Basketball-Can an official forfeit a game for fan comments?

[falcettik]

I attended a freshman game last night and, as with most freshman games, the crowd was light and the gym relatively quiet so most comments from fans are easily heard. This game was officiated by one official, whom I have seen several times over the past few years, who isn't that good. He made calls (and non-calls) that elicited the normal comments from the stands, such as "call the foul!" or "he traveled!", or "call it both ways!", etc. Nothing you don't hear at any game. Nothing personal or aggressive was being said by either team's fans. At one point someone in the visitor's section yelled out, "who paid the refs?" after one of his calls. The official immediately walked over to someone who I assume is part of the school administration and said something. The administrator got up from his seat and walked across the court to the home section and asked fans to be respectful, then walked to the adjacent visitor section and said the same thing. The official, who had been trailing the administrator by about 20 feet as he walked across the court to the seating areas, then immediately said, "one more comment and I forfeit the game". It should be noted that this same official once did something else I have also never observed and I have attended over 1000 high school basketball games (FR, JV, and VAR) in my lifetime. In this situation the same official was performing about as he usually does. He called a foul on a defensive player who reached from behind to try to make a steal as the ball was being brought up the court. A fan yelled out, "you couldn't have possibly seen that!" (which was correct, since his line of sight would have prevented him from being able to see any contact), and this official turned to the stands as he was making his way to the scorer's table and yelled back at the fan "oh yes, I can!". That was the first, and only, time I have ever seen an official respond directly to a fan's comment.

My question - I know that an official can request that school administrators remove someone from the venue for poor behavior, but can an official actually declare a forfeit for routine comments from fans in the stands?

 

[White hat]

Since no one is answering this question, I'm going to take a stab at it. Maybe someone with better knowledge can step in and clarify, if needed.

My guess is: the official can declare a forfeit and leave, but I doubt it will stand. What would almost certainly happen is the schools would appeal to their district, which would move to have the game replayed. For there to be a forfeit that stands, I would think the circumstances would need to be far more extreme than described... armed threats, inaction by game administration, things like that.

My question regarding the OP is, where was the second official? Was he or she also being targeted and verbally harassed? Did they talk to the thin-skinned guy and say "ignore it"? What was happening there?

The fact this guy has been around a few years and is still being assigned freshman games tells me what his assognor thinks of him. I bet if he tried to forfeit a game because of remarks from ignorant fans, then his assignments would get even worse.

 

[falcettik]

Thanks for clarifying what might happen, White hat. No, the other official was not yelled at nearly as much, but also did not make nearly as many calls. Neither did the two discuss it, at least not at that moment or that I observed. The actions and comments were all taken by the one official I commented on. Thanks again.

 

[DinwiddieProud]

It is my understanding, (maybe baring something extreme, such as White Hat mentioned, but even then I don’t believe it’s an option), the officials could only “suspend” a contest, not declare a forfeit. I believe that the authority to “forfeit” a contest is solely initiated by the participating schools. The intention to forfeit would then be subject to the rules in the VHSL Handbook. (Which includes review and approval up to and including the Executive Director of the VHSL).

I don’t recall ever seeing mention of the ability of a game official to declare a forfeit. I understand there is an “Officials Handbook” that the VHSL provides that supplements the VHSL Handbook? From White Hat’s response, I doubt there is any provision in that handbook that provides an option to declare a forfeit?

My research of the handbook indicates that for any type of contest, and also specifically for basketball, that a disrupted or suspended contest shall be continued from the point of stoppage. (Specific details as to when contest are to resume are spelled out). Additionally, the Principals from the schools involved can agree to declare the contest final using the score at the time of the stoppage.

One thing that is an “absolute” is that any and all violations of the Leagues Sportsmanship Rules MUST be reported to the League office in a timely manner. Falcettlk, I wonder if the host school did this. That alone should have brought this “forfeit” to the table for discussion.

 

[falcettik]

It is my understanding, (maybe baring something extreme, such as White Hat mentioned, but even then I don’t believe it’s an option), the officials could only “suspend” a contest, not declare a forfeit. I believe that the authority to “forfeit” a contest is solely initiated by the participating schools. The intention to forfeit would then be subject to the rules in the VHSL Handbook. (Which includes review and approval up to and including the Executive Director of the VHSL).

I don’t recall ever seeing mention of the ability of a game official to declare a forfeit. I understand there is an “Officials Handbook” that the VHSL provides that supplements the VHSL Handbook? From White Hat’s response, I doubt there is any provision in that handbook that provides an option to declare a forfeit?

My research of the handbook indicates that for any type of contest, and also specifically for basketball, that a disrupted or suspended contest shall be continued from the point of stoppage. (Specific details as to when contest are to resume are spelled out). Additionally, the Principals from the schools involved can agree to declare the contest final using the score at the time of the stoppage.

One thing that is an “absolute” is that any and all violations of the Leagues Sportsmanship Rules MUST be reported to the League office in a timely manner. Falcettlk, I wonder if the host school did this. That alone should have brought this “forfeit” to the table for discussion.

Thanks for the additional information. The official did use the word "forfeit". Perhaps he misspoke or else used that term deliberately, and inappropriately, in an attempt to gain control of the situation. I am not so sure this rose to the level of something to be reported to the VHSL. I understand the concept and we always see banners or hear announcements about sportsmanship at games, but if this sort of fan commentary was reported then my guess is the VHSL would be awash in reports-you hear this sort of fan commentary all the time.

 

[White hat]

When my son was 7 or 8, he took part in the long-lived American activity of finding other boys your age and throwing a small, souvenir football around behind one endzone while a varsity game was going on. The high school's SRO came over and, instead of just telling them to stop or move someplace else, added the threatening possibility that if their little football went onto the field, the refs would forfeit the game and the visitors would win. Even 7 year olds rolled their eyes and knew that was ridicuous. We still laugh about that because he's often on my crew and if we see kids playing around, he'll remark I need to watch them as I might have to forfeit the game.

 

[DinwiddieProud]

I reread your opening comment and I agree, what was said by the fans probably didn’t raise to the level of a reportable sportsmanship violation. But, taken in its entirety, what transpired should have been reported to the League by both the school Principals and the Officials association.

And yes, the game administrator can have a fan removed with or without the encouragement of the officials.

Just as a side note,
It has been my experience, specifically at basketball games, that when a fan crosses the line and becomes disruptive, he or she was previously known to the school administrators. Consequently, they are being watched and are usually talked to early on if necessary. The majority of the time that suffices to keep the situation from getting out of hand. The few times that I’ve seen fans escorted out of gym, it always went rather smoothly. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that our AD and SRO, (at the time), are pretty intimidating. Both were Marines.

What usually causes the most problems are not fans having conflicts with the officials, but typically it’s either 1). two groups of kids that “THINK” they are badass gangbangers, or 2). parents of a kid that they at positive is the next coming of Michael Jordon, and someone else disagrees.