[BillyMac]

A few years ago I got a call my assigner at 9:45 a.m. on a Saturday morning. He had made a mistake and failed to schedule officials for a 10:00 a.m. freshman/junior varsity doubleheader at a high school ten minutes away from my house. My partner was already on the way. I got dressed at home and made it to the game late in the first quarter.

During the freshman game one free throw shooter caught about a half-inch of free throw line on the first shot, which she missed, and I passed on it, of two shots. I whispered to her to watch the line, after which she preceded to go even further over the line on her second shot, that went in. I called the violation, and took away the point. This happened in the second half, so the "violated" coach got a good look at the violation. "How can you call that in a freshman game?" was what started the tirade that eventually led to a technical foul.

Next game was the junior varsity game. I called a backcourt violation when an offensive player, with team and player control, stepped on the division line, on the opposite side of the court from the table, and, of course, from the benches, and the coaches. I got the best look of everybody in the gym. Easy call. "She didn't step on the line.", was what started the tirade that eventually led to this technical foul.

I have pretty thick skin. I've only called one unsporting technical foul against a varsity head coach in the past five, or six years, and yet, here were two technicals in one day. Subvarsity coaches have a lot to learn, in terms of rules, and in terms of how to deal with officials, which I guess, is why they're not varsity coaches yet.