[jeffpea]

PS2Man -- I do not officiate at the D1 level now. I was speaking specifically to high school and college coaches.

Certainly I don't advocate letting a coach make a comment about every play for an entire game without some type of response from you as an official. If you have a coach that continually comments/complains every trip down the floor, you need to "nip that in the bud". Did you ever think that the coach might feel as if you didn't hear him and that's why you didn't respond? So he makes the same comments the next trip. If he gets the same no-response from an official, he probably may continue his attempts. At some point a simple - "coach, I've heard you the last 3 trips. I'll call it when it's there. Now let us work." - needs to take place. If it continues, then the "I'd be happy to talk about a couple of plays with you, but we can't discuss every single call" speach needs to occur. A simple nod or physical acknowledgement from an official may go a long way to avoiding the scenario I've just described.

All I'm saying is that you have to listen to what the coach is saying before you decide what to say. You cannot go to either extreme: respond to every comment/question (you will both miss the entire game that way) or completely ignore the coach (he get's more frustrated with you as you get more frustrated with him).

My advice? Just listen better. Is it a legitimate question/point he is raising? Is it just frustration? Or is that the way he normally handles himself? The best officials tend to know how to respond best because they're able to determine why the coach is saying what they're saying.

Hopefully a good pregame would include shared information about the coaches in the game (maybe you've had them before or have received a "scouting report" from others) that can help prepare you in how to respond.