Which takes precedence?

[Mark Dexter]

Had a situation late in one of tonight's blow-out games where my record in the book said A should have the AP arrow, and the actual arrow said B.

Now in a game with about 60 points difference, I'm not going to say anything. However, if the refs weren't cheating with a spare whistle, etc., which do you go by, the arrow or book?

BTW, I think the book was right because the timer was a guy who liked to switch the arrow a bit too early.

[BigDave]

The "official" book is just that, official. It takes precedence over the arrow.

[Sven]

Mark,

In addition to officiating, I've been doing HS varsity book for about 20 years. I'm pretty confident in saying that the book is the official record. The actual arrow is not just for the convenience of the crowd and officials, but the book is where it counts -- and generally the "home" book. Kind of like the scoreboard. Hopefully, it agrees with what I have in the book (if the timer and I have been communicating properly), but if not, the scoreboard, like the arrow, is not the official record.

Moreover, the arrow is the responsibility of the official scorer, not the timer. When I'm scoring, I'm the guy with the finger on the arrow switch. I know when the throw-in ends, and I flip the direction as I make the indication in the book.

In regard to your comments in the other thread about the JV officials putting the ball in play under the basket rather than outside the lane, if I'm doing the book, I keep my mouth shut unless asked. Often in JV games, we have young officials that I know personally. I might talk to them away from the heat of the game about something like this, but during the game they have more than enough to think about, without my complicating the situation for them.

Just my opinion, I could be wrong.

Sven

[JRutledge]

Officials should know who has the arrow. If you have your head into the game, it does not matter what the arrow says or what the book says. Scorers make mistakes. The official can correct any situation as long as they have specific knowledge at the appropriate time. If a officials takes a snapshot, this would not happen very often.

Just my opinion on the issue.

[Dan_ref]

Originally posted by JRutledge
Officials should know who has the arrow. If you have your head into the game, it does not matter what the arrow says or what the book says. Scorers make mistakes. The official can correct any situation as long as they have specific knowledge at the appropriate time. If a officials takes a snapshot, this would not happen very often.

Just my opinion on the issue.

I completely agree. The AP direction is the responsibility
of the floor officials, their "opinion" has more weight
than what is written in the book or on the scoreboard/table arrow. If the scorer insists I'm wrong & he's right he's
going to have to convince me that I'm wrong before I'll change it. And I agree we should keep the arrow in our head
as opposed to rubber bands & whistles in pockets.

[Pirate]

Rut/Dan:

You guys certainly have a better memory than I do if you can remember the arrow without some sort of reminder (whistles or rubberbands as you mentioned). What I like to do is speak with the official scorekeeper prior to the game and give them some suggestions as to how they can accurately keep track of alternating possession. This has seemed to work for me. I personally do not keep a reminder (rubberband or whistle) on me. Anyone else have an innovative way for keeping track of alternating possession?