Fan comment
 

It's nice to hear every once awhile that we do a good job. Heard that from a fan today after my game that I always do an excellent job when he sees me officiate.

After a game, whenever anyone tells me I did a good job I reply, "Yeah, I know." :D

Someome once told me, "If you're gonna listen when they say you're great, you have to listen when they say you suck."

Doesn't that depend greatly upon the motivation of the source?

I Felt Motivated This Morning ...
 

Hey bainsey: You suck.

Not really.

This is a true story that proves your point.

About five years ago, my first game of the season was a boys' Jr. H.S. DH between School A and School B played at School A. After the 7th grade game (which School B lost), a parent from School B really ripped us (my partner and me) a new one, telling us how bad we were. Of course my partner and I had a good laugh in the dressing room.

Three days later, with a different partner, I had School B versus School C at School B. After the 7th grade game (which School B won), the same parent that ripped my partner and me three days earlier said that we were great officials and the officials they had a few days ago really sucked.

MTD, Sr.

There has only been one time where I took a post-game compliment from a coach to heart. Had a game during a holiday showcase game I was working with my 2 main mentors. It was low scoring game that was won on a last second 3-pointer. After the game the losing coach (from a school outside of our jurisdiction) came to locker with our assignor and told us that is was the best game he had ever had officiated. He said he didn't even notice we were on the court. Just felt genuine.

But other than that, I've always just taken the "good job" comments as coaches and fans just being courteous and appreciating the fact that we are out there providing a service. Just like I take the negative comments during the game as stuff that happens in heat of the contest. I don't take any of it to heart.

Agreed.



Years ago when I first started officiating, I would have internally said "I know", but now I just say "thank you" (as a politeness element) and then promptly forget what they said, how they said it, and who they were.



I did have one lady-fan this year walk up to me after the game, while agitated, and said I should be ashamed. And that I need to "referee fair". She had a unique attitude typical of fans from her city. She and her parent-mates were the typical complainers during the game. My response to her was "to have a safe drive home". (It was snowy up here that week.) That drove her to be more agitated. I had to work hard to not laugh.

Okay. Why not?

Call it both ways
 

Just moments after one astute fan effusively complimented my crew, a dour, foul-mouthed fanatic invited me to step outside for a little 'physical education'. Gotta love it;)

Why would anyone care what a someone thinks, good or bad?

I feel the same way for the most part. However, I don't feel that I've ever done what I would call a "good job." I always miss something and strive to ref the perfect game, as impossible as that is. I was at a Christian Mens' breakfast last week and some guy had brought his 17 year old son. The kid looks over at me and says I know you, you're the guy that refs, you're the most honest ref I've ever seen. I said thanks, (first time that's ever been said to me), it struck me later that he was kind of insinuating that the other guys on the court aren't honest, which is absolutely untrue as I know all of them personally. A couple days later I'm working a 10 year old kiddie game and see the same kid with a girl, his sister. The previous game I did with her last week, I cancelled the basket she made from the free throw line because she stepped on the line. (When I called that basket off, she turned to me and said, "but that's the first basket I've ever made!" I just sheepishly raised my arms and headed down the court. Guess that's being honest?? The only comments that I put any stock in is the ones I get from fellow refs: they are really the only ones qualified to judge my performance.

Perfectly called game
 

I appreciate your drive to have the perfect game, but there will never be one until...there is a perfectly PLAYED game. We get what is played in front of us most times. Had a fan say "you guys called a crappy game" Response: "Funny, that's the way we saw it too!" and it was a crappy game to call, for sure

Good Point,
Don't we all love the games that have 2 or 3 kids that can shoot 3 pointers and most of the rebounding shove, foul, contact mumbo jumbo is absent due to outside scoring! Well played games are fun to officiate, crappy played games are like a job!

The fact is most fans, and quite a few coaches, are not even qualified to comment on the quality of the officiating. Comments, whether good or bad, should be treated as displays of manners, or the lack thereof.

