I'm about to take on my first VAR game...

[Mregor]

Originally posted by blindzebra
The kids know what they are doing and fewer weird things happen.

True for the most part, but my most bizzare incident happened in a boys varsity last year. I've been wanting to get this off my chest since it happened, so this seems like as good a time as any. Long, but an important lesson here.

Boys Varsity towards end of the season. We have a conference champ playing at 5 or 6 place team big rivalry. On paper, it looks to be a blow-out and a foul fest. As we pull up to the HS we assume there must be some other event going on because we can't even find a place to park. Nope, they are all here for the game. Packed house with extra bleaches brought in. Full band and both Home and Visitors have their chearleader squads. During pregame meeting, the scorer says he brought extra pencils becuase in his words, it was going to be ugly. I'm U in 2-man. V controls the tip and on the subsequent drive is fouled hard but nothing out of line. As I'm standing there while he's shooting his FT's, I look up at the clock and notice 10 seconds have come off the clock. I do some quick math and figure if this keeps up we'll have all the players fouled out and go home before at the end of the 1st. Next time down the court I've got a PC foul against V. Coach complains a bit, we switch, bam, same exact play going the other way. Another PC. H coach complains a bit, I told him exact same call as 10 seconds earlier. All is well but we've got 3 fouls in the first minute of the game. Kids settled down and we finished the half with V is up by 3 at the half with foul count of 4-3. Great game. Can't even hear each other's whistles at full volume. Both sided with their cheers of "conference champs" replied with "Over rated" stuff like that all game long. Truly the most electric atmosphere I've ever been in.

End of third with 0:12 seconds left, V up by 5, we have a TO after a made basket by H. V6 subs in and H lines up for a press. I'm new lead at midcourt opposite table to help with the b/c pressure. V1 inbounds to V6 who is pressured just below the FT line. He is double teamed and gets confused wiht the pressure and figures the path of no resistance is towards the basket and goes in for an uncontested layup at H's basket. As soon as he does this, I look to the scorer and show them "2" and point to Home's bench to get them to score the basket for H. I look up at the scoreboard to make sure the points get credited to the correct team. While I'm trying to check that, everyone, including my partner is now confused. Time is ticking down and now there's just a few ticks left on the clock. H1 grabs the ball and inbounds it to H2 and everyone starts going the wrong way (me too at this point). H2 is the bright one, and he turns around and scores another uncontested basket for H. Time expires. Both coaches come out with H saying, you can't correct that and V saying, you can't count that. We meet and get away from the coaches. We discuss it and neither of us think we can correct it because it doesn't fit the scenario of a correctable error. We go back to the coaches and R explains our decision. V coach is naturally upset. We do our best at explaining why it's not correctable. Coach doesn't like it but eventually we get going again and start the intermission while we go to the table and make sure they get the score right. They never added the last basket, I know this because I looked at the scorboard when it initally happened. We confirm it with the scorers and get the timer to add 2 to H's score on the board. Fan's go crazy and gets coach involved again. Explain it to him and his scorer confirms that based on our interpretation, the score is correct on the board. It's now a 1 pt game. We trade leads back and forth through much of the fourth period, I got 2 more PC fouls on V's PG for pushing off with his off arm and the coach really took those pretty well chastising his PG instead of me. Ends up being a 1 pt game with V up by one and H has a last second attempt coming out of a TO at DL. They run a high post but defense disrupts it and they end up with their center having to take an out of control desperation shot while driving to the basket. I'm lead and there is no contact, game over, get our butts out of there. No confrontations, just get showered and leave. We talk about it and without a book handy we came up with the decision that we should have blown the play dead right after the initial wrong basket to confer with scorer and get everyone back on track. We drafted an email to the coach on the following Monday after reveiwing the proper procedure which would have been to cancel the score (CB Rule 10.?) and admitted our error. We sent it to him and then got a reply from him saying, thanks, hope to see you work one of our games again. We were pleased that he took it well. Within minutes we got an email from the State asking for our take on what happened because the AD complained and the state upheld our gametime decision but the coach forwarded the AD our email that admitter our error (you confused yet?). Well, it all boiled down that we were wrong, the State supported our initial and then revised interpretation, and all ends well. However, I did not get an availability sheet for that conference for next season.

