Ejecting Fans
 

What is your threshold for ejecting or cautioning fans? Do the "three P's" (personal, profane, prolonged) apply to fans as well? This assumes you are doing this indirectly, through on-site management.

I hardly ever consider anything when it comes to fans. Unless they interact with the participants directly in an inappropriate way, I have no thought process that even includes them in what they do or say. And student sections are usually going to say some personal things to players or coaches under the right circumstances. Mostly I let the school administrators handle these situations.

Peace

I just ignore and avoid the crowd and let game mgt take care of it.....if there is such a thing.

I have only ejected one fan - ever (Rec Ball) many yrs ago as I had just ejected the head coach and he (the fan) came onto the court......buh, bye.

I have a slightly different threshold. To me, if the fans/parents are actually preventing you from focussing on the game, then it's time for them to stop. 99% of the time, in school games, game admin takes care of the issue before I even notice anything is wrong.

In spring/summer/fall ball, GM sometimes needs a little prodding. I've never actually tossed a fan, but I have, in a YMCA league game, loudly informed the table that we were on the verge of clearing the bleachers.

I have never tossed a fan , but I have asked GM to monitor a fan or section. So my threshold if fairly high. Things like threatening a player, racial or sexual orientation comments would cross the line for me. But for me I would eject quicker when comment are directed at a player than myself. As far as comments that would distract me from calling a game, I cannot think of a comment that would do that. And if what a fan says effects my game, I think that is more about me as an official, than the fan.

I tossed a fan, or I should say I had a fan tossed. Once. 15 years ago during a summer AAU game because he was being a loudmouth in an otherwise very quiet gym in suburban Atlanta. As he was leaving I heard his daughter say to a teammate, "Did he get kicked out?" The teammate nodded yes and the daughter said, "Good."

Otherwise, as long as they stay in the stands I'm letting game management deal with them. I may give GM a little prodding if they're going overboard in a H.S. game but other than that I try to forget the crowd is there.

I have once. BV between 2 heated rivals in a gym without much room on the sidelines. Ravens' current backup QB steps on sideline while dribbling over division line against pressure defense. I make the call and a fan jumps into neutral zone along sideline and yells "bullsh!t" a couple times. I walked over to GM and advised them that person needed to leave...IMO.

Later in the same game, during OT, said player gets fouled by superstar from other team followed by a taunting T on Mr. QB. When I turn around from reporting my fouls there's a fight going on at the top of the bleachers. Turns out it was between Mr. QB's father and Mr. Superstar's uncle.

With that type of environment I felt validated in my earlier ejection of the unruly fan. A have a low tolerance for that type of garbage.

Once in a freshman game (back gym, no bleachers, fans standing around the court) when there was no (real) game management. I tossed him myself.

Once in a varsity tournament when a fan made a racial threat. I had the home AD remove the fan.

Once in a girl's middle school game. Small gym, pack of fans standing at the top of the bleachers and completely showing their rears. During a dead ball, one of them starts yelling and screaming directly at me in a manner that brought attention of the whole gym on him. I went over to the table and told the timer / game admin that he needed to leave. She all too happily agreed and told him to get lost. He made quite a scene leaving, which further validated my decision.

This worked in this situation. If it were a loud, even semi full gym I'd have not noticed but I doubt all of the players would have heard that either.

Once in a girl's MS game, two women (moms?) were taping the game. During a time out, they decided to verbally intimidate the visiting team. The visiting coach brought it to my attention. The GM tossed them without hesitation after I pointed them out.

What the heck were these moms doing?

95% of the time there is someone administrative that will either take care of this, or whom you can ask to take care of it. The other 5%, it's a tough call. I would rather ignore them entirely - taking care of it yourself, in the absence of administrators, can be dangerous - you never know who's going to want to wait in the parking lot.

I can only remember ejecting fans once, and that was softball ... however, I used up my life quota as we ejected the entire side (after ejecting the manager, then later the acting manager, and immediately after that the lone remaining coach). TD allowed one coach to remain in the dugout to administer the kids on the condition that he never leave the dugout nor shout anything (even encouragement) loud enough that we could hear it. Basically, the rest of that game was the kids to win or lose (they won, actually).

I did eject a scorekeeper in football once as well, when he cussed us out over the PA.

Is it wrong that I laughed at this?

Yes. It's wrong.

I'm also sorry.

You work youth football in Texas - you know exactly the type of scoreboard guy I'm talking about. :) :)

His kid, apparently, rushed up the middle into a pile of dust around the 10 yard line. The pile was moving slowly forward, we didn't kill the play. All of a sudden over the PA we hear something like, "What the F&*$!!! Blow the G@$-D#$# play dead you F*$&*# idiots!!!! You're going to get my kid hurt!!!!!"

Kid scored. Parent-with-a-mike got to witness the rest of the game through binoculars from the not-very-close parking lot.

Let me ask you this, would you have even addressed it if he didn't have the microphone? Suppose it's a youth game, and the crowd is sparse enough that everyone can hear him.

