"It's Rule 7-1-1, Coach!"

[Kelly Kinghorn]

Anyone without memorizing anything can quote rule 4 (Definitions). There are 44 sections. Think
how far down in the alphabet the word you want is. Quote a number about that far toward 44. So
for instance, Travelling starts with a T about 3/4 to 44 so around 33. "travelling is rule 4.33,
coach" Even if it's 4.32 or 4.35, he's still going to be impressed, IF he looks it up at all. I always
say it totally flat with no inflection at all. No emotion, like it's just another pop quiz. Y'all try it
sometime!

I disagree with this theory. If I were a coach and someone quoted a reference and it was the wrong one, I would light them up. "What other rules do you think you know?" "What other rules are you going to make up tonight?" "Do you really know what any of the rules are?" Those are the only questions that came to my mind quickly. If you are going to quote references--You had better know them exactly!! Otherwise, you are opening a can of worms that you don't want open IMO. Getting close will only help you lose credibility with the coach.

It is true that many of the coaches would never check the rulebook, but if one did and you were wrong, it wouldn't take very long before every coach knew about it. Remember the coaching community is probably smaller than the reffing community and they talk to each other.