[mick]

Originally posted by Barry C. Morris

Yo, Mick. Why do you think it's a dumb mechanic? I always thought that it was silly that they asked the fella that just whistled poor little Billy with his fifth to walk over to the coach and tell him his star just fouled out. It's not that I don't have the...err...fortitude (yeah, that's it) to face up to the coach after doing such an egregious act but I don't see the need to set up a confrontation. I think it makes sense that my partner goes over to handle it and be told how bad I am stinking up the place as your partner probably had to endure last night.

Barry,
This should be an optional mechanic, if Official wants to retreat.
So many times, the coach already has a replacement at the table. Rarely, is a coach pushed so outa shape that he would rather confront the calling Official instead of any Official.

Instead of avoiding confrontation, both coaches and officials should be schooled in dealing with, avoiding confrontation.

And of course, I am talking about the two-whistle game. In a three-whistle game, the procedure is natural and efficient.

In this case, I called the foul, called the number, gave my partner the number of throws, reported at the top of the key, was told that was the fifth, jogged to my partner, who had the lane set to shoot, and told him to tell the coach and to notify the player. While I was doing that, the disqualified player, who knew it was the fifth and gone to the bench, sat down and the substitute was ready to be beckoned. So, I went back to Lead to administer the throw and my partner went back to Trail. (Dumb rule.)
mick