[Back In The Saddle]

I'd rather see a tripping signal or a hit to the head signal added before a flagrant foul. I've called lots more of them than I have flagrants. Their absence is more sorely felt.

I have thought about what Juulie said. Perhaps a little discression is the better way. So we go to the table, signal the foul, have a brief chat with his coach and the player sits the rest of the game. Nobody has to know exactly why.

But I think I'd rather err on the side of game control. If the player did something worthy of being tossed, I want everybody in the game to know he's gone. A foul that serious that doesn't appear to receive an equally serious response, may invite retaliation or escalation. And that's a more immediate concern than little Jonny's fragile feelings.