Assistant chirping from stands
 

I've been turning this one over in my mind since last night, so I thought I'd post it here and see what you guys think.

I had an open night last night because I ran a marathon a week ago so I didn't schedule anything for this week. I was feeling recovered for the most part so I took a JV double header that a school close by needed someone for. JV girls games are just brutal.

In the boys game, a guy keeps chirping about calls from behind the bench. No big deal, I figured it was a fan so whatever. At halftime I notice him coming out of the locker room with the team. I meant to tell the HC to keep him under control since he's a coach but it slipped my mind. 4th quarter, about 6 min left in the game. He says "Oh you guys are just missing all kinds of stuff, sir." So I put air in the whistle and whack him. As I'm reporting the foul, the HC wants to know what the deal is. I said "Coach, I'm not going to have your assistant chirping at us anymore." He starts out onto the court saying "Wait a minute, you need to pay attention to the game and ignore what's going on over here." He's a pretty big guy (probably 6'3" or so and 275) and I'm not (5'9" 150), and he is right in my face on the court. I tell him "Coach, you're going to want to go back to the bench," and he walks (EDITED TO ADD: walks even closer to me) so that we are maybe 5" apart. I whack him and walk away.

I was working with a partner who I'd never worked with before and who told me before the game this was his first year back since the 90s (he quit when his kids started playing). If I were him, I would have come over and offered support/try to take over to get the calling official out of the situation, but he just stood at the baseline ready to administer the FT.

After the game right after we observe the handshakes, the assistant who got the first T walks up and says "Can I ask you guys a question?" and I didn't really want to, but my partner said yeah. So I stand there for a second and he first apologizes then he starts questioning the T. I just said "I'm not going to discuss that with you. If you're not the head coach, keep your mouth shut on the bench," and I walked away. My partner stood there and talked to him for a few minutes. He said the guy thought he was okay to say what he wanted because he ended with "sir."

Here are my questions:
1. Were both T's justified?
2. What could/should I have done differently to prevent the 2nd T?
3. Should I have mentioned my issue to the other official after the game? I'll probably never work with him again so I didn't say anything.
4. I was a bit annoyed that my partner stood there with him because it sort of made me look like a jerk. I didn't feel like I needed to justify it to him and if he couldn't figure it out from what I said, he's an idiot. I found out later he's the Varsity HC. Should I have stayed and given him a better explanation?

I feel like I catch more crap from coaches because I look young (I'm 31 but look like I'm maybe 22) and it wears me out. Maybe it's in my head, but I don't see the older guys on my crew have coaches push them as much it seems like they try to get away with with me.

Quit bragging.


1) Yes
2) Nothing
3) If you work with him again, bring it up
4) You're not the one who looks like a jerk. Never stick around to explain things to a coach. If he wants a conversation, tell him which sports bar you frequent and he can buy you a beer.

Quit bragging.

I abso-f**king-lutely hate this line from coaches. Tempted to tell them to pay attention to coaching and quit trying to officiate. That line from a coach ends any further question-answering from me for the rest of the game.

1. Usually before I T up an assistant I do warn the HC (unless the AC is so out of line).
2. You ask the coach to go back to his bench, he then complies, and you then T him up. Not good. Either T him up or walk him back. Usually if a coach has been well behaved and his advance on the court isn't egregious and rude I walk him/her back the first time and make it clear next time it wont be tolerated.
3. After a game if a coach is reasonable and has a question (heck even during the game) I will chat with them. Once it turns to them talking at me I just walk away.
4. If you want to move up you have to be able to communicate. Not saying you don't have to issue T's but you need to be able to communicate with coaches and players. It's not a necessity per se, but it's pretty much expected so to speak.

I personally think the "knight in shining armor" is a stupid approach. We are adults and we can deal with our issues. You called a T, report it, go opposite table. I think it looks worse when my partner is dealing with a coach face to face and then I come in and tell my partner that I will take it from here. It's one thing if you report and move yourself to a different location and then the coach continues and your partner is in a position to address the coach but doesn't.

I also personally would rip into a partner, but then again we pregame this, that if I am dealing with a coach, I do not need "rescuing".

Overall from how you described things I would rate how you handled things a C, especially considering this is a JV game. In a varsity game this would be a D/F.

No, he got closer to me. If I wouldn't have backed up, we would have been chest to large belly. Sorry I wasn't clear on that, I fixed it in the OP.

In that case, perfectly justified.

