| Another Confusing Cody Column |
Fans Gone Wild
Warning: This column contains adult content not suitable for
high school children
high school children
It's okay to voice your opinion.
It's not okay if you're voicing it, and look like an idiot doing so.
Every team has one fan who is more vocal than everyone else. What makes
people come to that conclusion is the content of what he or she says. We have a
natural tendency to notice things that are different than the norm.
There are a lot of loud fans who are vocal in a positive manner. When it comes to
saying things that are negative in style, there are many ways to send the message.
It becomes different than what we are used to hearing. This happens when a fan
voices his or her displeasure at something related to the game.
Anyone who goes to a high school sports event, one with a large crowd, has heard
this before. Chances are, they find themselves doing it too.
Are people going to agree with every decision made by officials, coaches,
timekeepers and event supervisors? No. There is a way to voice displeasure. Not
many people understand how to do this successfully.
The No. 1 disagreement fans have at games are decisions made by officials
regarding calls, or non calls. There are things fans disagree with, and try to
convince the official that he or she is wrong. There's a right way to do this, and a
wrong way.
First off, if the head coach is not complaining about the call, the fans shouldn't.
The coach, who understands the game more than anyone on that side,
understands why the call was called that way. The whining fan is simply trying to
make it look as if the player did everything okay and that someone was screwing
them over. Meanwhile, the coach is encouraging his players to regroup.
Whose method of moving on (coach or fan) has the least negative consequences?
Dragging on the issue distracts the players. The whining fan is distracting the
players, both the opponents and their own. The fan is doing their own team no
good by voicing the opinion, and also risks being kicked out of the event.
Rudeness leads to more embarrassment
Take for example a fan who sat two rows behind me at a boys basketball game this
year.
In an effort to study fan behavior at games, I tune in on other people's
conversations. When this fan noticed who was officiating the fresh-soph game, he
said, “This guy tried to kick me out of a game last year. He's terrible.”
He is terrible because he tried to kick you out of a game? He's terrible because he
was trying to keep order at the game? This was the start of the fresh-soph game,
and I had one ear on him and the other on the game.
Same guy complains about calls all game. When something was called against the
opposing team, the coach tries to get an explanation from the official. It was the
second such call on the opposing team, and the fan had been displeased about at
least six or seven before then.
“God he bitches a lot.”
The same thing comes out of his mouth every four minutes. “You're terrible!”
The event is half done. The varsity game is next. Same crew. He notices a player
from the other team has been “pushing” people all game.
“You guys got to watch number two, he's been pushing all game!”
He said this about three times, before one was finally called on number two. He
stands up quickly, pumps both his arms up in the air and looks up at the ceiling as
if God has given him his wish.
“YES!!!!! YES!!!!!”
A game-changing moment occurred midway through the fourth quarter. A
questionable out-of-bounds call has the opposing coach in a rage for the first time
in the night.
“Oh, shut up you big crybaby!”
The fan's team finally gets the lead. They are up three and someone misses a
shot. A teammate misplays the offensive rebound, which goes out-of-bounds. I
don't recall the exact quote this time, because my concentration is on the notepad
I'm writing on.
However, I do hear the phrase “the ------- ball!” twice out of his mouth.
He was berating his own team's player while using offensive language. This is what
happens with rage. We are unable to control it in further high-pressure situations.
The real sad thing is that no one around questioned it. If it wasn't for me sitting on
press row with my pass on, I would have turned around and struck a glare. The
hostility got me thinking if this is commonplace at all of their team's games.
Come to think of it, it's not the first time I've seen such rage from a fan from that
school.
At a nearly-empty girls basketball tournament game seven years ago, someone
was complaining repeatedly and was kicked out of the game. I noticed the same
fan was at it again the following year.
You establish a mentality of voicing your displeasure in a crowd so much that you
don't control it when there's not as many people around you. Most ejections occur
at the empty games.
The proper channel of communication
Fans can't influence change during a game. Doing so means the officials are not
doing their primary job, which is to control the game. If they were influenced by
someone, they are not doing their job. If they are not doing their job, then the
official is a weak one. Once that becomes known, they are less likely to have
schools or conferences call them up. If there's a call to disagree with in the first
quarter, be ready for more later in the game.
Official assignments are decided by either schools or conferences. The most
effective way to voice your displeasure is to take the argument to the core. Talk
with the event manager, which in most cases is the athletics director. Inform them
of your displeasure. Do so politely. If you brew up a storm, your case doesn't carry
a lot of weight.
When it comes to making a decision on who will officiate the game, the decider now
has two sources of influencing data: both the IHSA's rating report, and your direct
feedback – which is something they rarely get.
You may look like an idiot to the event manager, but there's only one of them
compared to the hundreds in the crowd.
Cody Cutter is the Publisher of Northern Illinois Sports Beat, and writes columns
about Illinois high school sports. He can be reached at
Northernillinoissportsbeat@yahoo.com. --- Talk about what's written on our
Message Boards!
