[rainmaker]

Originally Posted by Jurassic Referee

Myself? I'm outa there as soon as the final horn goes. However, if I do see something on my way out that I think is related to unsporting behavior, taunting, etc., then I ain't gonna walk away from it. If I thought the players took their shirts off to taunt the other team or their fans, then I'll call it. If they're just around their own bench celebrating, I'm keeping on a-going.

There's one heckuva big difference between knowing the rules and also knowing when to apply the rules. All good officials know the rules. OOO's however don't know when to apply their extensive rules knowledge. The difference usually is common sense imo.

Yes, I'm a strict interpreter of the rules. I'm not always a strict applier of all of those rules though. Big difference. Apples and oranges. One is concerned with straight knowledge; the other usually is judgment.

Btw, making sure that it's a "T" when it couldn't possibly be a personal foul by rule has got no relation at all to what's being discussed in this thread. That's on a par with deciding whether a foul is shooting or non-shooting. Don't confuse my saying that if you call a foul under certain situations then that foul must be a technical with extrapolating that to mean that you HAVE to call a technical foul under those situations. The idea is that if you do make a call, make sure that you're making the proper call under the rules.

Wow!! Actual officiating wisdom from the Jurassic Curmudgeon himself. This is a very good post and these concepts should be fleshed out and included in the Officials' Manual. Seriously.