Last year, while in a camp, we had a coach who was very chatty and being a PIA. At halftime we found out from our observers that the coach was miked up for some kind of endeavor.

Exactly... if the official heard it and replied in a negative way, then it was not just a comment.

In my Jim Rome voice: "Allegedly"

You have lost your mind. No one worth any salt is paying attention to some fan. And certainly not paying attention to any fan in the stands. Fans do not hire us, supervise us or will have much say in the future.

Peace

Fair enough. I guess I see it a little differently. Our association requires us to show up dressed appropriately (no jeans, tie or jacket, etc), report in, officiate, change and leave dressed appropriately. I guess I'm thinking of the entire time "on campus/school grounds" as work time. But I totally understand not wanting to talk work/officiating after work/officiating has ended.

The games I work that require a dress code we never have to deal with fans b/c game admin ensures we have a clear path to the dressing room.

The games that don't require a dress code...see previous posts :)

We're not talking about school games here. AAU/summer ball is typically worked differently. You don't get a dressing room, so you show up ready to go. I typically put on my stripes and change shoes at the table.

During the school season, you have game admin who, for part of their job, ensure fans don't disrupt you in any way. They are experienced at it (typically) and accountable to the conference and/or state if they fail. One reason to be even more cautious in AAU is that the game managers are either less experienced or less accountable (or both).

High school ball and AAU or tourney ball are two completely different things. But at HS, the OP is rendered moot - there's nearly zero chance of a fan coming down from the stands and trying to discuss a call with the officials between games.

Possible, and quite possibly because I wasn't clear. :D

Lots of "ifs" here, to be honest. Sure, it's on us to be professional, but the OP was clearly engaging with the intent of getting the officials' attention. Not just comments, but he wanted to make his point. Chances are there's more to the story.

If I've had a fan rise to the level of getting my attention during the game with comments such as "that was a travel because...." (as opposed to, for example, "why wasn't that a travel"), and then proceeds to come talk to me after the game to tell me which calls I missed, it's very possible I'd request to have him removed. (I wouldn't do that in front of him, I'd simply talk to the site manager.)

If the site manager didn't comply, the assigner would be finding out before I even drove out of the parking lot. If the problem wasn't resolved to my satisfaction, I'd simply refuse to work those games. For the pay involved, it's not worth the headaches.

Agreed. If you do say anything, it should be polite. I should have noted earlier that the "snide remarks" mentioned by the OP should be avoided.

If fans are making comments that indicate a lack of rules knowledge, I'll laugh about it with my partner when we're out of earshot. Or, I'll just stand there and laugh, out loud, while watching the playing action. Or both. :)

All the more reason not to engage. At all. Frankly, my standard response is to politely direct them to the site manager.

Not sure what this has to do with AAU games.

Can I Be More Clear ???
 

Travel. All day long. All night long. Travel in a boys high school varsity game. Travel in a Catholic middle school girls "junior varsity" game. Travel in a gymnasium. Travel on an outdoor playground court. Travel in my sleep. Travel when I'm awake. Travel in my dreams. If it happens in my primary coverage area, it's a travel 100% of the time, all the time, every time.

Agreed.

If it happened as the OP said.

Perhaps Ncaa Traveling (Non) Calls Trickling Down?

Perhaps a lot of AAU officials aren't well versed on travelling rules.

Or maybe they have been reading too many of JRut's posts!