Headphones ???
 

Headphones worn by a player in the pregame warm-up layup lines.

Legal, or illegal?

I say illegal.

Headphones are not appropriate equipment for the game of basketball.

3-5-1: The referee shall not permit any team member to wear equipment or apparel which, in his/her judgment, is dangerous or confusing to other players or is not appropriate.

3-5-4-E: Head decorations and headwear, except those specified above, are prohibited.

3.5 SITUATION A RULING: The third criterion provides that equipment used must be appropriate for basketball and not be confusing.

Comments?

I tell them to remove the headphones, during warm-ups. It's easily understood as a safety issue.
I also tell the players to tuck in their jersey, remove rings, earrings, necklaces, bracelets, etc. The liability coverage under our contract is void if we don't follow the prescribed responsibilities we incur as our part of that agreement.

Illegal. If the item cannot be worn during the game, then it cannot be worn during the warm-up time.

Citation Please ???
 

Warm-up jacket/jersey/top covering player's jersey number?

overkill, imo

It's what our supervisor/assigners want . . . when in Rome . . . :)

Funny... I thought he was being sarcastic, and expected his list to end with telling the players that we're playing the black line all the way around.

Blue talk to blue, white talk to white....

Let me explain the correctable error procedures.

Listen to us -- we'll be talking you out of situations early...

(insert lame joke here)

This is one I'm probably leaving alone unless I'm instructed otherwise.

As a coach I would not allow it but this is not something I want to deal with unless necessary.

Don't forget the classic "Play defense with your feet, not your hands."

Hand checking is a POE this year, so we'll be enforcing that today.

Hahaha. So, what do y'all jokers say at a pregame?
I think it's a waste of time and a completely archaic tradition that we should abolish. But that's just me.

"IHSAA requires us to emphasize sportsmanship tonight. You guys know who your hotheads are, get to them before we do or it will cost your team two shots. Have a good game. Coaches, stay for a second."

"Coaches, all players legally equipped? Okay, first horn ends the timeout, second horn we're ready for play. Have a good game."

HS: "We tolerate no foolishness. Sportsmanship. Do not touch the free throw shooters".

College: "We're all adults here, we expect you conduct yourselves as such. If you have a question ask us respectfully. Sportsmanship".

"Take care of your knuckleheads so we don't have to."

"Hi, I'm Mr. MyLastName and I'll be your referee tonight...."

Headphones ???
 

Richard MyLastName.....you of Swedish descent?

This.

Now, concerning the Captains Meeting: Sportsmanship statement; put the ball in the hole, that's what makes it fun. DONE . . .
Except, my last two partners have been "that guy"! . . . listen to us, POE's, blah, blah, blah . . . And this, after I had told my partners in our dressing room that I don't talk about all of that! In one instance, he went on for over a minute. I kept hoping he'd notice me, looking off into space! If I weren't bald already, I'd pull my hair out!

Standard Captains speech = respect each other, respect us, and respect the game.
Added question if I'm feeling goofy: do you have any freshmen on your team?
After answer of yes: ok, don't let them *#% up the game.
After answer of no: good, then no one will }€|* up this game.

Rule reference?

The ruling from the NFHS on pregame warm-up items was made several years ago. I will have to look if it is in the Case Book or made it into the rules as an editorial change.

I pulled tis off my hard drive. It's several years old:

The National High School Federation and your state association require officials to enforce sportsmanship rules. High school athletics emphasize positive values. All of us have worked hard to create a sense of teamwork, respect, responsibility and perspective. We remind you that we expect good behavior and will quickly penalize misconduct. We encourage and appreciate your help. Let the competition reflect mutual respect among participants and officials. Coaches please certify that your players are legally equipped and uniformed according the NFHS rules. Good luck and have a great contest! (New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, Kentucky High School Athletic Association)

"PIAA requires all registered sports' officials to enforce the sportsmanship rules for coaches and contestants. Actions meant to demean opposing contestants, teams, spectators and officials are not in the highest ideals of interscholastic education and will not be tolerated. Let today's contest reflect mutual respect. Coaches please certify to the contest official(s) that your players are legally equipped and uniformed according to NFHS rules and PIAA adoptions. Good luck in today's contest." (Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association)

To captains: The FHSAA requires officials to enforce all rules regarding unsportsmanlike conduct by players and coaches. Violators will be ejected. It is strongly suggested that you remind your teammates and coaches of this policy. Additionally, this is a simple reminder that jewelry is not allowed, and jerseys must be tucked in during play if they are designed to be worn in. To coaches: Coaches, do you certify that your players are properly equipped and will demonstrate sportsmanlike behavior during today’s contest? (Florida High School Activities Association)

From the NFHS Rulebook: The referee shall: Verify with the head coach, prior to each contest, that his/her team
member’s uniforms and equipment are legal and will be worn properly, and that
all participants will exhibit proper sporting behavior throughout the contest.

Mine: Players properly equipped, Players wearing uniforms properly, Practice good sportsmanship.

In PA, we are required to read a sportsmanship/uniform statement (see Billy Mac's post, #26); I recite it, then, "Any questions? OK, have a good game and have fun."

Yikes billy. Feel sorry for anyone who has to perform a recital before a game.

