Coach: "The Fouls are 7-2!"

[canuckrefguy]

Okay, two things.

First, READ MY POST carefully (sorry, that comment always irritates me). I didn't say that YOU said the comment alone was worth a T. I stated that IF the comment alone isn't a T, how can we justify a T a short time later because we used the initial comment to bait him into some kind of argument?

Second, the 7-2 comment is only a question against integrity if we make it that way. Honestly, for me, if a coach says the fouls are 7-2, I NEVER think he's accusing me of cheating - I just think that he just feels we're missing too many fouls on the other team. Coach, of course, is full of it, and has no idea what they're talking about

My beef here is the idea that instead of trying to diffuse the situation, officials become confrontational - like the "are you accusing me of cheating" response. All of a sudden it's "we-them", and the chances of a coach escalating to the point where we have no choice but to T him increase dramatically. And MY point is this: we may be just as responsible for the situation as he is.

Granted, "Stop fouling" isn't the greatest either, but neither is it to be used without discretion (like all the stuff we say, right?), or without the right context. Would I say it to a coach who's really steamed? No way. If the "7-2" remark was more even keel? Maybe. More likely, I'd try to find a different way to make it go away.

Rut, if a coach is outright accusing you of cheating, I agree, it's wrong, and if he's really making a public display of it, my goodness, W-H-A-C-K away. But I don't think that's the same as the scenario that originally started this thread.