In recent months, there has been an uptick of incidents at local games involving fans getting rowdy and causing disturbances, with the most recent example being last week in Pawtucket at the Cranston West-Tolman/Shea girls basketball playoff game at Jenks Middle School.

In this situation, there was a shoving match between players in the third quarter which led to some fans in the crowd getting involved, letting their thoughts known to the refs and teams before the administrators present decided to ultimately finish the game in an empty gym.

Many fans were angered by the decision, especially those that were not involved in the nonsense. Their argument for being able to stay was the classic bad apple argument. Why should a couple bad apples ruin it for everyone?

Unfortunately, there really is no feasible or correct solution to the problem. All we can do is make the closest thing to a correct decision when these incidents occur and hope for the best.

Is clearing the gym the best solution? Again, it’s tough to say. From what I gather, it was very tense in the gym, to the point that the decision makers felt that there was a potential for violence. Better safe than sorry, so sure, I guess I don’t disagree with the decision. It’s not like the hundreds of fans can be evaluated individually, not possible.

The only other solution could have been postponing the game, but that would cause a logistical nightmare in order to play less than half a game. I guess clearing the gym at the time was the best thing.

Moving forward, all we can really expect from a venue’s staff and security is a quicker response. As soon as they see a fan acting out, remove them. Far too often are these shenanigans contagious. Once one unruly person gets going, it’s almost as if it pumps the crowd up to join in. There has to be a shorter leash and higher expectations, which leads me to my next point.

Can’t we all just get along?

I’ve never understood fighting at sporting events. Sure, professional stadiums serve alcohol which leads to most altercations. Not that it is an excuse, but at least there is a traceable path to the madness.

At high school sporting events, though? C’mon.

There is no missed call bad enough to justify this behavior, and unless you feel that your child is in danger, there is nothing on the field that justifies it either. If you feel that your child was wronged physically or emotionally, take it up with security. If you want the crowd to receive the aforementioned bad apple treatment, then keep that same approach toward the players on the field. Don’t spoil the fun for all the kids just because you feel that one or two people dropped the ball.

I really struggle with these topics because I like operating with decisiveness. I can’t stand breaking these items down without a clear response. At the end of the day though, in this case, there is no way to ensure civility when crowds reach the hundreds. It’s just not realistic.

So, this is a plea to parents to help curb this issue. What occurred in January at Mt. Pleasant was far more severe than the incident in Pawtucket last week, but it’s all the same idea. Sports are supposed to be safe, fun environments, especially at the high school level. Let’s not lose sight of that, and remember that these kids enjoying themselves is what’s important. Not the adults’ ego.

On a brighter topic, I can say that the environment at the AMP was by far my favorite in Rhode Island to cover the basketball playoffs. It was my first time covering hoops there and it did not disappoint.

In the past, in fact, I have griped about holding playoffs in big venues. The reason is because there have been times in the past that I have seen the fan sections get almost drowned out because the capacity was nowhere near filled. It’s cool to see the thousands of seats, but when only a small portion is filled, it feels a bit empty.

The AMP was awesome though and I never felt that same, empty presence that I have felt at other arenas.

Fans filled the majority of the bottom level and it was amazing to see how close the stands were to the court. You really felt like the audience was sitting courtside with the teams.

For my own personal reasons as a reporter, it was also great to have all the amenities available as well. Plenty of space to move around, write, excellent lighting conditions, free WIFI that was fast. It was a pleasant experience from top to bottom.

RIC and CCRI have their strengths as well and I am all for them hosting as neutral sites. I do hope that the kids get to continue to compete for championships at the AMP. I was left impressed.