After refereeing for so long, you hear some of the funniest arguements that make absolutely no sense.. Any of us that have been ref'ing for any amount of time have heard the 'ol "you can't call that" or "you can't do that".. with a retort of "well, I just did".. but I'd love to hear some of your classics.

One of mine was during a free throw. I had a player standing at the just inside the three point line at the wing. I called a lane violation, and he told me that he was parallel to the third spot on the lane, so he was OK.

Ya almost have to give it to em when they come up with some of the most ridiculous arguements of all-time !

LD

I like to tell coaches that they're half right, but I'm in the other half. ;)

I like the one I learned from here... when I used it the coach looked happy, but perhaps a bit confused.

He thought that the arrow should be his. (We correctly awarded it to the other team.) I informed him that he will get the next 2 out of 3 arrows.

The ones that amuse me are based on how the rules were 5, or 10, or even 20 years ago.

Lack of Action!!

Force Out!!

That's up and down!

How about change of status?

I actually worked a kids game 3 years ago and a very tenured official cancelled the time out I recognized because of change of status.

Actually, come to think of it....no one argued?!?

Player: Ref, If you keep calling all those fouls none of us will be left to play.

Ref: If you'd stop committing all the fouls, you wouldn't foul out.

Before the throw-in to start the second half.

Player: I don't know...that's a lot of fouls for just the first half.

Me: I know! If we could get these guys to settle down and play ball, this would go a lot better.

Player: Yeah, you're right. I'll settle 'em down.

Me: *smile*

This happened to me at a 7th grade game
Coach: Foul count is 6 to 1 against me
Me: Thanks for the reminder. I could have missed the bonus.

Quotes
 

Coaches daughter is running up the court not listening to the coach hollaring at her. He yells as I go by " Betty if I wanted someone out there on the court not listening to me I would have your mother out there instead" I stopped and started to laugh.

Everyone's had someone complaining about the foul count, but a couple of years ago I had a coach complaining that the foul count was "6 to 4.....6 to 4!!!!!" I guess we were supposed to have 6 to 6 or something. I guess he just needed something to be unhappy about.

I had a coach ask me once after a travel call. "How did he travel?"

I looked at him and said coach there is only one way to travel. He then went ballistic, after I got him calmed down I said "coach the only way to travel is to pick-up your pivot foot and put it back down." He still didn't believe me.:confused::confused::confused:

Actually, there is another way to travel---pick up the pivot foot and then start a dribble.

How 'bout dragging the pivot foot?

Actually had a stupid argument from another official last night - reffing "class" getting the "old dogs" ready for the switch to three-person mechanics...two boys teams scrimmaging, A3 has break-away lay-in which hits the backboard, ball is outside the cylinder and still going up when B5 swats it away...no call from either C or T, and I say "good no-call"...other guy standing there starts to argue it should be BI or goaltending...even after I show him the diagram in the Simplified and Illustrated book, he continues to rant that he will always call it BI in his games and that I don't know anything...so sometimes it's not the coaches that aren't so bright...

7/8th grade game
7th grade game
Coach: TIMEOUT! TIMEOUT! (the ball was live)

Me: Coach, I can't do that you don't have the ball.

Coach: I thought you had one timeout you could use when you didn't have the ball and it was live?

Let's just say I didn't reply cause I didn't know how!!

What would you of said to him?

coach; 4, 5, 6, 7
me; why do you want a 3 seconds in the lane call but start your count at 4? besides, there was 3 shots taken while you were counting.
coach; yea, but he's still in there.
me; um, lol, um, i'll work harder coach.

How about pivoting when there is no pivot foot -- like after a hop-step?

Or how about, when the player has control of the ball while lying on the floor, but can't dribble -- puts it on the floor, stands up and picks up the ball?

Hop step?

I used this new-fangled google thing to see just whatinthehell you might mean by hop step and what a hop step might have to do with basketball.

Any of these close?

http://e-net.kir.jp/hsje/
http://www.macmillan-caribbean.com/b...hopstepjum.htm
http://www.mikan.sakura.ne.jp/~eejump/
http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dicti...-step-and-jump
http://www.crump.demon.co.uk/hhb/

Chuck,
I found it interesting that you noted that the player lying on the floor in your example no longer has the right to dribble.
This was a good thought as I believe that the rules committee didn't bother to consider this. Would the action of placing the ball on the floor and letting go of it, then being the first to touch it again constitue a dribble? It certainly seems to meet the definition provided in 4-15-1.
Yet the rules committee definitely does not consider this a dribble. Here's the proof.
Obviously, you are aware of the following:
Case Book play 4.43.5 Situation B describes a player who dives for a loose ball and slides after gaining control. It then goes on to say, "It is also traveling if A1 puts the ball on the floor, then rises and is first to touch the ball."
The writing of this Case Book play implies that the placing of the ball on the floor is not a dribble, since traveling is the violation cited and we know that a player CANNOT travel during a dribble. (4-15-4 Note 1)
But since one must have player control in order to travel (4-43), apparently the player is considered to be in control of the ball during the placing on the floor.
Yet a dribble is "ball movement caused by a player in control." So why isn't this a dribble? Anyone confused yet?

In my opinion under the current logic of the rules there are only two ways to understand this play. 1) The player does not have control when placing the ball down on the floor. It is considered to be a loose ball. Only team control exists. But then this wouldn't be a travel. 2) The action is a dribble. The player then couldn't possibly travel.

However, the NFHS chooses to create a third option. They say that player control exists, but the action is not a dribble. So it is a travel.
Yet again the NFHS interp doesn't make sense.

I believe that this play should be legal for either of the two reasons listed above.

PS If the placing of the ball on the floor were to be considered a dribble, and the player on the floor in possession had already dribbled, then undertaking this action would simply constitute a double dribble violation.

PPS If the player were standing and placed the ball on the floor, released it, then bent over and picked it up again, would this constitute a dribble?
I think that the vast majority of us would say yes.
4-15-4 Note 3 only deals with holding the ball and not releasing it.

I also find it quite appropriate that my above post is in the thread entitled Stupid Arguments, since that is what I consider the NFHS to making in ruling this play a travel.

I have to run to class, so I don't have time to look thru the links you provided (tho I'm sure they're fascinating!). "Hop-stop" is my way of indicating the type of jump-stop that results in not having a pivot foot. I mis-typed it. It should be hop-stop. I'm tired of the discussion where somebody says "jump stop" and everybody else immediately goes "well, there are two kinds of jump-stop". That's stupid. If you don't have a pivot after the move, I'm now calling that a hop-stop.

I think you called it "Bob". :)

That's the problem with "unauthorized mechanics".

Not even the guy using them is sure what he means.

Not true! I'm sure what I meant. I'm just not sure what I said. :D

I found this thread while poking through some old threads while wearing some old threads. I hope you folk don't mind that I revived it.

The best (worst?) argument I ever had was:

"I did it with my butt!"

A player in a men's league game thought he could push another player off the court as long as he used his backside! He came up with that argument after I gave him a friendly warning and then called three fouls on him for the same act.

I once had a coach giving the old, "Call it both ways," thing. First half ended and he was waiting by the door to the dressing room, the one we needed to go through, so we walked to the table to get our jackets and double checked the book. 14 fouls to 8, in HIS favor.

He finally goes in, so we do too. 3 minute mark we enter, he is right outside the door. I said,"Check the book coach," and just walked away.

We never heard a peep out of him the rest of the game.