Charges: Fan assaulted referee at high school basketball game in northwestern Minnesota

[BleedGopher]

per STrib:

A basketball fan became profanely irate over the officiating at a boys high school game in northwestern Minnesota, ripped the whistle off a referee and tore the referee's shirt before being ejected from the gym, according to a criminal complaint.

Phillip S. Lokken, 45, of Detroit Lakes is scheduled to appear in Becker County District Court on April 28 on misdemeanor assault and disorderly conduct charges in connection with the Jan. 13 incident during a boys game between host Lake Park Audubon High School and visiting Win-E-Mac High School.

Lokken was charged by summons. In response Tuesday to a request for comment about the charges, he told the Star Tribune, "It's not any of your [expletive] business what I did," but he went on to call his actions "a bad decision."

According to the criminal complaint:

Lokken threw a bag of popcorn at the referee late in the game at the school in Lake Park, Minn., after a foul was called on one of the Win-E-Mac players. Lokken then combined a profane gesture toward the official with similar language.

Video coverage of the game showed Lokken being ejected from the gym.

Lokken came down from the stands, grabbed the referee's whistle and ripped it off his lanyard. He also tore the referee's shirt.

The official recalled Lokken getting angry over a call he made earlier in the game, which Win-E-Mac lost 64-54.

Charges: Fan assaulted referee at high school basketball game in northwestern Minnesota

After one call late in the game, the official had his whistle ripped away and his shirt torn, according to the charges.

www.startribune.com

Go Gophers!!

 

[MNVCGUY]

Is it any wonder it is becoming harder and harder to find referees for youth sports. This incident is on the more extreme end but the verbal abuse that officials have to deal with from parents and coaches is just pathetic.

 

[Dano564]

Think about the perspective of that person who got thrown out.

He felt the referee was making bad calls like he felt one team winning that game was going to somehow improve the referee's life in some fashion and purposely doing so.

No referee is perfect, but to think the referee had some agenda against a team or even this person directly is ridiculous. And even in the case if he ever may have, the idea you should get personally offended by it seems ridiculous, let alone take it to a physical altercation.

 

[short ornery norwegian]

A long time ago - I believe in the spring of '72, I was at a game where a fan came out of the stands at the end of a game and tackled a referee. The ref had called a Technical Foul on the guy's son earlier in the game. the stands emptied and chaos ensued. I went and hid under the bleachers. (I was keeping the official book for the visiting and losing team.)

So, this is not a new deal. But I do think the overall level of verbal abuse at refs has increased. What gets me is that it can be just as bad at a B-squad or C-squad game. Some of those parents are nuts - and most of them don't understand the rules.

 

[bmb5270]

A long time ago - I believe in the spring of '72, I was at a game where a fan came out of the stands at the end of a game and tackled a referee. The ref had called a Technical Foul on the guy's son earlier in the game. the stands emptied and chaos ensued. I went and hid under the bleachers. (I was keeping the official book for the visiting and losing team.)

So, this is not a new deal. But I do think the overall level of verbal abuse at refs has increased. What gets me is that it can be just as bad at a B-squad or C-squad game. Some of those parents are nuts - and most of them don't understand the rules.

I would have thought that an ornery Norwegian would have gotten in the scrum.

 

[GoodasGold]

per STrib:

A basketball fan became profanely irate over the officiating at a boys high school game in northwestern Minnesota, ripped the whistle off a referee and tore the referee's shirt before being ejected from the gym, according to a criminal complaint.

Phillip S. Lokken, 45, of Detroit Lakes is scheduled to appear in Becker County District Court on April 28 on misdemeanor assault and disorderly conduct charges in connection with the Jan. 13 incident during a boys game between host Lake Park Audubon High School and visiting Win-E-Mac High School.

Lokken was charged by summons. In response Tuesday to a request for comment about the charges, he told the Star Tribune, "It's not any of your [expletive] business what I did," but he went on to call his actions "a bad decision."