So no warning to the HC to keep his bench under control? Obviously if the assistant is really out of line that isn't necessary, but just from my reading of your post it sounds like the bench T may have been a bit quick. Hard to tell context without being there. And the T on the HC is hard to tell just from your description. If you felt like he was physically intimidating you and being aggressive toward you, the T sounds like it would have been warranted when he is in your face. Edit: I read the 5" as 5'. Yeah if he is in your face like that you have no choice. Although like deecee said, you could have moved away from that bench after the first T, but sometimes that just isn't possible.

And as long as the guy was apologizing and not being confrontational after the game, I feel like it would be good form to talk to the guy through your thinking. Although where I'm from we don't stick around to watch handshakes and have too many postgame discussions with coaches.

Wow. This is a bit harsh. I don't see evidence of any major communication mistakes...

That would change a bit considering the new information to B- for JV and C- for V.

But it's really only on this small incident. The rest of the game could have been great and the overall score could well be B+/A-.

It is awesome you are in that great of shape, keep bragging.
Yes both T's were justified, were you calm doing them?
You cant avoid the second everyone saw it coming and the bully deserved it.
He is clueless so mentioning it wouldnt help IMO
He was the jerk for staying and talking to the VHC instead of going to the lock room. You dont have to justify. He knows as the VHC he crossed the line and you just took care of business. It never goes well answering a question from someone who gets a T. You can talk until you are blue in the face it will not change their behavior. You are wasting your time. Call a great came and take care of business.

Call your game have fun and keep taking care of business. Sounds like you are doing a great job.

UNI,
Keep in mind, I only know what you've told me, so you could be a rookie or about a 12 yr vet. So, I'll offer my opinion on your situation and you may take it FWIW.

First off, I'm also a younger/smaller looking official but have been around long enough to gain respect where needed. With that being said, impressions do get made regardless, by fans and coaches and I do somewhat agree that it's easier to get "worked" when you look younger. So things that help with that are trying to be the "R" more often than not. Work on your pre-game conference and impress coaches with a thorough speech. Work on good mechanics and a strong confident whistle. Show confidence in your calls and obviously knowledge of the rules and applying them correctly is paramount. With those things in place, any poor first impressions should be gone a few plays into the game.

Onto your situation and 4 questions...
While the comments from the assistant are not warranted in the least, you may have been better off halting play on the next dead ball and having a short discussion with the head coach in regards to his bench personnel. Something along the lines of "Coach, please take control of your bench/assistant. We're not going to listen to anymore of their comments before issuing a technical and that will also result in an indirect against you."

As for the HC technical, I would suggest using a different set of words for the coach in that situation. Again, his actions were also unwarranted and disrespectful and his statement is incorrect as he's implying that you're not paying attention to the game, while also implying that his bench can basically do whatever they want as you're not supposed to pay attention to them. But, even though it wasn't your intent, your original statement could come off as threatening or derogatory. Something better might be, "Coach...please go back to your bench." But would this have avoided the T? Who knows? Honestly, if he was already face to face with you, there is no excuse for that at all. You could've backed up or walked away after administering the technical and if the coach expresses that he'd like to discuss it then, you can appease him but only if he agrees to do so in a decent manner. Going back to my first point...had you informed him earlier about his bench personnel, you'd have 120% justification for the technical and he'd have nothing to question you about.

So...were both justified?
Maybe both could've been avoided, but were you wrong in calling both? No.
And depending on timing, your partner could've switched with you to take some heat off you and move you away from the coach. But things happen quickly on the court, and you also don't want to leave 10 players unattended.
Things like that can sometimes be difficult with only 2 officials.

You could've brought the situation up post-game with your partner and get his take on it. Take his opinion with a grain of salt, just as you would any other official and determine if it's worthwhile.

Also, you honestly don't owe anything to the coach post-game, even in a JV game. And this goes along with confidence in your calls. Right or wrong, that's how you saw it, that's how you called it, move on, game on, game over. Your area may be different, but we leave the court immediately once the horn sounds (an obviously if we're positive the game ended correctly)

Coaches are strange birds...when talking to them, you don't want to be the guy who ignores them completely. But you also don't need to give them a thesis on why you called what you did. I always let them know, "quick questions/quick answers". I've heard others say, "Coach, do you have a question?" If not, then we have nothing to discuss. When coaches ask questions, they deserve answers. But when they're just spouting off at the mouth, there are fine lines and key words that warrant penalties. But also, if you are discussing with coaches, avoid certain key words as well.

If you felt the need to appease him post-game or even when he questioned the bench technical, "Coach, I had heard enough from your bench and didn't like their last comment that questioned our judgement on calls."

