How would you handle this?

[rbruno]

Was fortunate enough to get a first round HS State Tournament game on this week. While my partners and i were in a tiny locker room pregaming in comes the head coach of the home team. He said he came in to change and "iron" (yes iron) his pants for the game. He proceeds to tell us that he can be a bit loud on the court and to pay him no mind during the game. He clearly doesn't belong in this room before, during or after the game. We just sat and after a few minutes left the room to get to the floor for the beginning of the game. What would you guys have done in this situation?

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by rbruno

Was fortunate enough to get a first round HS State Tournament game on this week. While my partners and i were in a tiny locker room pregaming in comes the head coach of the home team. He said he came in to change and "iron" (yes iron) his pants for the game. He proceeds to tell us that he can be a bit loud on the court and to pay him no mind during the game. He clearly doesn't belong in this room before, during or after the game. We just sat and after a few minutes left the room to get to the floor for the beginning of the game. What would you guys have done in this situation?

I would not have said anything to the coach at the time. I would have reported this to the GM or state association about him coming into the locker room or you guys not being given a space that was private (or whoever assigned the game). I would let them handle it. But saying anything to the coach might get carried over on the court, unfortunately.

Peace

[BillyMac]

Finish dressing as soon as possible, leave the room, and continue your pregame in a hallway. Mention the issue to the site director. Report the situation to your state association and assigner.

[bob jenkins]

How far in advance of the game was this, especially relative to the time you might usually show up for a game? If you were there 90 minutes early, for example, and you usually are in the room 30 minutes before game time, then the coach could have expected the room to be empty.

[rbruno]

Oh no this was literaly 20 min before the tap. We had basically finished our pregame discusssion though. The whole thing was only 5 min.

[BillyMac]

This reminds me of the olden days when coaches would come into the room post game while we were showering to land line call the regional daily morning newspaper before deadline with game results ("Smith, John, five field goals, two of three free throws, twelve points, yada, yada, yada ...") information. They couldn't wait or their kids might not get their box score names in the newspaper.

Always awkward, even under the best circumstances.

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by bob jenkins

How far in advance of the game was this, especially relative to the time you might usually show up for a game? If you were there 90 minutes early, for example, and you usually are in the room 30 minutes before game time, then the coach could have expected the room to be empty.

That is true, but if he comes in your room and hears you say something, and interprets something from what you said, that is not fair to the crew.

I had a football games years ago where we drove together for a particular game in Central Illinois (before I moved to Chicago). I was with my crew and we had one person filling in that happened to be the brother of the Referee. Everyone on the crew knew each other growing up but me but I had become rather good friends with each crew member. We had an extensive pregame in the car before this big game and were able to talk about a lot of things related only to the game. The trip was about an hour and a half for most of us so we had plenty of time to discuss everything we were going to do or what was going to happen in the game.

Well when we finally got to the school, we were out of pre-game mode and were joking and having some fun with each other. The room they put us in was right next to the coach's locker office and the head coach and most of the staff were in there.

Well, the game ended in a close one with the visiting team scoring on their final drive with less than a minute to go in the game. When the game was over and we got to the locker room, we hardly talked about the game or the job we did. But we were confronted by the head coach that referenced our behavior before the game and he claimed we did not take it that seriously. And was rather critical where we had to basically tell them, "You put us in this room where you could see us interact, if you put us in a private room you would have no idea what we did or talked about." The coach was shut down rather quickly and he was still mad but this even resulted in a write-up with a Special Report by one of the crew members.

I saw this to suggest that even if the coach thought that we were put in a situation that was not fair to all parties. This is what I was thinking about when reading this OP. Anything could have been saying and the coach could hold that against the crew. We should only be in a room that no one is coming in and out of and that happens way too often at schools. Participants also try to find biases in our behavior towards a school and this only exacerbated that feeling.

Peace

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

The room they put us in was right next to the coach's locker office and the head coach and most of the staff were in there...

Several years ago there was a situation where the officials were in a room adjacent to the home locker room. During the halftime intermission, the officials could here every single word that the home coach was yelling at his players. The referee (a high school teacher) heard, in his opinion, inappropriate language that should not be used by adults in the presence of teenage boys, and took it upon himself to contact the athletic director the next morning, outside of normal line of communication that always includes our assigner as a "go-between" (other than to confirm games, officials are not supposed to directly contact athletic directors).

Needless to say, everything (referee, coach, assigner, athletic director) hit the fan. Worst of all, our officials took sides, some supporting the referee, some not supporting the referee.

[tnolan]

A lot of great points and stories here.
Sounds like you guys handled "The Maestro" correctly.



A long, long time ago my old HS used to put officials in the PE teachers' office, which was located in the locker room. It was a window office as well, so you could hear and see the entire halftime berating that the home team would get. I'm sure my dad could tell me stories of potential coaches/officials exchanging words in such close quarters....

Since as officials, we're often not in the best locations and/or locker rooms are loud and echoey, and you traditionally could be only one room over from either team, I will add that pre and post game we do need to be cautious with our discussions of the game, players, and coaches...especially if any critique of any kind is involved in the conversation.

But to comment on JRut's football story, coaches are insane, paranoid, over-perceptive crazy individuals. Your story is a perfect example of our craft and how certain coaches can't appreciate the work put in.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by tnolan

... pre and post game we do need to be cautious with our discussions of the game, players, and coaches ... especially if any critique of any kind is involved in the conversation.

Happened a few nights ago. I was observing two of my friends working a state tournament game and participated in their halftime and post game conference. We had to watch what we said because the visitors were behind a single thin door and we could hear every single word that they said (just talking, not yelling) so they could hear everything that we said.

Very small, rural school outside our local area. Smallest changing area I've ever seen. Only two chairs. One desk. A door opened into the room which made it very tight. No lockers. No pegs to put clothes/jackets on. Shower area (there was hot water) was smaller than my smallest bathroom at home (and I don't live in a mansion). John Deere tractors in the parking lot.

[BillyMac]

The Maestro doesn't iron his pants like the coach, he takes off his pants when he sits down so he doesn't lose the crease.

Still a very funny reference and a very funny photo. Thanks tnolan.

[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

I guess I am old school. Yes, I would have had Game Management and the StateHSAA involved from the very beginning, but I would have never let him in the Dressing Room in the first place. The Officials Dressing Room is just that: The Officials Dressing Room. And I do not care how upset it would have made the Home HC. In fact, I would bet dollars to donuts that this HC does it before every home game as an intimidation factor.

Have I every had to deny a HC access to his "office" before a game. Yes! Numerous occasions for the four years in the mid-1970s that I attended the University of Miami (FL). It started with the very first game I officiated in Florida when I asked for the AD who asked why I was not dressed to officiate and I made him provide me with a dressing room and to insure that it was private and available for me and my partner during Halftime and after the game. It was common practice in Dade County that officials game to the game already dressed and had to sit at the Score Table during Halftime. By the end of my second year in Florida, the Official for Ohio had effected a major shift in how H.S. basketball officials were treated in Dade, County.

So everyone here can see why I am still and SOB!

MTD, Sr.