment he's getting, and that he seems insufficiently chastened. However, I'm not sure that this one incident should warrant revokation of a scholarship. I'd be willing to bet someone has spoken with him, but I'd bet some assistant coach's money rather than my own.

Question: Can Purdue comment publically on a recruit? I know there are restrictions on things coaches can say regarding recruits, but can't remember if the restrictions end when the player has signed or when they start classes.

Being a Purdue fan myself we have had this discussion on our board. Someone who says they were at the game says that this is blown all out of proportion. Says he never made it to the stands. It was a father of a kid on the other team and he was supposedly saying things like, "I didn't know Fat Albert played basketball, bet 'Coz is proud...", also says that the video of hte game shows Minnoy notifying the official of the fan. That is really all I have.

Purdue cannot comment on recruits till they sign a LOI.

w_sohl...as a member of the Purdue staff, I feel your pain. My only thought for this young man is if he was disrespected by someone calling him Fat Albert as you have reported, he will have quite a time surviving in Madison or East Lansing.

As for some of the questions as to why Purdue would still want a recruit who would act this way, if he can play, why would they care. Schools often recruit players with multiple criminal records. Doesn't seem to slow anybody down. We'll just all be surprised when he goes into the stands in the Big 10.

I agree, I have heard much worse at college games. Axe Man, do you work for the Men's team or for the University?

I agree that Nate should have walked away. But I have no sympathy for an adult acting really immature and taunting a kid about anything. There is no reason to do so and someone should have told this clown to shut up.

I have officiated this kid during the summer and during the season this year. He basically is a good kid and goes to a private school where you cannot be a criminal. I think this incident is unfortunate and should not have ever happened. It did so I hope he will learn from it. But none of us really know what took place or what was said. As I stated before, one of the officials I know was on the game and he did not hear anything that set Nate off in the end. I just think fans should behave better than that. And schools should take responsibility for fans that get out of hand. A kid should not have to feel "disrespected" playing a HS sport.

Peace

w_sohl...I work for the Division of Recreational Sports...the Co-Rec. I am one of the two guys who runs the Intramural program. Send me an e-mail at [email protected] and we'll chat.

If the official did not hear anything that set Nate off, I don't know how we can expect that a school administrator could have heard it and prevented it.

As officials we shouldn't be "disrespected" either, but there are always stupid comments coming from the stands... that's just life. Deal with it.

Z

Disrespected?
 

Well if the official at the game heard nothing and I'm sure they were very aware of everything going on, then the kid was probably "NOT" disrepected as he said.

He simply messed up and that is his "excuse" for his behavior and everyone is supposed to say "poor boy, look at what the grown up did to him".

I've seen too many players "fake" being hit, or being hurt to cover a stupid play they made and to keep the coach off of their back to wonder if this really happened like the boy said?

Just my take,

Thanks
David

Nate Minnoy's statement about what happened,from the Chicago Sun-Times:

First of all, I would like to say I don't care what my persona looks like to fans, referees, teammates, media and coaches.



To answer the first question that comes to mind, I have anger-management issues -- that's what you call being human. I am a very competitive person, and I always want to win. And, no, I wasn't even thinking about Ron Artest. Sometimes, I feel like Shaq. I am the hardest player in the state to guard and to referee for. I can play through a lot of fouls but not intentional ones.

The last two games I played at the Big Dipper were two of the most physical games I have played in my high school career. The game Tuesday against Rich Central might have been just as rough without all the heckling. On Wednesday against Bloom, it was a very physical game. I don't really mind getting fouled, as long as the referees either call it or allow me to play with the same aggressiveness when I'm on defense.

Once again, Bloom's coach assigned two players to play me very physically. In the stands, the father of one of these guys and his friends heckled me the entire game. After shooting a free throw -- from a foul by his son -- I was running back down the court to get back on defense when this guy and his friends continued to talk to me, and he was giving his son instructions on how to foul me better.

I went to the referee who heard these guys, and he just shrugged like there was nothing he could do. That was enough. I stopped, walked up to these guys and told them to shut up. I took one step in the stands. I made it to the fifth row. The next thing I knew, I was surrounded by the Richton Park police and Rich South security.

Because this was my second technical of the game (I had an earlier tech for speaking to the referee with strong words about the fouls I had been getting), I was ejected. I went to the locker room, and after a few minutes, the police came in and said I was being charged with assault. The other player's father also was led out of the gym. We both were charged with a misdemeanor under the school's zero-tolerance policy. With the altercation that occurred in Monday's late game, the police were going to make sure nothing else happened. Shortly after, the police dropped the assault charges but gave us both a ticket.

I felt like it was a point in time where I had to defend myself, even if I couldn't do it through the course of a basketball game. I hope you can understand how I felt.