Stupid Middle School Coach ...
 

Blue 1 attempts a layup (in the act) with two minutes left in a tie game. White 1 (with a linebacker build) slams into Blue 1 while attempting to prevent the shot. Ball doesn't go in, Blue 1 crashes to the floor and rolls over.

I'm the lead and immediately come up with the intentional foul signal (crossed arms) and add our local excessive contact signal (arms and fists down to side) and verbalize such. I report the foul to the table with the same signals and verbiage, and back away to the trail opposite table to help administer.

White coach yells that it isn't an intentional foul. I walk across the court to calmly explain to him that since there was excessive contact, by rule, it was an intentional foul. He continues to complain that it wasn't an intentional foul. I ask him, "Was there excessive contact?", he replies that there was. I tell him that excessive contact, by rule, is an intentional foul. He says, "That's wrong". I tell him, "That's enough coach", and back away to my position to help administer.

Before first free throw is attempted he yells across the court "That's still wrong". Technical foul (no written warning).

Almost made it through the entire season without charging a technical foul to a coach (not even a written warning), or a player.

Stupid middle school coach. He wasn't arguing about the excessiveness of the contact (he actually agreed with me that it was excessive), he was arguing a rule interpretation, and one doesn't do that with BillyMac by yelling across a crowded gym, especially after I took the time to calmly explain it to him.

Stupid middle school coach.

Mine is that earlier in the week while reporting a foul the assistant is complaining and trying to talk to me for several seconds, to the point I told him he needed to stop. At that point he informed me that he was a coach and could say what he wanted and that if he wanted to he was allowed to stand up and coach, why he said that I don't know as I didn't bring up standing in the box. I politely inform him he is the assistant coach and that he was not allowed to stand and that I didn't want to hear anything else from him the rest of the night, his response was he would do what he wanted. That is when I looked at the head coach and told him if he wanted to continue to be able to stand and have his box he better get his assistant under control - luckily I never heard another word, haha!

I can tell its getting late in the season, my tolerance level isn't as much as it used to be, lol. Knock on wood -- still haven't had one(T) this year!!

Famous Last Words ...
 

Not one all year? Hell, I had three in one game (one player, one assistant coach, one player-who-just-fouled-out-and-was-now-bench-personnel). Probably should've had 2-3 more in that game too.

On The Long Ride Home ...
 

Officials often regret the technical fouls that we didn't call, not the technical fouls that we did call.

And that is why I feel HS should change the name to match what the NCAA rules do....flagrant 1 and flagrant 2.

Excessive Contact Foul ...
 

Perhaps.

Or how about making an NFHS excessive contact intentional foul a separate foul, just called an excessive contact foul, with it's own signal (maybe downward thrusting fists to side), and not a type of intentional foul. It would have the same penalty as a excessive contact intentional foul (two shots by player fouled and the ball at closest spot to the foul).

We do not need a different foul for every possible action. It is just bad wording and needs to be changed. Coaches will still screw it up, but they will not at least have the name of the foul, thinking that that means the specific action must be intentional.

Peace

I don’t do too many MS games, maybe 2 or 4 per month, but had a set last night. Whacked a coach in the second quarter when, after having given him more intelligent conversation time regarding an act-of-shooting decision than most officials would, he still couldn’t resist walking away and slapping his hands loudly in frustration above his head. Just wouldn’t let it go.

It was the difference between a 1-and-1 and 2 shots in the second quarter. Strange hill he chose to die on. Especially in a game that already had 45 fouls in 24 minutes.

Stupid middle school coaches.


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Separation ...
 

To prevent arguments like this (certainly not the first such argument of my career) the NFHS probably needs to somehow separate excessive contact intentional fouls from other "garden variety" intentional fouls to do away with the "but he was going for the ball" statement often stated by coaches, and completely take away the intentional foul signal and any "intentional foul" verbiage for such illegal excessive contact.

I don't argue with coaches about rules. I tell them the rule and move on.

Nothing will prevent arguments based on ignorance. Ignore, laugh or apply Raymond's approach. Or T.

This fall I had a MS girls game where B1 used excessive contact on a girl driving to the basket. Coach B couldn't understand why I called an intentional foul, even with the explanation it was for excessive contact. His reaction was :confused: because he also officiates and is the president of our officials association.

I had a JV coach earlier this season want to argue a double dribble call. He somehow figured it was a hill worth dying on when he decided to end his argument with, "Go read a rule book!"

I showed him with a technical foul that I've read Rule 10-5-1 :D.

I'm at 16 techs through 71 games. Still left a couple out there too, those are the ones which bother me. :(

Hell, I'm still brooding over one I should have served in my last game, over 5 years ago.

Luckily I can still bask in the vicarious glow when my progeny pull the trigger themselves. I've just got to hear the details, then I feel better for a while.

Moral of this story:

Serve "T" early and often (when justified). You'll never know when its your last chance and you're left unfulfilled the rest of your life.