This is where I might say somthing to a fan especially if an adult or even kid is saying something directly to a player. Also much of this would depend on if and where the GM is located and how much they can and will handle the situation. But most HS or college games this is not an issue. It might be in an AAU game or some other non-sanctioned event.

Peace

Notify site admin if you think it is something that needs to be addressed.

I pretty much (almost) never interact with fans. I am in the "you can't quote silence" camp on this one.

That even goes as far as tolerating them much further than most officials. I simply do not care what they say to me, and pretty much ignore everything.

I've only ever had three fans tossed, and in two cases GM actually handled itm and in one I did (which was likely a mistake).

One case a fan was threatening to me, another a student got up and stepped onto the court trying to get into a fight with a player, and the last a mother told her son to hit another player.

If they are going to interfere with the game, they have to go. Other than that...they paid their two bucks to come act like a monkey - I let them.

But sometimes you just can't help yourself. Many years ago, when I first started, jh girls game. Ball went out of bounds right in front of blue team fans. (all 25 of them) I said "White!" They all, in perfect unison said "Whaaaaaaat??"
I looked up at them all, and slowly, clearly said "Whiiiiiiiiiite!"

Several of them actually laughed.

8th grade girls game last weekend, A1 to inbound in front of parents. Her dad is yelling at her about some bad plays. A1 turns around and says, really loud, "SHUSH!" Some of the parents laugh. There's a timeout. I'm standing there and say to the parents, "Did she really say 'Shush'? I thought my grandmother was here." They laughed again and one of them said, "She could have said something nastier". I replied, "Then I really would have thought my grandmother was here!" That brought out some pretty good laughs.

Sometimes talking to the fans is fun. ;)

I'm more in Rut's camp and Mark's. I never argue with fans over calls. If there is a fan who might be stirring the pit out of ignorance, I have been known to say that Ohio has a rule that you are only allowed to yell at the ref if you know the rule. It usually gets a laugh from loudmouth's neighbors and shuts him up. (Disclaimer) NOT ALL THE TIME do I do this. YHTBT.

Also, while I do get paid for my expertise, it's not why I do this. I do it because it's fun. I like to interact with the students during deadballs.

One of the most satisfying things to do is to get a kid, whose team is getting clobbered, to smile. :)

Dude, blue font.

Excellent, dear Snaqwells!:D

I one time said to a student who had been constantly razzing me and my partners (all in fun of course), I said to the kid, "If you talked to me as much as you talked to me, then you might have girls sitting next to you instead of these guys." The fans got a kick out of it and it stopped the kid from being silly. I also did not say so everyone could hear, I said this right before putting the ball into play and got a good laugh from the people around. And it even changed the kid's behavior the rest of the game. And I only engaged the kid because he had been calling me personally during dead ball situations and was trying to be funny about how good I looked or that was a great call when it was in favor of their team. I would not have done this if the kid was hostile or angry. There is a time and place for everything.

Peace

The reaction was definitely unprofessional. Can you imagine if NBA or college refs responded everytime someone had an issue with a call?

First off, the statement by the fan should be ignored. Fans are 1. biased and 2. Don't usually know the rules. The demonstration by the R probably did nothing to change this and only drew further attention which may have egged on the fans. I know its hard in a small gym where you can hear everything, but we need to continue to be professional in all circumstances.

Fans are 1. biased and 2. Don't ever know the rules.

Fixed it for ya'.

As I said, since I'm not doing this for the money, I'm not paid to be anything. I'm there to get the game played and have fun.

I didn't say make him laugh, I said smile. You don't have to say something funny, you can say something nice. You are paid to be a human being out there.