It's not okay if you're voicing it, and look like an idiot doing so.
Every team has one fan who is more vocal than everyone else. What makes
people come to that conclusion is the content of what he or she says. We have a
natural tendency to notice things that are different than the norm.
There are a lot of loud fans who are vocal in a positive manner. When it comes to
saying things that are negative in style, there are many ways to send the message.
It becomes different than what we are used to hearing. This happens when a fan
voices his or her displeasure at something related to the game.
Anyone who goes to a high school sports event, one with a large crowd, has heard
this before. Chances are, they find themselves doing it too.
Are people going to agree with every decision made by officials, coaches,
timekeepers and event supervisors? No. There is a way to voice displeasure. Not
many people understand how to do this successfully.
The No. 1 disagreement fans have at games are decisions made by officials
regarding calls, or non calls. There are things fans disagree with, and try to
convince the official that he or she is wrong. There's a right way to do this, and a
wrong way.
First off, if the head coach is not complaining about the call, the fans shouldn't.
The coach, who understands the game more than anyone on that side,
understands why the call was called that way. The whining fan is simply trying to
make it look as if the player did everything okay and that someone was screwing
them over. Meanwhile, the coach is encouraging his players to regroup.
Whose method of moving on (coach or fan) has the least negative consequences?
Dragging on the issue distracts the players. The whining fan is distracting the
players, both the opponents and their own. The fan is doing their own team no
good by voicing the opinion, and also risks being kicked out of the event.
Rudeness leads to more embarrassment
Take for example a fan who sat two rows behind me at a boys basketball game this
year.
In an effort to study fan behavior at games, I tune in on other people's
conversations. When this fan noticed who was officiating the fresh-soph game, he
said, “This guy tried to kick me out of a game last year. He's terrible.”
He is terrible because he tried to kick you out of a game? He's terrible because he
was trying to keep order at the game? This was the start of the fresh-soph game,
and I had one ear on him and the other on the game.
Same guy complains about calls all game. When something was called against the
opposing team, the coach tries to get an explanation from the official. It was the
second such call on the opposing team, and the fan had been displeased about at
least six or seven before then.
“God he bitches a lot.”
The same thing comes out of his mouth every four minutes. “You're terrible!”
The event is half done. The varsity game is next. Same crew. He notices a player
from the other team has been “pushing” people all game.
“You guys got to watch number two, he's been pushing all game!”
He said this about three times, before one was finally called on number two. He
stands up quickly, pumps both his arms up in the air and looks up at the ceiling as
if God has given him his wish.
“YES!!!!! YES!!!!!”
A game-changing moment occurred midway through the fourth quarter. A
questionable out-of-bounds call has the opposing coach in a rage for the first time
in the night.
“Oh, shut up you big crybaby!”
The fan's team finally gets the lead. They are up three and someone misses a
shot. A teammate misplays the offensive rebound, which goes out-of-bounds. I
don't recall the exact quote this time, because my concentration is on the notepad
I'm writing on.
However, I do hear the phrase “the ------- ball!” twice out of his mouth.
He was berating his own team's player while using offensive language. This is what
happens with rage. We are unable to control it in further high-pressure situations.
The real sad thing is that no one around questioned it. If it wasn't for me sitting on
press row with my pass on, I would have turned around and struck a glare. The
hostility got me thinking if this is commonplace at all of their team's games.
Come to think of it, it's not the first time I've seen such rage from a fan from that
school.
At a nearly-empty girls basketball tournament game seven years ago, someone
was complaining repeatedly and was kicked out of the game. I noticed the same
fan was at it again the following year.
You establish a mentality of voicing your displeasure in a crowd so much that you
don't control it when there's not as many people around you. Most ejections occur
at the empty games.
The proper channel of communication
Fans can't influence change during a game. Doing so means the officials are not
doing their primary job, which is to control the game. If they were influenced by
someone, they are not doing their job. If they are not doing their job, then the
official is a weak one. Once that becomes known, they are less likely to have
schools or conferences call them up. If there's a call to disagree with in the first
quarter, be ready for more later in the game.
Official assignments are decided by either schools or conferences. The most
effective way to voice your displeasure is to take the argument to the core. Talk
with the event manager, which in most cases is the athletics director. Inform them
of your displeasure. Do so politely. If you brew up a storm, your case doesn't carry
a lot of weight.
When it comes to making a decision on who will officiate the game, the decider now
has two sources of influencing data: both the IHSA's rating report, and your direct
feedback – which is something they rarely get.
You may look like an idiot to the event manager, but there's only one of them
compared to the hundreds in the crowd.
Cody Cutter is the Publisher of Northern Illinois Sports Beat, and writes columns
about Illinois high school sports. He can be reached at
Northernillinoissportsbeat@yahoo.com. --- Talk about what's written on our
Message Boards!
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