So, you are correct that normally things are better at Varsity level. That is especially true with coaches. However, the weird does still happen and usually to me. Thanks for listening.

Mregor

[Hawks Coach]

Originally posted by zebraman

I suppose that is meaningful to some, but sayings like that always make me laugh. Why not break it down into 16 two minute sections. Why not break it down into 32 one minute sections. Or maybe, just concentrate for one big 32 minute section.

Yeah, I know.. I'm being sarcastic and the point is to maintain focus, but some of these "ref sayings" are pretty inane when you really think about them.

One time an official told me that the middle of the third quarter was the most important part of the game for us to set the tone. I'm still trying to figure that one out. Maybe I'm just too dense.

Z

What can happen is that as a quarter or half progresses, you tend to slide along a little more. You see it with teams, I see it with myself at times. You have moments where you lose that sharp focus you had at the outset of a period. When my team looks like it is having that issue, it is TO time. Hopefully my team and I don't have it at the same time or it is goodnight time.

So I see the subdivision as a checkpoint to say, "am I maintaining focus."

Don't undrstand the third quarter thing for certain, but I do think that everybody thinks about setting a tone in the first quarter - everybody is discovering how the game is going to be played/called/etc. Maybe this is just a way of emphasizing that you need to start the second half stron to make it clear how the rest of the game is going to go. Certainly the third quarter can be critical in determining a team's fate - frequently the way the third quarter goes can swing a game one way or another.

[Dan_ref]

Good story.

The way I read it V scored in H basket then H took the ball out, scoring 2 more points. If I got this right you got it wrong. V was entitled to the ball at that point. There's a case play that sez to take off the points.

In any event I would have blown the whistle and killed play as soon as V scored 2 points for H. Talk to the table, talk to the coaches, talk to your partner.

[Dan_ref]

Originally posted by zebraman

I suppose that is meaningful to some, but sayings like that always make me laugh. Why not break it down into 16 two minute sections. Why not break it down into 32 one minute sections. Or maybe, just concentrate for one big 32 minute section.

Yeah, I know.. I'm being sarcastic and the point is to maintain focus, but some of these "ref sayings" are pretty inane when you really think about them.


Z

Then you don't you just say you're going to focus for the entire season...or for anything you do in your entire life?

Reason is the human brain is easily overwhelmed by huge problems. Break it down into managable pieces and we can deal with it. Focussing on 4 minute segments of a basketball game seems managable to me.

[rainmaker]

Originally posted by Dan_ref
Reason is the human brain is easily overwhelmed by huge problems. Break it down into managable pieces and we can deal with it. Focussing on 4 minute segments of a basketball game seems managable to me.

I can only manage about 30-seconds. What's overwhelming for me is that I have to do that 64 times!!

[Dan_ref]

Originally posted by rainmaker

I can only manage about 30-seconds. What's overwhelming for me is that I have to do that 64 times!!

Yeah, but only one at a time

[blindzebra]

The real benefit of breaking it down time-wise.

I like to use self-talk and focusing on elements WITHIN the game. I'll tell myself stay offball, and I'll really attack that aspect of the game. That has always locked me into the game, and increased my level of focus.

[Dan_ref]

Originally posted by blindzebra
The real benefit of breaking it down time-wise.

I like to use self-talk and focusing on elements WITHIN the game. I'll tell myself stay offball, and I'll really attack that aspect of the game. That has always locked me into the game, and increased my level of focus.

whatever works

[TravelinMan]

Originally posted by Luv4Asian8
...and am a little nervous. Even though I now have a season under my [flex]belt.......

Luv, couple of questions -

(1) Are you saying you are doing varsity game after 1 year experience? or that you completed another year's experience? (2) Varsity basketball on 5/14????? Where are you officiating?

