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Old Fri Jan 26, 2018, 02:18pm
VaTerp VaTerp is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Fuelrider View Post
What could I personally do differently in that situation? T up the coach since my partner won't? Then take care of the 2 shot foul we had before this situation then the T, and if they still are not done issue the second T? I just had no idea what the hell was going on. I have never in my career seen something so insane to the point of delaying a game like this. What do you do when you have a partner who refuses to continue the game because he is to busy talking to the coach? I cannot just put the ball in play and go without him can I?
I think others have given you sound advice. At some point, you have to do what you have to do. Either walk over and intervene to say you are putting the ball back in play. Or JUST DO IT!

Bottom line is that the coach's behavior, beginning with his conduct on the JV bench, was way out of line and needed to be addressed much earlier and much more strongly. You are right that you can't control your partners actions but you can control what you are going to allow. I'm honestly sorry that you had such a crappy partner who put you in that situation but I'd view that as an opportunity to step up.

This brings up a 2nd larger point. Deference to partners. Many of us giving you advice here have obtained a certain amount of "status" in our respective officiating associations. We get most of the R assignments, work state finals, have a certain respect, familiarity with most of the coaches, etc. And it doesn't matter who we are working with, we are not going to allow certain things and have no problem taking whatever actions are needed to get that point across.

But that was not always that way. We were all the younger, less experienced official at some point in our careers. And for me, at least, there was a time when I was uncertain if I should "challenge" the R on certain things or defer to them on things I was not entirely comfortable with. And depending on what is the norm/expectation in your area and with your assingor there may be some of that here.

My advice though is that you have to be assertive, sooner rather than later. At the HS level I've seen a few guys whose schedule suffered b/c they rubbed people the wrong way, people thought they were too cocky too early or whatever. But 9 times out of 10, officials who are assertive and, within the rules, address situations and bench decorum appropriately are the ones who see their schedules take off and earn the respect of their peers, assigners, and coaches.

Most of us don't do this for the money. We do it because, on some level, we enjoy it and we want to do this. That said, there is stuff we have to deal with- obnoxious coaches, players, fans, partners, bad games, etc. IMO, life is too short to deal with BS like what your partner and the coach pulled. So DON'T deal with it. Put an end to it as best you can within the rules. If your assignor doesnt support you, then maybe that's an assignor who doesnt need your availability. I don't know what your situation is like where you live but here people have options.

So, long-winded post but I will end by saying that people are often too deferential to the R when in reality that title means little once the ball is tossed. When you know something is not right, like your situation that evening, step up and use the tools you have to manage the game appropriately. If your partner doesnt like it, then that's on them. Any assingor worth $0.02 will support an official curtailing the ridiculous behavior of a coach who delays a game for that period of time, which was about 12 minutes and 45 seconds too long.
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