Quote:
Originally posted by Brian Watson
Todd - Did this actually happen, or was this just a "what if"?
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Yes, actually the veteran official who raised the issue to me sheepishly admitted it happened to him (he's a good ref, but had a temporary mental lapse). I thought it would raise some interesting replies, since it's always tough to go out on a limb and suggest NOT following the letter-of-the-law in such situations. If we take it upon ourselves too often to decide what is "good for the game" and do things differently than the book tells us, we risk losing some credibility ("He always just does things his own way.") and consistency among our fellow officials.
That said, I would tend to agree with Bart in that how I would handle that situation would depend on WHEN I discovered my mistake and what the game circumstances are. If I realized it quickly as the throw-in is made and the dribbler is heading the "wrong" way, I would whistle the play dead immediately and start over. If it's a blowout game and the incorrect basket has been made by the losing team, I might simply eat crow, explain to the coaches that I screwed up but can't change it, then get on with the game. If the team ahead in the blowout was the one that scored, I'd probably bring it back after explaining my screwup (the losing team is already demoralized, without me adding more their nightmare). The harder scenario, I think, is if the game is reasonably close and what you do can impact the game. By rule, we can't change things. Yet, if everyone in the gym knows it's an obvious error, I doubt one would get significant protest by explaining that it was the official's mistake and that we're going to re-set the clock and re-administer the throw in. So, I know there are some who will disagree that we have any choice in the matter, but my take on how to handle this specific situation is . . . "It depends."
[Edited by Todd VandenAkker on Oct 2nd, 2000 at 03:11 PM]