According to the criminal complaint:

Lokken threw a bag of popcorn at the referee late in the game at the school in Lake Park, Minn., after a foul was called on one of the Win-E-Mac players. Lokken then combined a profane gesture toward the official with similar language.

Video coverage of the game showed Lokken being ejected from the gym.

Lokken came down from the stands, grabbed the referee's whistle and ripped it off his lanyard. He also tore the referee's shirt.

The official recalled Lokken getting angry over a call he made earlier in the game, which Win-E-Mac lost 64-54.

Charges: Fan assaulted referee at high school basketball game in northwestern Minnesota

After one call late in the game, the official had his whistle ripped away and his shirt torn, according to the charges.

www.startribune.com

Go Gophers!!

Undoubtedly a Trumpie. His son is gonna be real proud of dad!

 

[Some guy]

A long time ago - I believe in the spring of '72, I was at a game where a fan came out of the stands at the end of a game and tackled a referee. The ref had called a Technical Foul on the guy's son earlier in the game. the stands emptied and chaos ensued. I went and hid under the bleachers. (I was keeping the official book for the visiting and losing team.)

So, this is not a new deal. But I do think the overall level of verbal abuse at refs has increased. What gets me is that it can be just as bad at a B-squad or C-squad game. Some of those parents are nuts - and most of them don't understand the rules.

Yeah. It being publicized more now isn’t the same thing as it being more common now. Though I do think it’s a little more common.

I also think referees aren’t as good as they used to be.

 

[Outsider]

Yeah. It being publicized more now isn’t the same thing as it being more common now. Though I do think it’s a little more common.

I also think referees aren’t as good as they used to be.

Might be because the good referees are tired of all that bs and have quit the game. These are the reasons I hung it up. Don’t need to deal with parents, half of whom don’t even know the rules of the games they are watching.

 

[#2Gopher]

I would have thought that an ornery Norwegian would have gotten in the scrum.

I think he wants to keep his job.

 

[Some guy]

Might be because the good referees are tired of all that bs and have quit the game. These are the reasons I hung it up. Don’t need to deal with parents, half of whom don’t even know the rules of the games they are watching.

Might be because the “good” refs crowded people out of the field and didn’t give people the chances so there wasn’t anyone joining officiating

And now the refs are retiring and there is no one with experience to take their place. It’s really a demographic issue more than anything


You’re right.
More than half of parents don’t know the rules. In my experience, about half of officials know the rules. Sometimes refs don’t even know the point of emphasis.

 

[MNVCGUY]

Might be because the good referees are tired of all that bs and have quit the game. These are the reasons I hung it up. Don’t need to deal with parents, half of whom don’t even know the rules of the games they are watching.

The referee/umpire shortage has become a massive problem and it is getting worse every year. Our traveling baseball association upped the pay for this year and put in a rule that if an umpire has to eject a fan the coach of that team is suspended for the next game. The goal being to get coaches to take an even more active role trying to get the parents off the umpires. Rumor is that this rule will be enforced pretty much everywhere next season.

It is a shame that some parents can't figure out that the reason there are so few refs and the overall quality of officiating is going down is directly tied to the behavior of parents at the games.

 

[Some guy]

The referee/umpire shortage has become a massive problem and it is getting worse every year. Our traveling baseball association upped the pay for this year and put in a rule that if an umpire has to eject a fan the coach of that team is suspended for the next game. The goal being to get coaches to take an even more active role trying to get the parents off the umpires. Rumor is that this rule will be enforced pretty much everywhere next season.

It is a shame that some parents can't figure out that the reason there are so few refs and the overall quality of officiating is going down is directly tied to the behavior of parents at the games.

It is overblown that this is all the cause of it. Generational retirement of boomers is as much or more of the issue

There have always been refs who ref for a few years then get out of it.

 

[MNVCGUY]

Might be because the “good” refs crowded people out of the field and didn’t give people the chances so there wasn’t anyone joining officiating

And now the refs are retiring and there is no one with experience to take their place. It’s really a demographic issue more than anything


You’re right.
More than half of parents don’t know the rules. In my experience, about half of officials know the rules. Sometimes refs don’t even know the point of emphasis.

