[robertclasalle]

This is a verbatim copy (except for names) of the incident report that I filed with my IAABO board last week following my ejection of a JV boys coach. I am interested in your comments:

"In the 2nd quarter, the JV boys coach questioned a call, asked to discuss it with me, I said “do you want a time out because I’m not stopping the game to explain a call to you?” he said yes and took a full time out.

He wanted an explanation about something that had occurred a couple of minutes earlier, I politely explained to him what I saw.

He said “that’s bull crap,” (his exact words), I stared at him in astonishment, my whistle was not in my mouth so I hesitated and stopped to think about it for a few seconds, this happened in front of his whole team, he took that opportunity to repeat it again, he again said “that’s bull crap” and added, “and you know it,” I then assessed the technical foul, I walked to the table to report it and continue on with the game, he approached me and asked what was the technical for, I said “your language and the fact that you did it in front of your players,” he said “what did I say?” I repeated what he said, he said “are you kidding, you hear that language on TV every day,” I said “this isn’t TV, these are high school kids and you’re teaching them to be disrespectful to authority,” he then turned to his team and said “take a good look at that ref, because you’ll never see him in this gym again,” I then assessed the second technical foul for this flagrant, unsportsmanlike conduct, which was an obvious and direct attempt to threaten me and intimidate me.

The Athletic Director was present, he asked me what happened because he didn’t hear anything, I described what had just occurred, the AD said to me “why do you think that’s intimidating?” I said “I’m not going to be threatened or intimidated like that especially in the presence of his team,” the AD responded “well, you shouldn’t be in their huddle where you can hear anything, maybe he didn’t say it to you,” I said “I wasn’t in their huddle, the coach wanted to talk to me, I explained the call, he didn’t like it, and it was as I was walking away that he said it loud enough for me to hear it and it was obvious that he wanted me to hear it, and I did hear it,” the AD then said “I’ll give you a choice, take back your call or I’ll rip up your voucher for tonight and your partner can finish the game, it’s your choice, Bob,” I said “I am standing with my call, I want the coach out of the gym and I have every intention of finishing the game and I will report this tomorrow.”

I told the coach to leave the gym several times, but he refused, and no one did anything to enforce my call. The game was stopped for 10-15 minutes while all of this was occurring because the coach would not leave the gym.

I consider the coach’s conduct to be flagrant and unsportsmanlike in using vulgar language to me in publicly challenging a call that I had made, and threatening and attempting to intimidate me in the presence of his players with his veiled threat to prevent me from ever working in that school again. I consider the AD’s conduct to be flagrant and unsportsmanlike in threatening to rip up my voucher, and attempting to influence me to change a call by threatening not to pay me for the game if I didn’t reverse my call."

Bythe way, the AD called me the next day to apologize. The coach was suspended for 2 games. My partner later told me that the AD expected good calls for the home team because "I'm the one who signs the vouchers." My partner also told me that he has been working at this school for 8 years and this coach has a history of discourtesy to officials, which, unfortunately, everyone seems to put up with.