And LOL at him thinking he can say whatever he wants because he adds 'sir' to the end. Reminds me of Ricky Bobby....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Af-Id_fuXFA

How could I handle it in the future to be an A?

My initial response, as well as what others have said. Ting up an assistant without at least giving the HC an opportunity to deal with his/her bench is one thing first off. The assistant didn't say something that was so T worthy that a quick "coach please keep your bench in order" wouldn't have solved or setup the easy T later.

With the HC, "please get back to your bench I'll come to you" or "I heard you coach, lets move on." and then you report and leave. If he continues towards you easy T (which is what happened). In all honesty what you did here with the HC wasn't that bad, he earned his T. But the bigger point is you could have possibly avoided 2 T's with a "coach please keep your bench in order" type of comment.

After a game if a coach approaches me, and this works for me so Im not saying you have to adopt it, and has a genuine question about WHY I called something I have no problem discussing with them. The operative word is discussing. NOT them talking at me.

I also would stay away from saying things like "keep your mouth shut on the bench." to them. They are adults, even though they may not act like it, and we can treat them like adults.

I will also preface this with the fact that in my last 2 games I DID NOT give T's to HC's that were deserved and it has been chewing at me. So maybe fire away and clear the bodies later, what do I know?

Ignore his evaluation.

You handled this just fine. The whole notion that you have to give a warning to the HC to control his bench before calling a T on that bench is ridiculous. Every coach knows the role of the Assistants. If they want to step out of that role, they get what they earn.

I'm not sticking around for conversations. They go just like UNI described: "first apologizes then he starts questioning the T".

I was serious about my sports bar remark. If he wants to talk, then do it away from the venue as 2 individuals having a casual conversation. Funny thing is, I've bumped into plenty of coaches out and about and never once has any of them discussed anything related to games I've worked or anything about officiating in their games. I've even bumped into a coach whom I had T'd up and he didn't even recognize me. Coaches know full well why they get T's. We don't need to stick around to explain to them why.

Why was the AC sitting behind the bench?

Thanks for all the input.

I agree with you guys that I probably should have given him a warning about the AC, so that part was totally my fault. Yes, this probably would have resolved both T's. I also agree that I probably shouldn't have told him to keep his mouth shut. Sometimes I forget that they all aren't big boys and I need to keep the kid gloves on somewhat. I could have phrased that better with the same message, and I realize that. I have been working on communicating better with coaches, and I think this will be something that I'll focus on for the 2nd half of this season.

As far as the convo with the HC (JV), I didn't feel too badly about that because of the way he was approaching me. I probably wasn't as clear as I should have been but he was clearly trying to intimidate/bully me, so I wanted to shut that down immediately. I felt his actions were not deserving of a nice/respectful response like "Okay coach, I'll come to you if you just head back that way." That's why I'm here though, I want to learn from what you guys would do so that I can continue to improve and fill out a full slate of V games each year instead of sprinkling in the JV/JH games to fill out the schedule.

You absolutely can. But this is what has been instructed to me from HS to college by officials that do D1 to state finals, to assignors and evaluators.There is a shift from a dogmatic, holier than thou, officiating mindset to a more communicative one. My college assignor told me flat out he does not want officials that cannot communicate with players and coaches.

This year being my first doing ncaam I have had 3 games so far and 2 T's, both on players. In HS I have done about 15 BV games so far and had 6 T's I believe. 1 on a coach, and 2 that I should have called and had a lapse in testicular fortitude.

Rocky is right, you don't HAVE to warn, and there are instances where there is no warning. But from what you described I personally don't see that as an auto T versus an opportunity to work with the coach.

I ran into a coach at a gas station the next morning after I T'ed him up. I was pumped to see him.

I have no idea. He's the V head coach, so maybe he was just watching. But my thought is that if he went into the locker room with the team, he is a member of that team's coaching staff.

I have no problem with the way you handled it. Could a warning earlier have prevented it? Maybe, but judging by the coach's response to the T, I doubt it. Once you determined the comments were coming from the AC, you could have reminded the coach that his AC was on the verge of costing his team a technical foul. Note, you could have, but it's by no means required and it's not something the coach is owed or deserves. As rockyroad noted, the coach knows the role of an AC and allowing the AC to step outside that role is on him.

As for the way you dealt with the HC, not only would I call the T just as you did but I would also make sure you submit a report to your assigner and maybe the state. A technical foul is one thing, coaches get stupid from time to time, but an attempt to physically intimidate an official is above and beyond the normal stupid line.

