Coach takes a charge!!!

[jebPE]

Gotta love those rivalry games.

I think you should have called it if the coach broke the rule (BTW, I am not an official).

I've heard a few folks mentioning the phrase "gaining advantage", but I think that phrase is misplaced.

I'll give you personal example to illustrate where I am coming from.

I was playing golf in my club's championship tournament this summer, and one of my tee shots ended up in the rough on a rock.

There was a sprig of grass between the ball and the rock, and when I addressed the ball, the ball moved about a 1/4" from its original position, although it remained on the rock.

I went ahead and hit the shot (about 20 feet back into the fairway).

I gained no advantage from the ball moving, but I broke the rule, because I was to replace the ball under penalty of one stroke.

Since I went ahead and hit the shot, there was a two-stroke penalty for breaching the rule.

No one was around to see what happened, and I had to call the penalty on myself.

I know golf is not basketball, but the principle is the same.

If a rule is broken, then a penalty should be assessed...regardless of the situation, and regardless of the outcome.

It occurs to me that the only protection from criticism an official has the Rule Book. I would think that if one consistently whistled all rules breaches, two things would happen:

1) Teams would learn to not break the rules;
2) No one would be able to question his/her motivation/integrity.