Your head is so far stuck up your behind you think every comment in opposition to you is about rules knowledge.
I am not talking about rules knowledge you idiot. I am talking about finding ways to handle yourself and resolve conflict. Quoting rules never seems to goes well with players and coaches. They are not coming at you with the same level of understanding, nor are they coming to you with the same kind of gripe about what you called. Coaches and players think you messed up because they feel you do not know what you are doing. The word for word reciting of verticality is not going to help you with players that do not understand that rule. Sorry, but that is not how it is done. And I am still waiting for that coach to question my test scores as it relates to my officiating ability. When they say to me, "doesn't it say hold instead of grab," maybe I will then believe you.
If all you can do is quote a stupid rule and cannot recognize when things are getting out of hand, you might find yourself on the other end of a fist. Not by officials, but the players and coaches. Helloooooooooo!!!!
This post started basically about comments that Ms. Palmer had with a player and how she dealt with it. The conversation that was quoted is much more of what happens on a basketball court than the kind that we have here about whether the rule has "grab" or "guard" in the wording of an article. That is not the kind of conversation I have with coaches and players when they are pleading their case. Sorry, but they are usually complaining to me "ref can you watch him grabbing me?" Or "ref he did it first." Or better yet a coach goes crazy and says, "I think you missed that travel there." The next words that come out of your mouth might set the tone or take the cover off an already volitle situation. And if you are spending most of that time trying to convince what 4-7-2b is, then you might find yourself on the other end of a black eye. Trust me, conflict resolution has very little to do with what a test will teach you. Maybe that is why that first year official failed that floor test and your boy told him he was fine because he passed a written test. Keep telling officials coming up that crap and they might not realize that we are dealing with tempers and harsh attitudes. And when I read many posts, I here guys debating over rules and phrases like the sky is falling. It really is not that serious.
Peace