This. If a coach shakes my hand after a game to show sportsmanship, I tell him good game and then move on. If they leave without a word, no problem. If they are obviously upset with the outcome, I get out of the way as to not attract any unnecessary trouble

(rec ball)

My favorite fan comments are when I'm called a racist for daring to call a foul against a player that is of a different race from myself. I find it especially amusing when none of the 10 players are of the same race as I am.

My other favorite was hearing "Two wrongs don't make a right!" after I T'd up a coach who didn't like a disconcertion call I made on one of his players.

I have a fan removed if I need to but otherwise, they just amuse me.

1. An official can absolutely have a perfect game regardless of perfection from the players.
2. Even though the odds are heavily stacked against us, the goal should always be a perfectly called game. That will include some calls and non-calls. Do you think basketball teams set out to miss shots?
3. Would you really respond like that? Smart comebacks are something I wouldn't recommend any official use. If you are just thinking it...waste of time. IMO

Get in line, pal. :cool:

The Stanislavski Method ...
 

Are you motivated now?

It has with the source, period.

A coach wins a 1 point game, runs into you in the hallway after the game, and says, "You guys did a great job tonight."

Six weeks later, he loses a 1 point game, runs into you in the hallway after the game and says, "You guys cheated us tonight."

Now, if you're gonna bust your arm, patting yourself on the back after he makes the first comment, then you have to take his second comment to heart as well. Or did that highly perceptive coach from game 1 suddenly become a dumba$$ after game 2?

The point is, fans are always gonna be fans, coaches are always gonna be coaches, players are...you get it. They're your best friend when they win and your worst enemy when they lose. They don't care about you, only what you can do for them. You can't get a big head because a coach said you did a good job anymore than you should beat yourself up when he says you suck. Let it all go in one ear and out the other, because none of it means anything.

If a fan called an official a racist loud enough that everyone in the gym heard, wouldn't that be an automatic ejection for the fan?

While such a remark has no place in an athletic contest, the answer is no. And here is why:

99% of the game officials' attention should be directed toward knowing what is happening between the lines and the other 1% should be directed toward knowing what is happening in the bench areas. The only time that game officials should take action regarding spectator conduct is if any of the following this happen: 1) A spectator comes onto the playing court; 2) A spectator makes a threat of physical violence against a game official, player(s), bench personnel, or Scorer/Timer Table personnel; or 3) A spectator makes physical contact with a game official or any other participant in the contest. When any of these things happen do not address the spectator. Instead, stop the game and notify Game Management and let them handle the situation.

MTD, Sr.

Unlike Mark, I will have a fan removed if I can identify them and am 100% certain who it was. But when it's coming from somewhere in the crowd (or an entire section of fans), there's not much that I can do. I'm not going to expend a lot of energy in trying to figure out who it was either but if it's obvious, I will have it dealt with.

Automatic ejection around here.

Welpe and Juggling Referee
 

Why? Somebody in the stands called you a name. So what! The fans, except in the situations I have already noted, are not our concern. When you address their behavior you reward them; they know that you are paying attention to them instead of doing your job on the court. That is what these types of idiots want from you. Ignore them! You sound like officials who only officiate soccer.

MTD, Sr.

For the same reason that I would have a fan removed that uses vulgar or obscene language.

They are when their actions have the ability to poision the game.

I didn't realize that in Ohio an ejection was considered an award. Is a traffic ticket there considered a prize?

If a fan's behavior rises to the point where it grabs my attention, having them removed ensures I can get back to doing my job. I'm sorry you don't think so. What I do know is that in the rare occasions I've had to have a fan removed, the atmosphere and tone of the game have noticeably improved. I'll keep doing what I'm doing.

While it's nice to hear (we are human, after all), it becomes less meaningful when we realize that the fans know absolutely nothing about officiating.

Depending on the level, in order for the fans to think I did a good job, I would need to call "over the back," "reach," "high dribble," "three seconds," and "something."

Welpe:

You are missing my point. By reward, I mean the "fans" now knows that you are listening to him and not doing your job on the court. Let them scream their lungs out. Is their behavior a disgrace? Yes. Do we care? No.

