First, it's good to see my ol' friend oketex on the board! :woot
A number of things I read in that article about Welmer reminded me of myself when I called high school basketball in Oklahoma many years ago. Veteran officials who spoke at our annual meetings told everyone to ignore fans in the stands and not to engage them in conversation. I never followed their advice. I thought it was best to communicate with people, when possible, because it made the officials appear more human and less of a robot in a striped shirt with a whistle around his neck.
I have tons of interesting, as well as funny stories, but my approach usually worked well for me. I'll bore you with one to prove my point. One of my officiating buddies and I were calling a girls high school game in a town not far from here. Two of the locals, both in cowboy hats, were seated in elevated bleachers a few rows up from the center court line. One of them had a loud, booming voice, he used effectively to complain about nearly every call that didn't go the home team's way. I didn't know him personally at the time, but I had already identified the source before the first half ended. I also knew he had a daughter playing in that game, because I heard her say under her breath when she was on the line getting read to shoot a free shot, "I wish he would shut up!"
I made it a point to take the ball off the scorer's table a little early before the second half began and walk to the mid-court line on the other side, close to where the two cowboys were seated. I stood there for a minute or two, before I turned and said, "How are you guys doing tonight? I'll bet one of you has a daughter playing in this game." One quickly turned, pointed to his friend and said, "He does!" I replied, "I had an idea that might be the case. I remember what it was like when our daughter played high school sports."
I exchanged a few more pleasantries with them before the second half started. But, that was all it took to silence our heckler the entire second half. He never said another word. By the way, I met him a couple of years later and he is now a friend of mine.