Notre Dame Toledo

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by billyu2

We give lip service ad nauseam to communicate, communicate, communicate. I have no idea what the NCAA manual says about communication at the spot of the foul but I know what the NFHS manual says. Even so, it has become so "trendy" at either level for some officials to communicate the absolute minimum at the spot of the foul. If the official had taken just one step out on the floor, given a brief "bird-dog" indicating that the foul was on #10 followed by the charge/push signal and then the TC signal, so much unnecessary controversy could have been avoided and perhaps the technical as well.

Bird dogging is very passe. And it is still in the book but this to me would not have been the situation to use it. For one the call is quick and if he took time then he would have looked unsure. Also the coach went off immediately, that still would have happened. And it was clear to me that the coach realized he was wrong, because he calmed down very quickly. It was almost like it never happened if you saw his expression.

Originally Posted by billyu2

I am amused how officials refuse to point just one time when necessary to communicate who the foul was on but when a dribbler steps on a boundary line, officials will run over, sometimes getting down on one knee and point three, four maybe five times so everyone in the entire arena and the entire TV audience knows exactly the precise spot where the player's foot or the ball touched the line. Good grief!

OK, but bird dogging is only optional. They got rid of that as a requirement probably over 10 years ago. It looked silly for the most part. Officials use their voice now. When I call fouls, players and coaches hear me. It is not hard. And let us not exaggerate. I do not see officials do that on any regular basis, especially at that level. There might be some old-timers that once did that like the Burr, Higgins or even Valentine, but those guys did it for 30 years. The guys today hardly are very demonstrative on any call. Yes, maybe a PC foul, but not on an out of bounds call.

Peace