Ref. responds to fan

[Judtech]

With fans you can't get it trouble for something you don't say!! Having said that I did have a nice interaction with a grandmother over the weekend. She said I was doing a fine job and hoped I would keep it up in the second half!! I asked her "How much is it worth to you?" She had this look on her face!! I told her that I bet she was a good cook, she said she certainly was, and I told her a good meatloaf is worth several calls. In lieu of that a batch of oatmeal raisin cookies would do!! She got a chuckle out of it as did the fans around her!! Of course, if I ever made a call against their team the rest of the game, they would say "That is one less cookie for you!!" SOrt of hillbilly Soup Nazis!!

[Adam]

We've all been in situations where we were just itching to say something, to put a fan in his place. Most of us refrain 99.99999999991% of the time. However, the guy who falls into this trap isn't necessarily a bad official; just human.

[JRutledge]

I agree in principle that we should not talk to fans but we should avoid saying always and never unless we understand when you night have to talk to fans. I agree that this is dangerous territory but I have learned depending on the level and situation talking to a fan might be OK. Usually that is very rare but I have seen it done in the right situation. This did not appear to be the right situation at all but sometimes the lower the level and the less people in. attendance might dictate this. And most of the time I have talked to fans is in a very non controversial manner. After all we are human and not robots. I feel sometimes we shod show that we are human. But I would never advocate arguing with fans. You cannot win there at all. But if you say something that will make folks laugh you might just win them over or get a positive result.

Peace

[doubleringer]

No, you should not interract with fans. I will say that it is much tougher to ignore in non-sanctioned, weekend/rec basketball. Often there really isn't game management around and often you work a number of games in a row and you get get tired of the stupid comments. Also, since there are aften fewer fans at those games, the few idiots are easy to hear and find. I had more than my share of comments for fans back when I worked that stuff, and I really don't miss doing those types of games anymore. They are great places to work on mechanics and such when you're new, but I've given them up for the most part.