|
I was lucky enough to be doing a 8th grade boys game for one school on Friday night and the same school's 6th grade boys game on Saturday.
Friday night, the coach came after my partner and I because "we cost him the game"...notice we did not cost his TEAM or his KIDS the game...we cost HIM the game. Here's the situation....
4 secs left, his team has the ball in the front court. His kid drives the lane, gets grabbed. We call it. Not in the act of shooting. Not in the bonus. They have the ball on the side with .2 left, they lose. The kid told his coach he wasn't shooting but his coach was convinced he was shooting and he should be given two shots. The kid threw the ball at the hoop when he heard the whistle. Oh well...
The next day....two towns away, different coach/team....
The sixth grade team loses 35-34. The coach comes up to me (working alone) and says to me, "You see the score?! We lost by 1 and it was YOUR fault." He went up one side of me and down the other side, swearing, berating, and screaming at me in front of his team. I asked him, "which of the seven straight ft's did I miss? Which of the four missed lay ups in the second half were MY fault? Which of the three times did I dribble the ball off of my foot?" His contention was that I should I have seen a lane violation on the front end of a one and one. The shot went, so did the second. I was watching the rim and making sure no one clobbered anyone else. Their feet were not my main concern. Should they have been? Perhaps, but his team was also stepping in all game and I let it go. I also told him if I had called it, I would have had the other coach in my face. I called what I saw (as I have been told so often on this board!) but it lost him the game.
Any ideas on what to do in this situation in the future? I couldn't leave because I had another game in that gym right after it was over.
|