Could not have said it better!
 

Agree with the gist of the article, except for the emphasis placed on the suggestion part of the problem is officials are not making a lot of money and officiating is not usually their "day job".

If officials were full time, salaried employees making bushels of money, idiots in the stands would still be idiots, only very likely louder and more obnoxious (consider NFL, NBA, MLB games). I submit, the increase in stupid behavior, is not because there are more idiots (alone) but because a lot more people tolerate and pay attention to idiots behaving badly, and they are often celebrated, or highlighted, by media.

There once was a time when rational spectators watching the game would be likely to suggest a "fan" making a fool out of themselves to knock it off.

My only issue was with the part about when a player acts out or disagrees with a call. Coaches sideline antics are way more responsible for fan reaction than players, in my opinion. The article skated right by that.

True, but we could always make more. Paying us 50 to 60 dollars for a game is usually not a great way to keep people in this when part of the problem is the time we spend away. If you want to keep officials, you will have to help cover their costs. I do not think anyone is trying to get rich, but at least pay me for my time. That is why guys are going to youth and non-high school games over high school. You pay everyone else for their time and in some cases the chain crew or table people get paid more than us for that night. That is just off if you ask me.

Peace

Yep. Had a JV game once where we got to 4th down and the (home) coaches were screaming that it was 3rd down. Wouldn't you know it -- it was a game where I forgot my down indicator -- probably one of 3 assignments ever where that's happened. I knew it was 4th, but on the off chance I had missed it, I (R) called in the other 3 guys. "I got 4th; anyone got anything else?" No was the universal response. They punt but the coaches are still screaming and I hear some idiot fan screaming too, "this is unbelievable." He had no idea what they were saying on the field.

The home chain crew told the HL that they didn't know why the coaches were doing that -- they knew it was 4th down. I, of course, knew -- they were trying to intimidate us. I probably should have filed a report, but I had no evidence of it. I went there a few weeks later and in the following years and the same guys were on their best behavior for the most part. Never mentioned that game.

It sounds like the coaching staff just lost track of the downs. In 28 years, I have seen it all the time, especially in lower level games. I personally don't think they were trying to intimidate your crew. Football is a emotional game and they just over reacted.

FWIW, i keep a spare set of everything (except maybe shoes) in my car for just such a situation.. and I seem to lose 2 or 3 down indicators each year... usually they get lost between games.

My crew also has a "bag of spares" (whistles, flags, bean bags, game cards, etc) that we stash somewhere just off the field (under a goalpost pad, next to a fence, wherever is convenient/out out of the way), in case something gets lost during the game. It's only been used once, but that's enough to justify it.

Sometimes "knowing you're absolutely correct" isn't quite enough. Depending on the extent to which the sideline was complaining, momentarily stopping the game and visibly conferring with crewmates to confirm the down, will silence (and satisfy) confused sideline personnel (without a word being spoken).