Playoff brawl (Video)

[just another ref]

Had a pretty serious incident involving one of the local teams here.

Epps High School Player gets Assaulted by Plainview Fans during Playoff Game 02/27/2014 - YouTube



The serious part is at the end of the video, after the 3:00 mark.

[just another ref]

Couple of newspaper accounts:

http://www.thetowntalk.com/article/2...tory-over-Epps

http://www.thetowntalk.com/article/2...l-playoff-game

[Camron Rust]

Unfortunate that the fan (woman in white/green) had to get up and start causing trouble with the visiting team's player.

Seemed like the game was going just fine until that (or at least it seemed so from the video). The girl that stepped out of bounds may have caught a hand across the face just after she stepped out but it was not intentional...and wasn't a foul since the ball has just become dead due to the OOB call. That stuff is going to happen. It is part of the game.

Can't seem much else after that since people are in the way and the video ends.

Shame on that woman for causing this mess.

[just another ref]

While the fan is clearly the main culprit from what I see the player is not squeaky clean either. She accelerates the situation by sticking her hand in the woman's face. The hand get's slapped away and then it's on. I had two questions. First, as you say, based on the reaction of the player on the last possession, she was struck in the face. Did this occur before or after she stepped out of bounds? Second, do we penalize a player for becoming involved in an altercation with a fan when the fan is clearly the initial aggressor? The player didn't even have to retreat. If she had just waited a couple of seconds and kept her hands to herself, the official was already stepping in and calling for help, presumably from police or game management.

Naturally, some will blame the officials. One of the articles said something about the fans blaming the officials for "allowing the game to get out of hand."

And a couple of the youtube commenters agreed that the official should not have allowed the fan to approach the player.

wow

[JetMetFan]

The only thing - by rule - you could consider getting the player for is 10-3-6b (Using profane or inappropriate language or obscene gestures) but I think that would be a stretch and this comes from someone dealing with a "no tolerance" rule regarding profanity in his public school games. There's nothing in the rule book covering player interactions with fans.

I agree the player could've walked away but the hand came up because the "fan" tried to get in her face or might even have said something. If I'm assessing blame I'm going 95/5 in favor of the fan.

To echo Camron, the game didn't look out of hand from what we can see. The team that was more aggressive - and trailing - picked up lots of fouls. Not unusual. Everything goes into the toilet when the knucklehead gets up and confronts a player. I'd like to see the entire game to find out whether the "fan" had been a problem child earlier on. Regardless, I'm not getting involved with a fan if I can help it. That's game management's headache.

[eyezen]

If you really want to start throwing people under the bus, how about those who scheduled a state 1/4 in that gym and on top of it allowed people to sit in the front row knowing the tight confines.

[JugglingReferee]

From what I can see in the video, I'm tossing the fan and nothing to the player.

I'm not faulting the player for defending herself.

[dsqrddgd909]

Originally Posted by JetMetFan

The only thing - by rule - you could consider getting the player for is 10-3-6b (Using profane or inappropriate language or obscene gestures) but I think that would be a stretch and this comes from someone dealing with a "no tolerance" rule regarding profanity in his public school games. There's nothing in the rule book covering player interactions with fans.

I agree the player could've walked away but the hand came up because the "fan" tried to get in her face or might even have said something. If I'm assessing blame I'm going 95/5 in favor of the fan.

To echo Camron, the game didn't look out of hand from what we can see. The team that was more aggressive - and trailing - picked up lots of fouls. Not unusual. Everything goes into the toilet when the knucklehead gets up and confronts a player. I'd like to see the entire game to find out whether the "fan" had been a problem child earlier on. Regardless, I'm not getting involved with a fan if I can help it. That's game management's headache.

A hypothetical question: Is there any action by a player directed towards a fan that would warrant a T or ejection? I'm thinking a player spitting on a fan or threatening a fan.

[Camron Rust]

Originally Posted by just another ref

First, as you say, based on the reaction of the player on the last possession, she was struck in the face. Did this occur before or after she stepped out of bounds?

I believe she was out first. While we can't see the line, we can see her step in the direction of the line just before before being hit in the face and not stepping any more that direction before the whistle. I think it is save to assume she was out first, just barely.

Originally Posted by just another ref

Second, do we penalize a player for becoming involved in an altercation with a fan when the fan is clearly the initial aggressor?

Yes. Unsportsmanlike behavior is unsportsmanlike behavior even if it is aimed towards a fan. It doesn't matter who starts it.