In that case, he's likely just a spectator. As a coach, he is required to be on the bench. As a fan he gets a little leeway. As a coach in the stands, he can still be held to a higher standard and simply removed from the gym.

One possible way to address it is to ask the JV HC if the guy behind the bench is an AC for this game. If he answers in the affirmative, remind him he needs to be on the bench and warn him that the comments need to cease. If he says no, feel free to go to game management and have the loudmouthed fan removed.

Again, I have no problem with how you handled it; these are just possible alternatives.

If that's the case T him 100% of the time. I have handed out T's to coaches for staring me down. The first time I looked at the coach, noticed he was just trying to stare me down and I said "I'm not going to play that game." I turned away to move to my spot looked back he was still staring so I T'd him up.

When I first started officiating I was very quick with the T's, and I think when you are less experienced it's better to be quick with T's than not give out enough.

The point is, more often than not, at the lower levels the T's are much easier to call.

1. Ts are for unsporting behavior, if you feel the actions were unsporting, then yes they were justified. What we think ultimately does not matter when you were there.

2. Sounds like you tried to do enough and it did not work.

3. No, never. Let that go.

4. Probably inexperience, chalk it up as a learning experience. Sometimes you cannot rely on your partner to save you from a coach. Take care of business.

I used to say that the more grey hair you have, the more they leave you alone. That was true for me and many others when we started in our early 20s. Just know when someone sees you more that usually goes away when they have confidence in your ability, but it takes time sometimes.

Peace

Great point. Coaches, and people in general, would rather work with someone they feel comfortable with even if that person is not as qualified than a rookie. The old saying along the lines of "the devil that you know..."

So start smoking, quit using sunscreen, and be patient. Got it!

To each his own, but I'm not sure I'd call this "Ridiculous." If I can prevent a problem by showing the HC enough respect to give him a chance to rectify the scenario, then I think that's good game management. Again, as others have said, there are some things that an AC can say that is automatic, no need to warn a coach, but from the description in the OP, this certainly doesn't seem like the case to me.

"You HAVE to give a warning to the HC" is ridiculous, but if you're able to, why not?

I see what you did there...

That's not correct.

Huh?

The longer a speech, the less competent I assume an official is. I would assume any coach with half a brain would think exactly the same.

My pregame with captains is 11 seconds. My greeting to the head coach is a "walk-by." They know why I'm there and by the time they get that position they don't need a speech from an official.

But we still have rules and those rules are actually rather clear. We give warnings to be courteous and mostly so we do not look like a bad guy, but there is nothing that requires us to do that in any way.

Peace

Rich,

Our state REQUIRES a pregame meeting, and that our state associations' sportsmanship message is read verbatim, at every level (JH thru Varsity HS). We then have the option to go over small items like timeouts, substitutions, speaking captains, coaching boxes, and anything special about the gym.

sometimes i forget that this forum is "outside of my state" so, the OP might choose to disregard that part of my post, depending on how his state handles that sort of stuff.

also, i didn't say longer....i said thorough.

I'd do what's required and not a bit more.

But if I tried to cover anything else, I'd expect my partners to jump in and save me from myself.

I was a PIAA official from 1987 through 1994. Worked my first varsity game and 3-person game there. I grew up and went to college in PA. They still make officials wear that goofy keystone patch on their sleeve?

which is fine. and many guys in PIAA do the same.
personally, i find it a good time to go over a few items for "preventative officiating". but by no means am i reciting the rule book out there! so, to each their own. and hopefully the OP takes both of our advice and finds what suits him the best.

oh nice! yep, we're still "patched"
yeah, a lot has changed since '94..... ;)

This was my thought as well. It can be a slippery slope when you T up someone not on the bench when you really don't know their role.

If there's one thing I like a lot about my state is that we don't wear patches in any sport. Baseball, basketball, football -- buy a regular shirt from any supplier and you're ready to go.

Back to the OP:

I'd find out what the role of the jackass behind the bench was before I started whacking. I don't whack spectators.

The coach closing ground after I told him to go back would be pretty automatic from me. One thing I've learned over the years is that once a coach comes onto the floor to argue, there's really nobody who can argue a technical foul at that point. I'm going to sit him down and he likely won't be a problem from that point forward.

Never said you shouldn't give a warning, or that using a quick word to the HC was not good game management. Was simply responding to another poster who took the OP to task for not issuing a warning first. Like I said, all coaches on that bench know what they can and cannot do - if one of those coaches chooses to be a PITA, then they know what the result will be. Giving someone a low evaluation because they didn't warn an AC that was running his/her mouth is ridiculous.

