Leading off today: More than three-quarters of high school associations in the country list "poor sportsmanship by spectators" among the reasons for losing officials, according to the National Association of Sports Officials.
Against that backdrop, reporter Jackie Friedman of The Post-Star asked this question over the weekend: Is the amount of abuse officials take getting out of hand?
At a basketball game between Schuylerville and Mohonasen on Dec. 26, spectators became so unruly that the gym had to be cleared. It was a girls game . . . a JV girls game.
"Parents have invested their whole freaking past, present and future in little Johnny going to Syracuse on a scholarship and, oh gosh, the ref made a bad call," Will Keim, co-author of "Fan Etiquette: How did the burning desire to win become the desire to burn?" said. "This ref is keeping their kid out of the NBA."
In reality, barely 2 percent of high school athletes earn scholarships, the NCAA says. Fewer than 5 percent of athletes compete beyond the high school level and only about one-tenth of 1 percent turn pro.
If money spent of camps, equipment and slick highlight videos mailed to college coaches are motivation No. 1 for parents to be overly rough on officials, then unfulfilled dreams rate a close second according to Keim. He says fans identify with a team and feel emotional tugs based on that team's success. It leads to parents measuring their self-worth through their children.
"It's people yelling through unfulfilled athletic dreams," he said.
Double duty: Speaking of refs, there's the story of second-year Fort Ann basketball coach Kevin Nassivera, who is officiating a handful of games during him spare time.
Nassivera is in his 14th season as an official. "I'm in the gymnasium every night and that's where I want to be," he told The Post-Star.
He avoids Adirondack League games but does manage to pick up about 8-10 assignments during the season. He says officiating has made him a better coach and vice versa.
"As an official, it's knowing better what coaches are looking for, and that's consistency," Nassivera said. "Whether we're letting them play a little more or calling things a little tighter, they just want us to be consistent."
Daggett hits 400: Catherine Lewis broke open a close game in the final two minutes by hitting her fifth three-pointer, lifting St. Peter's past Blair Academy from New Jersey, 67-59, in the Champions Challenge yesterday at Monmouth University.
It was career win No. 400 for Bob Daggett.
"I don't know how many losses," Daggett told The Advance. "That's the most important thing. I guess it means I've had a lot of good players who have won a lot of games for us over the years."
1,000 times two: Kaitlin Donahoe of Buffalo Nichols broke the 1,000 career points mark in a 77-30 rout of Niagara Catholic, but she had to share the day's glory because Emily Bird of Niagara Catholic reached the same mark.
