[ChuckElias]

J,

"By the book", you were right. If the ball is about to be live, then you do not have to recognize the horn. However, most officials that I know are fairly lenient when it comes to allowing subs. As long as we don't feel that a coach is trying to delay to give his team some rest, then many of us will let the sub in; even if the ball is "almost" live.

Having said that, once you tell the subs that they will not be allowed in, the scorekeeper should not have buzzed again. I would also remind the scorekeeper that the official allows the subs to enter; not the timer. But I would do this very delicately, especially if I know that the timer is in a postition to observe/rate me. I hope that you didn't burn bridges, but that probably has as much to do with the timer's personality as it does with what you said to him.

As to your partner, it was his first game. He doesn't want to make waves, and he might not even really know what the proper thing to do is. I hope you were not too hard on him in your post-game talk. It's really hard for me to get upset with a first year guy unless he clearly just doesn't give a rip.

Just my two cents. Hope something in there is helpful.

Chuck