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Old Tue Dec 15, 2009, 04:00pm
j51969 j51969 is offline
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Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Illinois
Posts: 439
Quote:
Originally Posted by BktBallRef View Post
I still use a lanyard during the regular season, but working without a lanyard during AAU season helped me tremendously.

It wasn't to showoff or anything like that. I wanted to see if I could slow down and focus instead of blowing the whistle without thinking first. It made me more cognizant of the whistle. I had to think about the whole process of blowing the whistle and then not dropping it, so my concentration was more focused on what I was doing with the whistle.
I haven't used a lanyard for quite some time. It wasn't for the same reason, but I think that makes a lot of sense. I had a guy grab my lanyard about fifteen years ago and I stopped using one then. Now it just feels weird to have it on. I will say some guys didn't like assigning me games with out using a lanyard, so I did it for those few. They didn't like the way it looked. 99% of the time I don't think anyone will even notice. I think a lot of other officials see this as kind of pretentious, and are the only people who would catch it. Personally I don’t think it is showing off. Now it’s just a comfort thing. Should anything happen to my whistle I have a spare in my pocket, which I assume most people due who use a lanyard.
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