Not sure if you have any kids currently involved in youth sports but this issue has become a massive problem over the past few seasons from high school down. Retirements might be partially to blame but there have been a lot of younger refs that have hung it up because of the abuse. Just not worth it for what is a side gig for them.

 

[Some guy]

Not sure if you have any kids currently involved in youth sports but this issue has become a massive problem over the past few seasons from high school down. Retirements might be partially to blame but there have been a lot of younger refs that have hung it up because of the abuse. Just not worth it for what is a side gig for them.

I am talking more about MSHSL level officiating than youth sports

The bigger issue is the expansion of youth sports in terms of the officiating shortage. Comparing the officiating demands of in house basketball to AAU and traveling basketball is tough to do. You need a much higher quality ref to ref a higher quality game. 7th grade AAU basketball is a much harder game to officiate than 7th grade in house ball in 1995

I have no idea about baseball.



At the high school level, I completely disagree with you. Coaches are overtly nice and understanding of refs (even bad ones) in my experience

 

[alchemy2u]

Yeah. It being publicized more now isn’t the same thing as it being more common now. Though I do think it’s a little more common.

I also think referees aren’t as good as they used to be.

It is more common. Lack of sportsmanship is allowed in the name of uber competitiveness. Remember the discussion about removing the after game handshake.

 

[alchemy2u]

Might be because the “good” refs crowded people out of the field and didn’t give people the chances so there wasn’t anyone joining officiating

And now the refs are retiring and there is no one with experience to take their place. It’s really a demographic issue more than anything


You’re right.
More than half of parents don’t know the rules. In my experience, about half of officials know the rules. Sometimes refs don’t even know the point of emphasis.

You do know that referees have to attend clinics, complete training and be certified before they can work a game, right?

The comments about increasing the pay and giving them more support is the only way to reduce the shortage.

 

[MennoSota]

Think about the perspective of that person who got thrown out.

He felt the referee was making bad calls like he felt one team winning that game was going to somehow improve the referee's life in some fashion and purposely doing so.

No referee is perfect, but to think the referee had some agenda against a team or even this person directly is ridiculous. And even in the case if he ever may have, the idea you should get personally offended by it seems ridiculous, let alone take it to a physical altercation.

I can only recall one obvious game of referee bias. Back in 1975 a little school from Orr played Cloquet in the section semifinals. All 5 starters for Orr fouled out and Cloquet won by less than a handful of points. An investigation was done and it was found that the crew didn't want to see a primarily indigenous team win and possibly go to State (I think Chisholm actually won Section 7). The officials were banned from basketball reffing. Of course the game outcome was what it was. Orr went on to win Section 7 the next year, defeating Chisholm in a barn burner at the last second.
A side note: The dad of the Dahlman kids from Braham was the center on that team from Orr.

 

[Some guy]

It is more common. Lack of sportsmanship is allowed in the name of uber competitiveness. Remember the discussion about removing the after game handshake.

It’s more common is your opinion. You have absolutely zero data to back this up. It’s anecdotal

 

[Some guy]

You do know that referees have to attend clinics, complete training and be certified before they can work a game, right?

The comments about increasing the pay and giving them more support is the only way to reduce the shortage.

Yeah I do. That doesn’t mean they know the rules. In fact, I’ve been at a high school football game with the head of officiating for the area that didn’t enforce the point of emphasis from those very trainings.

 

[upnorthkid]

what a winner this guy is.

as far as officiating, fewer and fewer people will want to do it for the pay that's offered and the abuse that's given (to me it seems to be becoming worse as more kids "specialize" in a "this is all they have so I'm really going to show the ref I care the most" fashion; hockey has gotten awful at the youth level). compound that with changing opinions towards sports as a whole from younger generations and you're going to have ongoing issues with finding refs. Why we as a culture tolerate (and at times encourage) yelling at officials is beyond me

 

[kg21]

The thing that always kills me about these lunatic parents that scream and yell is that when their team comes down the floor and gets a horrendous call in their favor........they don't say shit!

