Mea Culpa ... I lost my mind

[MD Longhorn]

Fanboy parent came out for the first time in a long time...

But could any of you have kept a lid on it?

Preamble to the actual play where I lost it... this is 8th grade C ball (so I generally sit there and cheer like a good Dad, and explain calls or the rules to my wife). Ref had already called, 3 times, balls bouncing straight off the backboard, but somewhat near the top, as out of bounds for hitting the top of the backboard. Ref had already missed a girl dribbling, cut off, taking a step backward to make space and then levelling the defender with a shoulder and elbow. Ref had consistently waited WAY WAY WAY too long (to the point of it being a safety issue) on many jump balls (this is 8th grade C after all).

I'm a good boy through all of this.

Opposing team is up by 3 with 2 minutes to go, inbounding after my daughter's team scored.

She takes it out of bounds, sees no teammate to inbound to, throws it to the REFEREE... who is almost to the free throw line extended, near a sideline. Referee not only doesn't get out of the way ... referee CATCHES the ball, throws the ball back to the inbounder, who was now 4 steps onto the court ... and we keep playing.

Yes. I confess. I lost my mind.

[Amesman]

Well at least he didn't take the pass, drive the length of the court and dunk on your daughter or one of her teammates.

[WhistlesAndStripes]

If this is 8th grade C ball, does that mean that there is an 8th grade A and B team, both with probably about 10 players each, meaning that the C team is made up of the 21st-30th most talented girls in the school?

Makes me wonder at what point do we simply start telling kids that basketball may not be their sport and encourage them to find something else to be successful in.

[Camron Rust]

Sounds like you may have had an 8th grade C referee. While good referees do those games at times, you can't expect all that much.

[Raymond]

Sounds like you should be volunteering to train the officials for the 8th grade C-ball league.

[Rich]

I sit away from the other parents for my kid's games and just laugh at them.

The parents, that is.

[MD Longhorn]

Originally Posted by Camron Rust

Sounds like you may have had an 8th grade C referee. While good referees do those games at times, you can't expect all that much.

Yes ... but this same referee does the A & B games...

[Camron Rust]

Originally Posted by MD Longhorn

Yes ... but this same referee does the A & B games...

My point doesn't change. You're usually not going to get great referees at the MS level.

[BoomerSooner]

Originally Posted by Whistles & Stripes

If this is 8th grade C ball, does that mean that there is an 8th grade A and B team, both with probably about 10 players each, meaning that the C team is made up of the 21st-30th most talented girls in the school?

Makes me wonder at what point do we simply start telling kids that basketball may not be their sport and encourage them to find something else to be successful in.

When I was in school they had Jr. High School instead of Middle School, so 7th, 8th and 9th were grouped together. We had an A, B, and C team in 7th, an A and B in 8th and 9th grade was "Varsity". The C team wasn't always the worst 12 players on the "team". Instead, they divided the players up so that the best players could get more playing time and was usually broken down by position (i.e. why have your 3rd best guard sitting the bench, when he/she could start for the B team). Typically the C team was weakest, but it was usually a product of having the least "game" experience since there weren't that many other schools with C teams.

[Nevadaref]

Violation for the thrower being the first player inbounds to touch the ball following the throw-in pass.

[deecee]

Originally Posted by Nevadaref

Violation for the thrower being the first player inbounds to touch the ball following the throw-in pass.

This made me chuckle.

[HokiePaul]

Originally Posted by Nevadaref

Violation for the thrower being the first player inbounds to touch the ball following the throw-in pass.

True, but even the pros miss this sometimes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiYzjt-rTdk

[MD Longhorn]

Originally Posted by Whistles & Stripes

If this is 8th grade C ball, does that mean that there is an 8th grade A and B team, both with probably about 10 players each, meaning that the C team is made up of the 21st-30th most talented girls in the school?

Makes me wonder at what point do we simply start telling kids that basketball may not be their sport and encourage them to find something else to be successful in.

Every junior high around has A, B, and C at both 7th and 8th grade, in both basketball and volleyball.

Consider that each class has about 250 kids; about 125 of each gender ... 30 kids playing a sport is not that much.

[Adam]

Originally Posted by Whistles & Stripes

If this is 8th grade C ball, does that mean that there is an 8th grade A and B team, both with probably about 10 players each, meaning that the C team is made up of the 21st-30th most talented girls in the school?

Makes me wonder at what point do we simply start telling kids that basketball may not be their sport and encourage them to find something else to be successful in.

Middle school dude. Participation is a good thing.

[SNIPERBBB]

My 7th grade team had 26 player when I played, cut 1 player because he didnt come to practice enough. At that time, we had to pay $50 athletic participation fee to play. You figure that out...

You see a pretty big drop off after that in 8th and higher. From that team IIRC, I think we had 2 players survive to my senior year on the varsity team, would of been more but the HC pissed off 2-3 of the best players so they quit. That was before the days of participation trophies so the 2nd and 3rd,4th and 5th team guys kinda figured it out for ourselves.