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And sometimes we have to realize there are bigger issues at stake rather than simply following the rules. From the very beginning when I started officiating to this season, working a varsity game with two older refs who told me to get on the same page as them(we did, in the second half and it ran smooth)
that you don't always go by the book. I was officiating closer to the letter of the rule while they were letting the players dilate play and calling fouls when they should. As they told me, ref according to the level of play. The game was between two good varsity teams that were well-coached and stricter officiating was not needed. There are fouls that need to be let go. There are times when you can have a play-on. There are hand-checks, and other touch fouls that could be called and often should be called, but the good refs are going to know when to pass on them if they are not impacting play.
It would have been a travesty had the game ended on a T with .8 seconds to go. Yes, it could have very well been the case had there been an extra second or two, but as ref I'm not going to end the game like that if the situation calls for it. Perhaps the players and the refs got lucky there wasn't more time on the clock, but I'm just very glad the game ended the way it did, and the fans and players got to be involved in a great championship game. That's the end story. Not the T issue or the timeout.
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