Quote:
Originally posted by JRutledge
Quote:
Originally posted by bballrob
What's with the legally equipped question? I've seen this in football, but basketball?
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I ask that in every sport I work. You better. Or at the very least we are required to ask a question so that the coach cannot later say we did not do what we are supposed to do. It puts the onus on the coaches, not just the officials.
Peace
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Why? Is it some due diligence? Does it absolve us from some liablity? If little Susie gets maimed in a tragic hair-clip accident, will having asked this question save my butt at trial? I have a hard time believing that asking "Are all your players legally equipped?" is going to save anybody's behind.
If some bozo in PA gets acquitted for assaulting an official because he said he didn't know the guy in the striped shirt was an official, then why should we expect that the courts will hold the coach liable for an injury if all he has to say is, "I didn't know it was illegal for my players to carry automatic weapons?"
How would I prove that the question was ever asked or answered? I say I asked and the coach said his players were legally equipped. My partner says, "Yeah, we usually ask that question, I think the coach said yes." The coach says he doesn't recall being asked. That team's captains say they weren't paying attention, the other coach and captains say they're not even sure there was a captains meeting.
If this is about making the coach liable for his players being legally equipped, then it seems to me that you'd have to be able to prove two things in court: that the coach knew, or should have known, what it is he was certifying; and that the coach did, in fact, certify that his players were legally equipped. I don't see how we meet either criteria by asking this question in the captains meeting.
[Edited by Back In The Saddle on Mar 25th, 2005 at 06:55 PM]