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I agree that the rule book will not teach you judgement. However, successful officials understand the rule book - both the spirit and the letter.
Some people talk about officiating with your heart/gut/etc. - but that is impossible to do unless you have a complete understanding of the rules. For 99% of the plays - shooting fouls, out-of-bounds, etc. you will be fine. However, when a weird situation happens, you must be prepared. I would venture to say that half of all basketball officials don't know some simple case rulings - for instance, what happens when a jumper catches the initial toss? Most know that if the white team jumper catches it a violation, but they don't know that the blue team gets both the ball AND the arrow. That is a simple case which is clearly outlined in the case book, yet many don't know it.
So, what are those officials going to do when something really weird happens - like a foul, followed by a techinical for taunting, a fight, players coming off the bench, etc. If you don't know the rules you aren't going to have a clue as how to administer it.
On a side note - NBA officials get fined if they do not administer a play correctly - there aren't fines for judgment. Interesting, huh?
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Thu Nov 16, 2000, 03:11pm
Hybrid Mode