I have had game management involved only three times with regard to spectator conduct in 41 years of basketball officiating. And I have also umpired HJ.S. and youth baseball and fastpitch softball since 1993 and H.S. soccer from 1993 to 2006.

1) Almost 40 years ago I had a sheriff deputy remove a very large male spectator who stepped onto the court and pushed me from behind just after a throw-in had been completed in boys' H.S. jr. varsity game.

2) Almost 25 years ago I had an A.D. remove a group of boys who goosed a female player with an Alf stuffed doll while she was attempting to make a throw-in.

3) About 15 years ago I had game managment remove two spectators from a AAU Boys' National Championship tournament game because they ran onto the court to protest a Held Ball call my partner had made on a blocked shot.

Does this mean I don't know what is going on in the stands or fans never get upset with my officiating? Absolutely not. I haven't done my job as an official if I haven't pi$$ed off at least half of the fans, :D. The point is don't be an official who only officiates soccer, especially ones from Ohio; they think that their job is to control not only the players but the spectators.

If you think that spectator conduct is affecting the way the players are acting, let the coach know and he will deal with his players.

MTD, Sr.

Thank you for your feedback.

I realize that most fans are not knowledgeable about everything in our rulebook. Like you said, we are human and it's nice to hear a job well whether they know what their talking about. Don't take much stock into it. Only care about what my peers think.

Most officials would be able to hear what someone is saying while still officiating.

In summary...your "fans are rewarded when I kick them out" stance still makes no sense.

Cobra:

Read my Post (#30) above. Unless it the Spectator's actions involve one of the three items (see my Post #24) then ignore them. When you stop the game for any thing other than the items I have outlined in Post #24, you are rewarding them by the fact they now know you are more concerned about them than doing your job on the court. When you "eject" a fan for anything other than the items I have outlined they get the satisfaction of saying: "A hey look at me, the ref is so lousy that he had to throw me out of the game."

An official is in a lose-lose situation when he thinks that I will show than fan how much authority I have.

MTD, Sr.

My province has zero tolerance for breaking their Fair Play Policy.

Accusatory statements such as the example given are exactly the element they want dealt with. And by dealing with it, they want an ejection.

I just ran a fan a couple weeks ago for verbally taunting a visiting team player. He didn't get physical, he didn't come on the court, but a 50-ish man cursing at and calling a girl from the opposing team "trash" from three feet away got him a swift exit.

First time I've run a fan in years, but I have no qualms about having done it.

Once again, where do you get this thing that the official is more concerned with the fan than the game? You seem to have some very different and weird thoughts on this issue than the vast majority of all officials yet you assume everyone thinks like you.

You are entirely way way too concerned about what some nut in the stands who is swearing at you, calling you a racist whatever is going to think if you kick him out. I would guess that no one else on this forum cares about that at all. They are not at all concerned with this idiot. You are the one who is trying to play some crazy mind game with the idiot. You are the one who is too concerned with making sure that this guy doesn't get a reward; remember that this reward is just something that you made up in your head to go along with the mind game that you are playing with him and that you think he is playing with you. You have no idea if this guy even thinks getting kicked out is a reward, you just made that part up in your head. Basically you've demonstrated that you are entirely too concerned with this guy. Other officials would just have the guy taken out, you have this whole big thing that you have to go through in your head to make sure that this guy doesn't win some game you made up.

You really think that the reason that officials kick someone out is because they want to show the guy how much authority they have? You seem to be very out of touch with the entire issue.

If I hear it and know who said it, I'll direct GM to have the knucklehead removed. If I hear it and don't know who said it, I'll direct GM to address the issue however they see fit. If it happens a second time (after I talk to GM), I'll consider removing an entire section.

ISTM that ignoring the behavior is doing exactly what MTD is afraid of, rewarding it. I don't hear much from the stands anymore (although doing more MS this year, I've heard more than I care to admit), but racial stuff would stand out enough for me to take care of it pretty quickly.

Whether the fan thinks he's gotten into my head or not is not my concern; getting his arse out of my gym, however, is my concern.

You could have told him about the school 3 days ago that...well, maybe you did, in your mind.

Knowing the rules isn't sufficient qualification to critique my game.