__________________________________________________ ______
"The more time you have to think things through, the more you have to screw it up."--Clint Eastwood

[rainmaker]

Originally posted by TravelinMan
__________________________________________________ ______
"The more time you have to think things through, the more you have to screw it up."--Clint Eastwood

This reminds me of that old standby:

THe sooner you get behind, the more time you have to catch up.

[rainmaker]

Originally posted by TravelinMan
(1) Are you saying you are doing varsity game after 1 year experience? or that you completed another year's experience? (2) Varsity basketball on 5/14????? Where are you officiating?

I'm guessing he's doing a summer league and a varsity game in that league. That's where most of us slower-up-the-ladder types start doing varsity. It's almost as good as that first season, league, conference varsity game. Almost, but not quite.

[TravelinMan]

Originally posted by rainmaker

I'm guessing he's doing a summer league and a varsity game in that league. That's where most of us slower-up-the-ladder types start doing varsity. It's almost as good as that first season, league, conference varsity game. Almost, but not quite.

Rainmaker, I'd say that is a good educated guess and until I hear otherwise I'll go with that one!. OK, I've done summer league early on in my career. As you say, exciting but not quite the same. My first varsity game had a 7 footer in it. I purposely went over and stood next to him just to see what it felt like standing next to one!

BTW, I see you are into quotes as well. Been catching up my whole life, it seems, including answering these posts.

__________________________________________________ ________
"I've developed a new philosophy--I only dread one day at a time."--Charlie Brown

[tomegun]

Originally posted by zebraman

I suppose that is meaningful to some, but sayings like that always make me laugh. Why not break it down into 16 two minute sections. Why not break it down into 32 one minute sections. Or maybe, just concentrate for one big 32 minute section.

Yeah, I know.. I'm being sarcastic and the point is to maintain focus, but some of these "ref sayings" are pretty inane when you really think about them.

One time an official told me that the middle of the third quarter was the most important part of the game for us to set the tone. I'm still trying to figure that one out. Maybe I'm just too dense.

Z

I'm pretty sure if we asked Rickref the official who told him this does college ball with TV timeouts. Breaking it down like this takes you from one timeout to the next. I've heard Dave Libbey say the same thing.

[rainmaker]

Originally posted by TravelinMan
OK, I've done summer league early on in my career. As you say, exciting but not quite the same. My first varsity game had a 7 footer in it. I purposely went over and stood next to him just to see what it felt like standing next to one!

First "real" varsity game, or first summer varsity game? My first summer varsity game was actually at an all-star camp with D1 players for counselors. The counselors were allowed to play a little, so I was actually reffing Thalo Green at one point. Sheez, was I in over my head or what!?!?

First real varsity game was 1A girls, a little Christian school against another little Christian school. Absolutely NBD. But it was still more exciting, more cool, more everything than that camp game. This spring at our association banquet, the guy who was my partner for that first real varsity game, came over and introduced himself to my husband. He said, "Hope you don't mind me saying this, but I'll always cherish being her first." Kind of corny, but I felt that way about him, too. He was the first. I don't even remember who my partner was at that camp game.

[Nevadaref]

Originally posted by Mregor
We talk about it and without a book handy we came up with the decision that we should have blown the play dead right after the initial wrong basket to confer with scorer and get everyone back on track. We drafted an email to the coach on the following Monday after reveiwing the proper procedure which would have been to cancel the score (CB Rule 10.?) and admitted our error.

Well, at least you learned the proper way to handle this situation. I'm surprised though that you have never had this come up before. It seems that lower level teams score in the wrong basket quite frequently.
Your Case Book reference is 10.1.8 and the Comment at the end. Also, in the Simplified and Illustrated the procedure which tells you to stop the game after a goal at the wrong basket is on the top of page 23. It's labelled 4-5-2.

It was very upstanding of you and your partner to admit your mistake and send the email. I think it is their loss, if that conference doesn't invite you back. You seem to care about getting it right (even though you made a mistake this time), and I would think that they would want the conscientious official on the court.