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Matthew
Let me try this another way. NF gives the ref the authority to issue the second T and eject the coach. Game management may have to step in and assist the ref, even have security move a coach out. But the rules do not give the scorer or game management the authority to make the decision that a coach is ejected. At all levels of basketball, NF and above, the floor officials make the decisions regarding participants, the off-floor officials (scorrer and timer) help the floor officials to keep track of the game, while game management controls fan behavior (and ejects fans) and, where necessary, enforces ejections.
Now I see from your post that you are dealing with a youth league. I also know that many youth leagues allow gym supervisors and other officials to act in capacities that go beyond what NF allows. In my opinion, those provisions are there because frequently you also do not have NF registered refs, you are not playing NF rules, and these leagues allow roles to become muddied.
Since you are a frequent visitor to this board, you should recognize that NF has carefully defined the roles of officials (both on-court and off-court). When you find yourself in situations in which the roles are not so clearly defined, remember what has been defined elsewhere. If you have been given a power that does not exist in NF, I would count to 10 before I ever used it. And then to 10 again for good measure. These kinds of powers should not be used in an immediate emotional reaction to an incident.
The situation you cited did not call for second T and an ejection in the mind of the official. From what I read, I would agree, although this guy was getting close to the line. The official handled the situation and the game continued, and thats a good thing. Had you intervened and ejected the guy, all kinds of problems would probably have resulted. You would find yourself defending a decision to eject someone that the official directly involved did not see fit to eject. You don't know that the official would even have backed you, either on the spot (imagine the chaos then!) or in any kind of post-game discussion of the incident. You would have undermined the authority of your floor officials in front of both teams. None of these are good results. It sounds to me like what did happen was a good result. Reflect on this incident and learn from it.
[Edited by Hawks Coach on Feb 11th, 2001 at 08:47 AM]
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