[Loudwhistle]

Originally Posted by RichMSN

Maybe if you don't trust your partner.

My partner, both Thursday and Friday, is my "regular." We worked 25-30 games together this season (out of the 49 I've worked). He's also my best friend. The odds of me throwing him under the bus (or vice versa) is zero.

I have to go over there and get the coach on the bench. Part of that is that he's going to complain about the technical, about my partner. Me jumping in and being aggressive there will do nothing but exacerbate the situation -- if I have to call a second technical foul, I certainly don't want to contribute to it. So I did what I always do -- stand there, pretend to listen and care (if he says anything over the line, I would shut it down, immediately), and when he talks himself out, remind him of the box. Remember the Far Side cartoon that is captioned "what a cat hears"? That's what it's like, for the most part.

This same technique is useful on the baseball diamond, where coaches come out on the field to "argue" calls. If you stay quiet and not say anything, the coach will talk himself out quickly or start repeating himself and then you can have a civil discussion. If you try to talk over the coach, he'll think you (1) aren't approachable and (2) are being defensive.

"stand there, pretend to listen and care" Priceless, I can picture you intently looking into the coaches eyes, tears starting to form in yours as you listen to the sad story!