I don't do football but if it were a basketball game I would have addressed it. I once had a game at a private school (rich kid type) where a student section chanted something vulgar. I advised GM and from what I could tell they decided not to address the issue. However, I think the fact that the kids saw me talking with an administrator encouraged them not to repeat it. If it had continued I would have just addressed it with my commissioner (assignor).

That is priceless!

As for the OP...I have had GM escort a fan out once - in a HS Boys game where I had to warn the cheerleaders to stay off the court. Daddy of one of the cheerleaders decided to come onto court and quarter break to give me a piece of his mind. A simple gesture to GM guy and he had daddy by the arm and basically drug him out the door.

On the other hand, I was working a Women's JuCo game where my partner - a very well established and experienced official in the NW - tossed an entire section of the stands (about 30 people) and refused to let the game continue until they had left!:eek:

I Felt Like I Was In The Movie "Pulp Fiction" (257 F Words) ...
 

Boys high school varsity. My partner calls an intentional foul on V1, who fouled H2, and he heads to the table to report. H2 gets in V1's face, despite the fact that I'm trying to get between them, and unleashes the "F" word. I toss H2. All of this happens at the division line, far side, across from the table. I'm all alone with the players because my partner is still in the reporting area. Out of the stands, onto the court, comes a parent, who gets right in my face, complaining that I tossed the wrong player. I actually felt that he was going to hit me (he didn't). I go over to H coach and ask him to have the parent removed from the gymnasium (the athletic director wasn't there that night, first time ever that he wasn't there). Head coach of H says that it's not his job to remove parents. I say that we're not playing until the parent is removed (no threat of a forfeit mentioned, we're just going to wait). Assistant coach H gets off the bench and tells me that it isn't my job to have parents removed. I tell him to please sit down, he refuses, and I serve him some tea, just one lump. Head coach finally has parent removed, we get all the fouls reported, shoot all the free throws, and we're just about ready to get under way when V6, on the bench, unleashes the "F" word at a group of H players on the court, so he gets tossed.

Honestly, that's a great point.

If I put myself in exactly that situation, with a guy yelling that same thing, but not with a mike - I probably ignore it. Wondering if that means it was wrong for us to address it when he had the mike.

Spectatorship ???
 

That's pretty much all it takes here in my little corner of Connecticut. We have some outstanding athletic directors, faculty managers, and site directors.

No, I think there's a significant enough difference that you could address the PA announcer and justify ignoring the fans.

Pesonally, around here, I'm backed up tossing parents for this sort of vulgar language during a youth game (not going to hear it in most high school level games). I did inform a parent in a MS level FB game last spring that he was on the verge of having to hear about the game later (dropping repeated F-bombs at the officials). He mumbled something in anger, but I didn't hear from him again. I normally don't do that, and in fact regret it after the fact, but it worked. I probably got lucky.

In our local kids rec league, we have at least one of the Board members at every game. If a spectator says or does anything inappropriate, the Board member deals with it up to and including ejection. If the person is ejected, they cannot attend any more games that season unless they appeal to the Board and are reinstated.

And now for something different. Back in HS (a few centuries ago) we used to have a chant we would yell when an opponent was going to shoot an "important" free throw. It was "See that basket, see that ball, c'mon stupid, hit the wall". :D

The Ref Brought His Lunch, The Ref Brought His Lunch ...
 

Tame by today's standards.

Not what they should have been doing - ie supporting their team. They had a video camera set up on a tripod to tape the game. But during a time out while not running the camera, they had to find another way to amuse themselves. Ooops, enjoy the remainder of the game from the parking lot.

Did you eject the camera too??

You know it, although I can't say I've ever had that happen.

First week of youth games is in the bag. It is truly amazing what can be seen from the stands. :D

Bye, Bye
 

Yep, the camera had to leave too. But, the game administrator did it not me. :D

Interesting thread
 

I have a very low threshold for parents. But it also depends on the age of the athletes. If the kids are younger, I will not tolerate their parents acting like kids themselves. I just had game managers remove 2 parents this past weekend for unsporting outbursts. These were 6th grade games.

I use to organize and run leagues as a profession and we as an organization had pre season meetings and post season meetings to discuss parent's behavior. These types of meetings were important and valuable. And obviously don't happen nearly enough.

With that said, I have never had to remove a spectator from a high school game or any age higher.

Official Scorekeeper
 

I called a PC foul on the home team, I go to report it, the official scorekeeper, who happens to be the home team coaches son starts shaking his head at me and mouthing, "no way" no way",,, Thats the closest Ive come to removing person,,, funny thinking about in now but not at the time.

Did you talk to him?

Teachable moment right there. Next dead ball...have a brief, but definitive, conversation about his ability to remain impartial, or else give the seat to someone who can. I actually once had a mom admit she couldn't be impartial (sub-varsity game) so she had the coach get another parent to keep the book.

I don't think I would have waited, but I could see doing it either way. I agree, though, he and I are going to have a chat at some point soon, if not immediately.