I'd rather have honesty in here and be able to fix it in the future in case this should ever arise in front of an evaluator. I appreciate both sides of the debate.

My text = bold

Partner quality has some serious volatility.

Only once have I given a JV assistant (read V head coach) some slack. I had called a couple of his games that season already and knew him fairly well because of other things I was doing for the school district.

Middle of the 3rd quarter (he had been saying a few things but not being a pest) we have a full TO. I am standing at the block and he slowly walks toward me. Now, I know he just wants a question answered because he just asked it and I didn't have an opportunity to speak with him. However, when he got to me (before he had a chance to speak) I said "Coach, in this game you're an assistant. Don't say anything and go back to the bench." He just put his head down and returned from whence he came. After the game he stopped me and said (smiling) "You know, you could have just given me a stop sign and saved me some steps." I told him "And you know better than to come out onto the floor like that." He just looked at me strangely and said "Point taken"...then added "That's what I like about you...you know how to get you point across very clearly." Then we discussed his question and he was came to the realization that he was wrong...even admitted it (I refrained from saying "Duh" :D ).

Sadly, he has retired...good coach, very fair and a great man.

We're required to address sportsmanship, so I tell the players to handle their knuckleheads. Like Rich, I only do what's required because they're not listening.

With coaches, I mention sportsmanship because I have to. I ask them that stupid "legally equipped" question because I have to. I mention timeouts because that's something I've actually found helps; it's anecdotal and subject to change though. My captains meeting takes about ten seconds, and my coach's meeting takes about 15.

They aren't impressed by your speech, regardless of how thorough or articulate you are. They want that meeting over more than you do, and a thorough speech just keeps them away from their kids.

do what's expected in your area, but I'm with Rich, at the very least the advice to use your pregame speech as a way of impressing the coaches is not sound. IMO of course.

To say they do not listen is overstated. They might not listen for long, but I believe they listen. I just think we have to keep is short and sweet. We also have to give a sportsmanship talk, but nothing word for word. Some people have the right energy or the right attitude and they will control that meeting for the few seconds it lasts.

I personally do not like to even talk about timeouts as I think coaches know the rule and know they have to tell us. That might have been a concern in the first couple years of the rule, but now this is not an issue. They do it in college and the rule is basically the same and coaches are not apart of that meeting at all in college.

Peace

No, I don't do that part anymore. If they aren't telling me, I'll grab their ear after the TO and request they let us know ASAP so we're not guessing.

I mention to have the kids out and ready by the 2nd horn. Frankly, we shouldn't have to and most of them already know the rule, but I've found anecdotally that it helps keep the game moving. Some still stall, but it seems to have helped with a few.

Still subject to change, though. :)

My captain/coaches pregame seems to vary, even though I try to keep it the same every time.

I'll quickly tell captains to be good leaders on and off the court and help us out with any problem teammates, sometimes I'll throw in a joke about not hanging on the rim if they dunk, then I let them go.

Since my state is a single meeting with the coaches and captains, I then ask the coaches the mandatory questions (properly equipped, good sportsmanship) and of course they always answer with a yes or "They better be", then I'll remind them of the coaching box and tell them to get their huddles wrapped up on the first horn so we can get going on the second horn. I'll ask them if they have any questions and wish them luck. Usually takes about a minute, tops.

I've worked with several guys that feel like they need to lay out the court, the boundary line colors, the POE, how we're gonna call it, and all that. Those pregames suck and usually drag. Most of the time the captains aren't paying attention anyways, so why keep them there longer than necessary.

Rich I think my captains meeting may be shorter than yours :).

All I say is I expect good sportsmanship, then ask if they have any questions (always a NO), then ask my partner if they have anything to add.

Half the time they do, and its usually the following 2 things

1. who's the speaking captain (I just don't understand this)
2. They reiterate sportsmanship and something about TO's

The last time my meeting was a bit longer was during a rivalry game where the previous game had an altercation. I reminded the teams to keep their cool and should things escalate to make sure their benches stay put. Same was said to the coaches.

And how did it go?

He either didn't recognize me out of context (we were about 40 miles from where the game took place and I had no idea that he lives so close to me), or he acted like he didn't recognize me.

I would have issued a 2nd T for ignoring you and tell him he has been ejected from working that day and smiled.

I did offer to fight him, but he declined. His kids were with him, and I said I'd be happy to go 3 against 1.

