Chants coming to an end?

[Zack]

Saw this today in our local paper, http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm...4765_ko07.html

Would be interesting to see what the state comes up with to deal with "mean" chants about players and officials. "Take his whistle" could be no more
Any other state going through something like this or have a major policy like this?

[Junker]

Do they really expect a major change by only putting these ideas in as guidelines, and not penalizing schools for infractions? I would venture to guess that the schools with poor sportsmanship will continue to be schools with poor sportsmanship.

[Adam]

The problem is with administration at the schools with poor sportsmanship. For whatever reason, they either won't or can't control it. Making a "guideline" at the state level isn't going to change that signficantly. It might plant a seed with some, "Hmmm, this 'kill the ref' chant might not be appropriate," but I think Junker's spot on here. Without teeth, it's just Barney Fife without his bullet.

[j51969]

Have we really become this sensitive? Maybe we should mandate group prayer during time-outs. All gods and deities will be admitted. The PC police should be present to issue any tickets for violations and penalties to the PC code. 99.9% of anything that goes on in a high school gym is harmless fun. If little Johnny is emotionally devastated by jeers coming from the crowd, maybe competitive sports aren't his bag. Our silly society continues to cater to the minority. All we need now is a minister in front of the county court house burning NF publications. I can't believe there are to many of us (officials) who go home and cry because of what some student section said to us. If so, may I suggest officiating the pickle races at your local Mc D's.

[blindmanwalking]

Ya gotta start somewhere. The chants/comments in my area seem to escalate and get a little more personal every year. Officials shouldn't have to deal with this, it should be game management.

[blindmanwalking]

Originally Posted by j51969

Have we really become this sensitive? Maybe we should mandate group prayer during time-outs. All gods and deities will be admitted. The PC police should be present to issue any tickets for violations and penalties to the PC code. 99.9% of anything that goes on in a high school gym is harmless fun. If little Johnny is emotionally devastated by jeers coming from the crowd, maybe competitive sports aren't his bag. Our silly society continues to cater to the minority. All we need now is a minister in front of the county court house burning NF publications. I can't believe there are to many of us (officials) who go home and cry because of what some student section said to us. If so, may I suggest officiating the pickle races at your local Mc D's.

If your skin is this thick then you won't mind me calling you a fool, right?

[j51969]

Originally Posted by blindmanwalking

Ya gotta start somewhere. The chants/comments in my area seem to escalate and get a little more personal every year. Officials shouldn't have to deal with this, it should be game management.

On the serious side I understand what your getting at, really. However, stopping the game until the behavior stops? Some rivalry games will be a lesson in attrition. If they want to police there kids and set a example for others while the game continues, great! In life someone is always trying to knock you down with there words and actions. A lesson in thick skin and striving through adversity isn't so bad for a high school basketball player. Or anyone for that matter.

[j51969]

No I won't. Life isn't fair. If you think you can legislate class more power to you, and your three hour games.

[blindmanwalking]

Originally Posted by j51969

On the serious side I understand what your getting at, really. However, stopping the game until the behavior stops? Some rivalry games will be a lesson in attrition. If they want to police there kids and set a example for others while the game continues, great! In life someone is always trying to knock you down with there words and actions. A lesson in thick skin and striving through adversity isn't so bad for a high school basketball player. Or anyone for that matter.

High school kids should not have to deal with personal insults/attacks while playing a game. If it isn't stopped or controlled, it will only get worse. I really don't pay much attention to fans when they are talking to me, but if they start on a player, I'm listening. They will be removed if it gets personal.

[j51969]

I have no problem with some AD removing an abusive fan. But I don't think it has anything to do with us. If the AD or whoever is at the gym wants to punt some kid, who cares. This kind of behavior had been going on since before I was in high school (I'm 38). If it was going to get worse, like some basketball game in Serbia where fans set the gym on fire. I think it would have already happend. A noble cause, I just don't see what the expected end result is.

[JRutledge]

Booing is not a personal insult. It is showing displeasure for an event or series of events. I have no problem if fans (which can be students, parents, alumni and townies) booing me as an official or even a player. I do have a problem if there is a chant about someone personally where there is something about their condition or family member. I do not expect a school to have total control over the collective behavior of fans as it relates to booing. I do expect something to be done with chants and things that can be insightful to an individual or a crowd. I know when I worked my games this past week many insults were thrown at me. Now I can handle that personally and I know it comes with the territory. I have no problem with getting rid of people that get out of line, but you are not going to stop collectively thousands for comments. Even when I have attended the Big Ten Tournament, is extremely rare you hear any comments that are vulgar and completely inappropriate. I remember a few years ago when the tournament was in Indy, and I was sitting in the Iowa section for the championship game. There was a guy using profanity while yelling at the referees. A couple of guys turned around and told the guy to knock it off and the guy stopped completely. I was amazed how cooperative this guy was to the request of fans. There was also security available if there was anything that got out of hand. You do not need a policy like this to encourage good behavior. You just need to get rid of the clowns that think they can say anything without penalty.

Peace

[Ref in PA]

Since I have become a "patched" basketball official in PA, there have been two times when the gym has been cleared except for the players and coaches. The teams were rivals and fights occurred at the game between fans. The teams played their games without fans the following year. This sent a message to the fans in my opinion and they have behaved in subsequent years. There will probably be more incidents in the future between rival schools but in the mean time this has controled the problem.

Barring fans sends a message on a couple of different levels. The community, parents, students all get the message. A financial message is also sent - no revenue from gate or concessions.

In the case of Washington state, the judgement of fan behavior will be highly subjective. And should they censure fans at contests because of questionable fan behavior, Washington would need consistancy among those judging the behavior. Achieving that consistancy will be no small task.

[REFVA]

High school kids should not have to deal with personal insults/attacks while playing a game. If it isn't stopped or controlled, it will only get worse. I really don't pay much attention to fans when they are talking to me, but if they start on a player, I'm listening. They will be removed if it gets personal.

society in general is at fault here we have lost our vaules. Administartion, Parents, Coaches and the players themselves. i did a middle school game last night and in one section I heard all kinds of curse and harsh word being screamed out and I did see any level of control from the school administration. I actually truned my head to see when the screaming came from and the whole section started to laugh at me becuase I was shocked with the words being screamed. Geuss what, there were parents, and young ladies there and it didn't matter. Either the admin was scared or didn't care.

[rockyroad]

There was already a thread on this topic...read some of the comments there...WIAA to ban booing at HS games in Wa State?

[Mark Padgett]

I wonder what those rulemakers would have thought about a sign I saw in the stands at a televised USC - UCLA game a few years back? A UCLA student's sign read "Flush Used Trojans".