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Awesome Etiquette: Booing The Ref Respectfully

When booing the referee after a bad call at a sporting event, be sure to refrain from being obnoxious or making vicious comments.
Adam Kaz
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When booing the referee after a bad call at a sporting event, be sure to refrain from being obnoxious or making vicious comments.

With both of us being big sports fans, we were recently asked if it's okay to boo the referee or the other team while at a game. Is it all in good fun and part of the atmosphere or best to abstain altogether?

Sometimes we all can get a little emotionally charged which is why we advise against booing the ref at all. Look at it this way, they're making calls through the whole game and, even if one or two bad ones are made, they still have a very high success rate. So let's give 'em a break.

But, let's be honest. This kind of behavior does happen and there is room for it so long as it doesn't become vicious, obnoxious or make others around you uncomfortable. Often, good-natured trash-talk and human emotion is part of competition. Just remember that eyes of the community are always on you and it's important to set a good example, especially in front of kids. So give some thought ahead of time to how you're going to publicly remind the ref that s/he didn't make the best call.

If you have an etiquette question for us, send it to:  awesomeetiquette@emilypost.com

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