[bisonlj]

Originally Posted by ajmc

KISS is always an option, but only one of many. Many see bringing the Captains out at the half as a standard part of the traditional protocol of the game, which dates back generations. It provides an opportunity for the Referee to briefly summarize how either, or both, teams conducted themselves during the 1st half, and to remind them similar, or better, behavior will be expected for the rest of the game. It's also an opportunity to ask if there are any questions the Captains may have about either half, and to clear up any points of concern of either team, or the officials.

If there were problems during the 1st half, this presents an opportunity to directly mention them and caution about repeating them, or any other subject worth repeating. As for choices that are to be made, or have already been made by coaches, simply confirming those choices, for the benefit of those watching and getting all the participants on the same page, has no drawback. The meeting also serves as a clear demarcation from the intermission, and under most circumstances lasts less then a minute.

So really, how much simpler does KISS actually make things?

The meeting itself takes less than a minute but you have to factor in the time to track down the captains and get them to the meeting spot. You are also taking them away from whatever warm-up or exercise they are doing (and probably leading if they are captains). If you had issues from the first half you need to discuss, you should have done that in the first half when they happened. We occasionally will take an official's time out during a game to have that conversation with the captains. I'm not opposed to crews having the captain's meeting but we've stopped doing it for several years now and have not had any issues.