[BloggingRefGuy]

Folks,

I'd like your opinion on something. Last year, I had two games where players were complaining that their ponytails were being yanked by the opposition. I never caught it happening, which bums me out because I can't imagine a player making that up. Still, I wasn't alone...there was another, more notorious ponytail pull in our area involving an all-State player that was caught on videotape and aired on the local news...and that player wasn't caught by the refs either.

Anyway--I'm thinking ahead. What if I do catch it? Intentional foul? Flagrant?

What if it's two players in the post...and the defender gets fed up (for whatever reason) and gives it a yank?

What if it's a player who's beat on the screen, and, in a desperate effort to stop the play, reaches out and pulls on whatever he/she can find...and it happens to be hair?

What if it's a dead ball?

Do you call it different in a girls' game from a boys' game?

My inclination is to call it flagrant in all cases...there's no reason for this to happen. Seems the same as an attempt to kick an opponent, which is also an automatic exit.

But I'd like to hear from y'all, whether you agree or disagree. Thanks.