Quote:
Originally posted by Brian Watson
I would politely disagree.
I wouldn't give a baseball heave-ho signal. For one, I don't think it is in the book and two that might really blow the coach up.
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I agree completely with you, Brian--I would approach it the same way. The "heave-ho" signal may not cause much reaction sometimes, but it has more potential to intensify a situation (and the crowd) and does nothing helpful, really. Calmly reporting the flagrant to the table as just that, then informing the table and coach that the player is disqualified, presents a matter-of-fact approach that has a better chance of keeping tempers from getting worse and will more swiftly get the game moving again. The fans may not even realize the player got ejected (especially if it wasn't an obvious fight situation) if he just sits on the bench, until they discover later he hasn't returned to the game yet. That's fine with me.
And Mike, I understand what you mean about "not-in-the-book" signals visually conveying what actually happened, but the whole idea of having uniform signals is to allow us
as a group to look more professional and precise in what we're doing, on top of communicating more clearly. And that, in the long run, can only help with our perceived credibility. Personally, I cringe at some of the unorthodox signals (and mechanics) that I see on the court, and in general I don't believe it reflects well on us as officials.