In my 6 years of CYO, these are the worst refs I have ever seen

So I stood there by the free-throw line after calling what seemed like foul #60 of the game. It was a 7th grade girls division 2 game. And usually 7-2 means pretty skilled. And don't get me wrong, the players definitely were, but just way too aggressive.

The score was 21-18. The team at the free-throw line had only 4 players left, as 2 of them had fouled out previously in the quarter. The losing team had a chance to cut the lead to just 1 with less than 2 minutes left in the game.

Then someone, sitting in the front row, yells across the gym to the coach, "Coach, in my 6 years of CYO, these are the worst refs I have ever seen."

I heard it and gave that fan's team an unsportsmanlike technical foul. My partner heard it too and immediately ended the game.

It wasn't even the worst crowd I have ever been part of. In fact, it probably wasn't even close. But the moral of the story is that one idiot fan can ruin the game for everybody.

In the first quarter alone, we called 10 team fouls on one team. These weren't little chippy fouls either. These were blatant shoves, leaning and hovering over another player, holds, etc...If I wanted to let some of it go, I couldn't.

Second quarter, different story. The team learned their lesson and just played defense with their hands straight up. The result, no fouls (maybe just 1) and a clean 2nd quarter.

But the 4th quarter came, and the same things they did in the 1st, they did again in the 4th.

What happens when the crowd gets a technical? The referee (my partner) warns the coach and tells the coach to tell his crowd to keep their cool. That happened in the game. The coach was a class act, complete professional, cool guy who knows that his team was very rough. He didn't complain to me one time the entire game.

About a minute after the warning, my partner T'd up a fan in the crowd. And then a few minutes later, it was my turn to do the same thing that happened just minutes ago. You would think grown adults would learn the lesson and behave.

I've done my share of games where I know I have been shaky, but this definitely was not one of them.

And even if we were terrible, people should know that after the first technical, we were serious. They needed to keep their composure whether we were good or stunk.

Instead, one clown ruined the game for everybody.

And can you believe this moron actually said, "This game is for the kids," as he left the gym.