[tomegun]

SME,

Please don't think you can slip that one past us! Charlie Range did something that changed the game of basketball (college at least) but that is not the same thing as watching the ball. He used the monitor before it was accepted. I have been to his camp and I know for sure he would not advocate 3 sets of eyes on the ball and doing what many believe is good officiating on this board. Don't connect the two; they aren't the same.

Just because you include a sentence saying you aren't doing it doesn't mean you aren't advocating ball-watching. You are! A long, long time ago I had a similar situation happen during a game (a military tournament). I saw a play from the start and made my call. My "partner" came to me and said he had a foul on the other player, even though he didn't have a whistle. I looked at him, in amazement, and told him to go report it. This guy had the nerve to go to the table and report a foul that he never had!

When I'm not being cynical, I have had many situations that haven't turned out right. That is why I know the best thing to do is have a comfortable crew and let other officials call their game. If I was the coach of the other team on these plays we have been talking about lately, I would throw a fit, and rightfully so. You cannot throw good mechanics out the window. Doing so gives younger officials a license to do this the whole game. It isn't good for us to say this all the time on the board. There are exceptions; saying getting it right is the most important thing is not the right thing to say every time someone is ball watching!