Mine: captains take care of your teams and let's be good sports. Put the ball in the hole, it makes it fun for all of us. Good luck.
And before Christmas, I'll say "remember fellas/ladies, Santa Claus is watching. Let's stay on the nice list."

In our games, the umpires don't usually stay for the meeting. Bring our captains, shake the other teams' captains' hands, and go back to our warmup positions.

That way if the R is "That Guy" I don't have to hear it.

Oh, don't I wish it were so in our area!:)

I had an all timer last week. Dude was chatty in pre-game, lots of words about nothing at all, so I guess I should have seen it coming. Volunteers to be the R. He and the third guy are similar, just small talking about all manner of nonsense as we got dressed.

So we get out there about 20 mins prior. He says let's get the captains at 15 mins, which is fine (girls JV btw). Right at 15:00 he makes eye contact with us and we beckon the captains from each side.

They gather pretty quick as they were stretching, so I'd say we start the conference at about 14:40 or so. I'm not exactly sure, but close enough. Indeed, we start with the infamous 'black line all around', but that's just the beginning of the warmup of the great oratory to follow. It was a classic, play with your feet not your hands, listen to us we'll try to talk you out, the POEs about handchecking from last year (half of these girls probably weren't even playing last year, but whatever) are still in effect. If I had a pre-game bull##% bingo board, I would have cashed out in the first minute.

But wait, there's more. We went into a detailed explanation of the new rule about a violation if you enter the free throw shooter half circle. And not only the R got to chime in, but our other chatty cathy partner had words of wisdom on this too. The nuances of foul if you contact vs violation if you just cross were analyzed and contrasted. The girls were giving it all the attention you'd expect 16 yr old girls to give on a lecture about, say, accounting principles or something.

Other items I learned in this soliloquy were the speaking captain's name (it was Bethany), her number - because of course the R had her raise her warmup shirt to reveal the number, the fact that the R's daughter went to school just nearby their school too - but she didn't play basketball. Also, the blonde mom in the 3rd row had a really cute sweater and great curves - no, wait, that was me as I drifting off into la la land. I'm sure there were other fantastic points made but I found myself surrounded by a fog of words, lazily hanging in the air like smoke from a windless July 4th fireworks display.

We broke this interminable huddle at 11:26 left on the clock. OVER THREE FREAKIN' MINUTES OF THIS!!

Yet another item not listed in the current year rulebook that we are supposed to enforce!

Coaches and captains are required by our state to attend pregame conference

All that said, I ask to see the jerseys. Then I know for certain that we don't have both teams in white (mainly an issue in neutral site games) and I know what additional color is legal on the visiting team's headbands, etc.

That said, we get captains at 12 and I'm at the table before we reach 11:00.

At a tournament yesterday and a ref was bragging about a game a couple weeks ago where he had the captains meeting, asked who the speaking captain was, asked to see their jersey number under their warmups, and they were not wearing jerseys under their warmups. He told the coach they were not legally equipped and made them stop the warmup and go back to the locker room to put on their jerseys.

Smh.

Well, that's a new one. Just when I thought I heard em all....

When's Visiting Day At The Prison ???
 

Was this a girls tournament?

They were not wearing jerseys with numbers under their warmups, to clarify.

That incident happened a couple weeks ago in a game, not sure if boys or girls.

The tournament yesterday was boys.

If they detailed everything about how we are to call the game, the book wouldn't fit in your game bag.

Well shit, at least publish some PDF memos or something. The only place I have seen that has past years Rules Interpretations and POE's is the sticky thread in this very forum.

As I have said before, as a new official how can I be expected to know all these past interpretations and POE's if they are not readily available??

What's A Mother To Do ???
 

Amen. A good example is the point of emphasis from a few years ago about elbow fouls above the shoulders; stationery/swinging/excessive swinging; player control/intentional/flagrant. That never made its way into the rulebook.

Gee, I wonder if we know anyone somewhat close to Indianapolis who could stop by the NFHS offices and lobby for the concept and arrange personally with those in charge in order to make it happen.
:rolleyes:

Three-whistle for JV girls?!

We work 3-whistle for JV Girls -- if one of the officials carries a spare in their pocket.

3-whistle for JV games??!! Oh how I envy you.

MTD, Sr.

rif.

Yes, they need that extra official to to increase the Correct Call percentage on held ball plays. Those are tough as we all know.

As an official who was an interpreter and instructional chairman here in Ohio I have long advocated for 3-whistle crews be used for both boys' and girl's JV games and even boys' FR games because it is stupid to expect young officials to make the jump from 2-whistle crews for JV games to 3-whistle crews for VAR games.

MTD, Sr.

Yea, we're pretty lucky here in Central Ohio in that most leagues are full 3 man even for freshman/JV. Don't really need it for girls JV but can't have it for boys without having it for girls. Only the city league and MS will have 2 man for subvarsity. It's great to have that development; on the flip side, our pay is the lowest among the three major metro areas in the state.

As an aside, is it the same in other areas where girls basketball is just drying up? Even in the wealthier suburbs, freshman girls teams are disappearing. It used to be common to have Fr/JV double headers even just a few years ago - now they seem to be a rare exception.