Maybe this is a local thing, but as soon as the horn sounds, I'm leaving with my partners unless there is an issue that needs to be resolved at the table.

No way I would stay and observe handshakes and be available for questions unless my association required it.

There is a state that requires this and he is likely from that state. But otherwise thank God we are not asked to do this silliness either. All it can do is cause problems.

Peace

So then why are a majority of us having to clarify the length of timeout with coaches? Happens all the time to me and amongst the partners I talk with this about.

It is the last thing I mention at the pregame and coaches still hear "I asked, you didn't answer, so it was charged as a full."


I wish I had a cool signature

People feel the need to do a lot of things that do not matter. It does not mean it is necessary. Again when I am the referee I never mention timeouts and some reason they tell us like they would otherwise. Just like people say, "White talks to white and black talks to black." Well I think that is not necessary but people say this often. It makes no difference to me what people say when they run their meeting. That is ultimately their business. I only do what I found works in my experience and saying that does not seem to make much of a difference said or not said.

Peace

I totally agree and would like to use your like button on this. What I mean by this is that, to me, they ain't listening anyway so let's just get rid of the meeting.


I wish I had a cool signature

I'll ask and look for clues. If the players go to the bench, it's a full. If they don't, I'll ask until I get to the table. I can't remember not getting an answer.

Not local. It's a requirement for officials in MA. Officials everywhere else should not be sticking around for the postgame handshake.

Or retrieving the damned ball and delivering it, either.

Or shaking hands with the table.

Leaving the floor is the fastest I sprint all night long (don't know how to do blue font on phone app but it would only be slightly blue, I do not stick around for anything)


I wish I had a cool signature

Or standing there and waiting for a thumbs up from the scorer in a 30 point ballgame.

Yup, and it's a nightmare. You just stand there with a feeling of dread until it's over. Mass. has also done away with 30-second timeouts. It's just five full, probably for the last six seasons now.

What do they expect you to do if something happens during the post game handshake? I'm asking seriously.

Speaking Captain ...
 

I don't ask for a speaking captain, but those that do take 3-1-1 quite literally.

2-7-1: The officials shall conduct the game in accordance with the rules. This includes: Notifying the captains when play is about to begin at the start of the game.

3-1-1: Each team consists of five players, one of whom is the captain.

3-1-2: The captain is the representative of his/her team and may address an official on matters of interpretation or to obtain essential information, if it is done in a courteous manner.

If the official doesn't know who the "real" captain is, who will he notify that the game is about to begin? Who will the officials discuss matters of interpretation with, or obtain essential information from?

I've heard two follow up questions to, "Who's the speaking captain": "What's your number?", and, "Are you starting?".

And everybody be sure to tell everybody that, "It's the blue line all the way around".

I used to notify the captain.

Now I blow my whistle and toss the ball. Actually I usually designate the toss these days....cause it amuses me to do so.

Might want to warn the HC that his ASSistant is about to buy him a seat for the remainder of the night.

I always run to locker room door and almost always wait a few minutes until I have to go hunt down the person who assured me they'd be there to let me in after the game. :mad:

Didnt they ban the post-game handshakes in Kentucky for high school a few years ago?

Lame Ducks Out Of Water (How's That For A Mixed Metaphor) ...
 

If I can recall correctly from past posts, the jurisdiction of Massachusetts officials ends when they approve the final score, which is before they observe the postgame handshakes. If anything happens during the postgame handshake observation, there will not be technical fouls, although I believe that the officials can file a report with the state if any shenanigans occur during the postgame handshake observation.

You fill out paperwork and game suspensions are required for violating MIAA rules that forbid fighting, taunting, etc. This applies to players and coaches.

The standards are essentially the same as for any flagrant technical foul under NFHS rules. If this happened during the game, the same paperwork and suspensions would follow -- plus free throws for the flagrant technical fouls (unless they were offsetting.)

In the years this has been the required procedure in Massachusetts, I have had exactly one problem. After a double overtime game, the losing coach approached me to complain about the officiating. I told him I still had jurisdiction under MIAA rules and he shut up and walked away.

I presume there are a few "horror stories," but I have never seen one or spoken to any official who has had any problem staying the 30 seconds it takes to observe the handshake.

It sounds you were saved by being him being reasonable. But I still think that is a silly idea. I am not so much worried about the participants, but everyone else that has nothing to lose.

Peace

I hope there are not any horror stories actually. This just sounds like an idea implemented by some suit who never actually picked up a whistle. Just can't see any good that comes from remaining on the floor after the game ends


I wish I had a cool signature