BktBallRef posted last night about saying some things to a coach that he wishes he hadn't. So, what did I do today? You guessed it.

I don't regret calling a flagrant T. He said, "There's no such rule in the book. They are just making it up." I don't regret threatening to forfeit the game if he didn't leave the gym.

I do regret getting in his face, and shouting, "Out! You need to get out, NOW!!" Wasn't even clever or interesting. Sheez...

Uhm. More?

More what? details?

What call did you make that is "not" in the book?

Was that all that was said to earn the flagrant, or was that AFTER you tossed the coach?

White was clearly the better team, but Black wasn't getting run over, either. White wanted to get lots of steals, and they ended up fouling a lot. 18 in the first half, and we were pretty lenient. They led by 10 at the half. Third quarter was rough, because black was fighting back. We called several on both teams and were in the bonus at the end of the quarter. White still led by 8 or 9.

The white fans were very unhappy with the reffing. They were getting pretty noisy. The coach was loud, and tip-toed up to the line, so to speak, but hadn't really stepped over. He'd complain about a call, but then not carry it forward. Once I heard someone say,...

A minute or two into the fourth quarter, Black has the ball for a throw-in. White defender is flailing around in front of him. Suddenly reaches across and whacks the ball. In spite of Camron's insistence that I could warn in this sitch, I assessed a T. Coach asks why they don't get a warning first. My partner explained that the book requires the T without warning when the defender hits the ball. Coach and all the fans groan. Fans yell and object. I came part way across to report the foul, partner heads for the baseline to administer. The table guy asked if a technical is also a personal. I said it was, and started to walk away. The coach then said -- just loud enough for me and the fans to hear -- "There's no such rule in the book. They're just making it up."

I whistled the T very calmly. Then, as I turned to report to the table, and make sure my partner knew what was going on, it occured to me that this coach had directly called me a cheater, and had done it in a way that would incite the fans to mayhem. I decided to call the T a flagrant. After all that, then I got angry. I reported the T as flagrant, walked over to the coach, and said, "Out! You need to get out! NOW!!" He was sitting down by then, and I was sort of leaning over him, right in his face. The crowd got very quiet.

There was a pause, and then he says, "Who are you talking to?" I was about 2 feet away from him, and I felt a little too big, so I took one step back, breathed deeply and said, "You, head coach. I called this technical foul flagrant and your are ejected." He says, "I'm not going nowhere" and I said, "Then you will forfeit your game." He finally got up and left.

I'm not sorry I tossed him, but I wish I hadn't yelled up his nose!

Funny thing is, his kids played much, much better after he left. I wonder if any parents noticed.

A few years ago I did a boys JV game, during our pregame my partner said that he'd had this team a couple of weeks ago and they ran the coach, so expect to deal with it.

Game starts, the problem coach is yapping from the start, and so are his kids. They fall behind early and mid 1st my partner whacks the coach. I go to give him the seatbelt, and he starts to move the first chair into the coach's box. I told him to move it back with the rest of them.

They are down 15 at the half and early 3rd I whack and toss him. Varsity coach sits on the bench and takes over. A couple of minutes later I'm about to administer a throw in and I see the ejected coach peeking out from behind the bleachers.

I go toward the table, tell the AD who was at the table to get him out of here, they have a minute or game over.

With the varsity coach they come from 15 down and win by 10, and we don't hear a word from any of the players.

After the game the AD comes into the dressing room to apologize and to tell us that he had just fired the JV coach.

What level was it, Juulie? Was this at the Canby tourney?

Because this is a double negative, it means he is going somewhere. So I guess he was OK with being kicked out.

BTW - why didn't you bet him on the rule first? ;)

And why didn't you PUKE on his shoes? Did I get it right? Did I? Did I?

While I may have said you <em>could</em> call a violation/warning, I also said that in this type of situation ("whacks the ball"), I would go and have gone straight to the T.

Thanks, Camron, I feel better now!

Yup, Canby. 5th grade boys, OC Pioneers. You have them today or tomorrow?

I have them tomorrow - don't know which teams, it's always a surprise. I'm at Ackerman, though, so I'll probably have some consolation games. 5th grade...oh boy.

No problem with the T, no problem at all. However, tossing him for that (flagrant)... boy, that seems awful harsh. I wasn't there so I don't know the whole story, but those words aren't a flagrant T in my game.

Z

I debated briefly. If he'd have just said that to the asst, and I'd overheard it, it would have been a simple T. But he carefully planned it to be loud enough to get the fans going even more than they already were, and by the time I was in his face, the fans were, in fact, screaming and being pretty ugly. The flagrant quieted the crowd, and because the coach was gone, the boys played much better. I think it was the right call.