I'm U1 in a 3-person game last Friday night. R is a very strong official and a strong personality too. When you ref with him, he runs the show. I have no problem with that, he usually captains a good ship. Right before the first half ends, U2 makes a good call on B1. Team A is in the bonus. Clock is stopped correctly and shows 0.2 (two tenths).
R is going to administer free throws and he starts to clear the lane. I jog down to talk to him and say, "why are you clearing the lane?" He says, "that's the rule with less than 3 tenths. Nobody can score. The half is over after the free throws."
I say, "that's wrong Joe, a tap can score. Plus, lots more can happen... a foul.. many things." He insists he's right. I explain again and he insists he's right in a tone of voice that tells me that it isn't up for further discussion. I make one final plea and say, "Joe, we have to finish out the half. We can't walk off the floor before the buzzer goes off, let alone with 2 tenths showing on the clock." Joe glares at me and I don't want a big scene so I back off.
Now our U2 comes over and Joe gives him the same explanation. U2 says, "that's wrong." R insists he's right. Both coaches want an explanation so Joe goes over to explain it to them. I pull the U2 out to center court because it's a no-win situation. We face the players (everyone now huddled around their bench except for the shooter) and watch. Both coaches insist he's wrong but Joe is dug in now. This debacle takes about 3 minutes. The coaches finally relent and Joe administers a lane-cleared free throw. First one misses and Joe sounds his whistle to end the half. We walk off to catcalls and boos as the clock displays 0.2
As soon as we get in the locker room, I get out the case book and educate Joe. He gets quiet, sheepish, then apologizes. As soon as we get out for the 2nd half, he apologizes to both coaches. They're not happy, but neither one of them strangle him. The rest of the game goes OK, but the cloud of a major screw-up hangs over my house as I go to bed Friday night. It didn't affect the outcome of the game but it felt wretched.
By the way, Joe has great court presence.
Z