As the R, I do the brief, mandatory sportsmanship thing that PIAA requires. As a courtesy to my partner, I then always ask if he/she has anything to add. Last week, a partner went into the whole "black line all around, supports are out of play, shirts tucked in, get 'em out promptly after TOs, whistle stops play, speaking captains," blah blah blah.

I may have to rethink my approach.

The Blame Game ...
 

Of course, we know exactly who to blame in both of these situations.

"The things I did not say never hurt me." (Calvin Coolidge)

“Never miss a good chance to shut up.” (Will Rogers)

Concision and brevity
 

When I am the "R", after I give my 1 min. 30 seconds "pregame speech", I do not ever ask the "U" if they have anything to add.
I learned to not solicit the input of the "U" the hard-way several seasons ago, when I used to [out of politeness] ask the U--"do you have anything to add?" Man, this "U" went on and on--saying: "we don't like to blow the whistle anymore than you like to hear it ; please be fair and honest if we officials happen to not see who the ball when OOB on ...blah, blah, blah". This U went on for a good 3 minutes. It was back then that I swore to Never solicit the "U" again--heck some guys who are "U" don't want to have to say a word at all--they figure "well, the Assignor made you the R for a reason, right; it's not my job."

Ouch ...
 

Smart guy.

But I still ask for input just to be polite and sometimes it comes back to bite me in the butt.

Mine: Uniforms and equipment are legal, and will be worn properly. Participants will exhibit good sportsmanship. Optional: Thirty/sixty second timeouts.

When I'm the umpire, and I'm asked for input, I will only add 30/60 timeout requests if it hasn't already been covered, otherwise it's simply, "Have fun".

I stopped reading after this.

Agreed. 90 seconds is way too long. Mine takes about ten seconds.

Introductions ...
 

Including introductions? Last week I had a game with tricaptains on one team and quadcaptains on the other.

Or ten seconds for just the spiel part of it?

Here's my spiel, word for word: "Coaches, please make sure that your players are legally equipped and that they know how to wear their uniforms properly. Coaches and captains, please make sure that everyone exhibits good sportsmanship. Any questions? Have fun."

Or do you not do introductions?

Please let's not resurrect the various threads about first and last names, i.e., Mr. Mac, or Billy, or BillyMac.

In NCAA-Men's and Virginia HS, captains' meetings and coaches' introductions are done separately. There is an expectation from some college supervisors to say something of substance to the captains.

I’ve been a U on a college game where the R’s captains meeting lasted, I kid you not, three minutes. Everyone was ready to be done with it about 2:40 earlier than he was.

The other U mentioned it to the assigner who told the R that he needed to condense his future spiels.

I am late in joining the party but it is time for a history lesson.

Yes, the Rules do not specify a "speaking captain".

NFHS R3-S1-A1 and NCAA Men's R3-S2-A1 (NCAA Women's Rules are not germane to this history lesson) are derived from NBC R3-S1-A1 which stated: "Each team consists of five players, one of whom is the captain."

NFHS: "Each team consists of five players, one of whom is the captain."

NCAA Men's: "At the start of the game, each team shall consist of five players, one of whom shall be the captain."


Also:

NFHS R3-S1-A2 (Which is derived from NBC Rule 3.): "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. Any player may address an official to request a time-out or permission to leave the court."

NCAA Men's R3-S3-A1 (The first sentence is derived from NBC Rule 3 and the second sentence was added later by the NCAA Men's Rules Committee.): "The captain is a team member who may address an official on matters of interpretation or to obtain essential information, when it is done in a courteous manner. Dialogue between coaches and officials should be kept to a minimum."


From this we can see that the position of Coach or Head Coach were not considered part of the Team nor a Representative of the Team. And, despite the fact that we are constantly being told to have good communication skills with HCs. We are also told to keep dialogue with Coaches to a minimum because Captains are our primary contact point for communication. This is because historically Coaches could have very little communication with their Players on the Court. Until the late 1940s or early 1950s when there was a Team TO the five Players had to remain on the Court and could not communicate with their HC. The HC had to send in information through Substitutes. The game had changed dramatically in the last 70 years or so.

Hence it really is good to know who is a Team's "speaking captain". He/she is the one that really is in control of the entire Team from all the Players on the Court as well as everyone on the Bench.

I am not saying that we should never communicate with HCs. The vast majority of HCs want could communication between the Game Officials and themselves, but the historical precedent is there to utilize the Captain to take care of problem HCs. At the Captains' Meeting I inform the Captains that they are in charge of the Teams including everyone on the Bench, including the HC. Does that mean I will not communicate with the HC, absolutely not. When we have problems with Players or Bench Personnel I am going to be communicating with the HC 99% of the time. But that 1% of the time, the Captain can be very useful.

My case in point (for those who have heard this story before you can skip to the end, :p):

1994 Michigan AAU Girls' 14U Championship Game (the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place team automatically qualify for the National Championship Tournament): The HC for Team B was chirping from the start of the game and it seem to be escalating. We are midway through the 1st Half and B1 (the Captain) is dribbling the Ball up the Court in the Back Court. He HC is really starting to get on my nerves and I softly tell her that she needs to get her HC's conduct under control. Without stopping her dribble she yells in voice loud enough for everyone in the gym to hear: "Dad! Shut up! You are embarrassing me!" 1) I did not know they were father and daughter. 2)Her father could not find a hole deep enough to climb in. 3) We did not hear anymore complaining about the officiating from him the rest of the game.

Lesson to be learned: Use Captains to your advantage.

So endth today's history lesson.

MTD, Sr.

I can objectively say that 99% of the time I don't remember who the captains are once the meeting is over. And no way in hell do I remember the "speaking captain."

In the rare instance I do remember, I can recall more than one instance where a captain was putting s*it in the game.

I am 68 years old and I can remember two numbers.

MTD, Sr.

So now you have something to work on. ;)

(and I'm not implying I don't)