A player on their team commits an obvious foul, and they say nothing.

A player on their team takes 3 steps and obviously travels........well, guess what......they don't say shit.

They are such fakes!

 

[MNVCGUY]

I am talking more about MSHSL level officiating than youth sports

The bigger issue is the expansion of youth sports in terms of the officiating shortage. Comparing the officiating demands of in house basketball to AAU and traveling basketball is tough to do. You need a much higher quality ref to ref a higher quality game. 7th grade AAU basketball is a much harder game to officiate than 7th grade in house ball in 1995

I have no idea about baseball.



At the high school level, I completely disagree with you. Coaches are overtly nice and understanding of refs (even bad ones) in my experience

Certainly don't mean to imply that bad behavior by parents/coaches is the full cause of the issue but it 100% is part of it. There have been surveys and studies done and one of the key reasons officials site for getting out of officiating is fan/coach behavior. So it is far more than just anecdotal.

Expansion of sports, aging official pool and Covid have all played roles in causing the shortage. The problem is that nobody knows how to fix it and the problem is Nationwide. One of the biggest ways to start addressing it is by working very hard to get the parents to stop being part of the reason younger people don't want to get into or stay in officiating.

 

[Gophers_4life]

Lake Park is "northwestern" Minnesota? It's basically the same latitude as Fargo-Moorhead.

 

[alchemy2u]

It’s more common is your opinion. You have absolutely zero data to back this up. It’s anecdotal

Investigating the rise in football fan violence: missiles, cocaine and political agendas

The national picture for crowd disorder is bleak. Arrests are up and cocaine is being cited as a big problem. So, what's really going on?

theathletic.com

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2021/12/18/high-school-sports-student-fan-behavior/

'It seems to be more extreme': Violent sports fans are causing alarm at every level

Experts says abusive behavior at sporting events could stem from culture of aggression that exists online. "People are angry. ... We cannot have it."

www.usatoday.com

So where is your data that it is just being reported more and isn't more common.

 

[MNVCGUY]

The thing that always kills me about these lunatic parents that scream and yell is that when their team comes down the floor and gets a horrendous call in their favor........they don't say shit!

A player on their team commits an obvious foul, and they say nothing.

A player on their team takes 3 steps and obviously travels........well, guess what......they don't say shit.

They are such fakes!

That kind of behavior isn't surprising at all. Look at message boards. The refs sucked and clearly had it out for us....when my team lost.....if my team won the refs might have made a few mistakes but they did a good job.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

Might be because the good referees are tired of all that bs and have quit the game. These are the reasons I hung it up. Don’t need to deal with parents, half of whom don’t even know the rules of the games they are watching.

It's also just hard to get anyone to work anywhere..

 

[GoodasGold]

It's also just hard to get anyone to work anywhere..

For many of the same reasons.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

For many of the same reasons.

Yep, laziness mixed with entitlement.

I don't think the average construction worker is getting parents of opposing construction workers yelling at them.

 

[short ornery norwegian]

I would have thought that an ornery Norwegian would have gotten in the scrum.

at the time I was 5'6" and weighed about 135. And not a fighter.

my father told me once, if it looks like you might get into a fight, and the other guy is bigger, run away. sound advice.

 

[Some guy]

Investigating the rise in football fan violence: missiles, cocaine and political agendas

The national picture for crowd disorder is bleak. Arrests are up and cocaine is being cited as a big problem. So, what's really going on?

theathletic.com

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2021/12/18/high-school-sports-student-fan-behavior/

'It seems to be more extreme': Violent sports fans are causing alarm at every level

Experts says abusive behavior at sporting events could stem from culture of aggression that exists online. "People are angry. ... We cannot have it."

www.usatoday.com

So where is your data that it is just being reported more and isn't more common.

The data I have is from the BLS and it is across all fields

Their is a nationwide labor shortage. And yea, it impacts part time jobs like officiating too.