Sit in stands and listen
 

Playoff game last night GV..went to support an official whom I worked with a few times during the season who was working the game.

Sitting in the stands and just listening to fan comments was an eye opener...I heard ongoing commentary about every call or non call, parents from one school getting into it with parents from other school and parents yelling at students from other athletic teams who were cheering on their classmates!

Granted, it was a handful of loudmouths, but now I see how these same bozo's become coaches at the AAU and Wreck ball level and act the same way since their behavior was never put in check in the stands!

I was a FAN FIRST before I ever stepped onto the court and never acted that way..sure I would boo or question a call in a tight game once in awhile but never an ongoing dialougue.

What have you heard when sitting in the stands??

When I do get a chance to see a V Game or arrive early for a JV game, I try to sit as far away from the others in the stands as possible to avoid these issues.

Once, I even heard a, "Shh, watch what you say. He's an official." Like I would do or say something? :rolleyes:

I suppose many of us have heard similar to you.

I do the same. If there is no such place, I'll watch from the floor near the exit towards my locker room.

Even as an official or a group of officials we have ongoing discussions about plays.

That is typical as I think fans focus too much on what we do and not enough on what the players or coaches are doing. It is just the way it is and often if I am with a group of officials people figure out we are officials by our talk. And the conversations I have heard form fans are very similar to what we hear from the stands when working, but more extensive. The same silly comments or ignorant comments about rules or situations that never are based on actual facts. It is comical and funny often and just makes me realize why I do not listen to fans in the first place.

Peace

The last time I sat in the stands at a high school basketball game I was shocked at the kind of talk I heard. The home team had a little 'sportsmanship is important and we'll be good sports' note in the program, but somehow their fans didn't strike me as the reading type.

My son's team (19-0) is likely to go deep in our state's Class A tournament. And yes, I find it hard sometimes to sit with my fellow townies.

One play had our power forward go in for an easy layup, only to be hauled down from behind. The lead had the easy "X", while a mother behind me screamed, "THAT'S A TECHNICAL!!!"

Maybe I haven't been doing this long enough to be jaded, or maybe I just don't like to let teachable moments pass, but since we had already broken the ice earlier, there I was, succintly explaining the difference between technical and intentional. Ultimately, I don't believe we should complain about fans too much, if we don't address the ignorance ourselves, when those situations arise.

Oh, our team won this regional quarterfinal game by 43. Why anyone is screaming at all under those circumstances is beyond me.

I will not approach strangers in the stands and offer them rules clarifications. If you know this lady (even in passing), then have at it. I will, however, refrain from offering advice and clarification when it isn't requested.

Instead, I will simply laugh at their ignorance. I've experienced enough intentionally blind idiocy, I no longer bother.

Or the listening type.....
 

Our Announcers read the sportsmanship reminder before every game......and then, it is subsequently ignored the first time a call doesn't go their way......:rolleyes:

I've gone to local games as a fan and many in the area know that I'm an official. Occasionally a parent asks a reasonable question about a rule and many times they are more familiar with NCAA (hey, the clock should stop late in the game on a made basket right) or the NBA/E and that is the source of their misunderstanding.

Most of the time I sit and enjoy the game although any official tends to watch those working the game to see what they do well/not so well.

Offering clarification to other parents is mostly a losing proposition. With few exceptions they really enjoy their ignorance and who am I to let reality and fact interfere with their perception.

Being a parent of a player and also a ref is not easy. I don't know what happens to people during basketball games that makes them act the way they do. Good people that you're friends with turn into complete idiots.

I can easily identify with you, mj. There isn't one weekend of games that goes by that a (thankfully, usually an opponent's) parent doesn't say and/or do something incredibly stupid during one of my son's games. I just sit back and observe.

Occassionally a parent from our team will turn and look at me with that "did the refs get that right?" look on their face. Usually I'll practice this line: "You'll have to ask the official that made the call. He'll be here in a minute." :D

One other thing to keep in mind, the COACHES are frequently subject to similar chatter -- frequently from the same group of parents.

You will frequently hear "coaching" from the parent's section throughout the game. I was working itty-bitties a short while back with my son. A parent who had planted himself in the first row at midcourt was screaming at his son for not "cutting straight to the ball" while trying to break the press. About 50% of the time, the player would, indeed, cut straight to the ball. The other half of the time, he would take about four hard steps away from the ball and V-cut back to the ball. Having spent many years as a coach, I observed that the back player in the "I" of the two guards was tapping the inside of his fellow guard's ankle to indicate the direction the front guard was supposed to cut. Naturally, about 50% of the time, he tapped the front player's (this parent's son) RIGHT foot. When he did that, the player would cut away from the ball -- EXACTLY as the coach had instructed the player to do. To this player's credit, he IGNORED his dad and did what the COACH wanted. All too often, that does not happen making it even more challenging to coach!

By the way, at the end of the game during a time out I had a throw-in right near the parent. I mentioned the little "indicator" the players were using. Naturally, he didn't know anything about it....

Point is, there are always a few parents in the stands making our lives as referees miserable. In many cases, those same people are making the lives of the coaches miserable as well. Sometimes, when a coach gets irritated during the game, ironically, it might be an irritation with the SAME PEOPLE we are irritated with -- just for a different reason.

My favorite gym is in an old grade school. It's the second court, the old one they used to use before adding on. It's got second story bleachers only--no fans at floor level. I think the coaches like it for the same reason!

In our local kids rec league, we have a saying about the parents who shout out at the refs during games. We say they know as much about the rules as they know about raising kids. ;)

For some reason, I think I've noticed this more this season than previous seasons. Parents constantly yelling at their kids, telling them how to play. Coach is telling them to sag back, parents yelling "ball pressure!"