Justice... one coach at a time...

[cmckenna]

BEACON FALLS (AP) -- The basketball coach at Waterford High School has been charged with breach of peace after an argument at a game.

Richard Conover was arrested last night at halftime in a Division III boys basketball tournament game at Woodland Regional High School in Beacon Falls after an altercation with a Beacon Falls police officer during the game.

The incident began when a referee called a technical foul on Conover with 2:26 left in the first half, after the Waterford coach loudly protested a foul called on one of his players.

Conover continued to protest, and the ref asked him to sit. State police say when police intervened, Conover created a public disturbance and was arrested.

He was released after a promise to appear in court.

[Adam]

Was he ejected? If not, why did the cops get involved?

[cmckenna]

Don't know. All I have is this article. Not much detail.

[Edited by cmckenna on Mar 8th, 2005 at 01:39 PM]

[ChrisSportsFan]

I know alot of refs who are police officers, that might be a good strategy to chilling a coach out. But, I have one question; should they carry their badge on the court?

[Redhouse]

The h ell with my badge. I am carrying my 9 with me.

[M&M Guy]

Originally posted by Redhouse
The h ell with my badge. I am carrying my 9 with me.

So the coach asks you, "Is that a Glock in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?"

[aces88]

I am from CT and saw a TV news report about the incident. It didn't add much to the newspaper account, but they reported that the Waterford AD said that while he regretted what the coach did after police became involved, he did not feel that their intervention was warranted. In his opinion, the referees had the situation under control. From this, you could infer (rightly or wrongly) that the police officer took it upon himself to get involved. Also, from the way it was reported, the coach may not have been ejected from the game prior to his arrest.

[cmckenna]

Aces,

What part of CT? I am in Litchfield County

[lds7199]

Seems to me like a case of the police officer sticking his nose into something that he had no business in. If the coach wasn't ejected, the police officer had no business coming on the court. Having that shiny badge seems to go to some peoples' heads.

[Back In The Saddle]

Originally posted by lds7199
Seems to me like a case of the police officer sticking his nose into something that he had no business in. If the coach wasn't ejected, the police officer had no business coming on the court. Having that shiny badge seems to go to some peoples' heads.

Perhaps, but we only have the AD's side of the story. Perhaps this is a coach with a known history as a troublemaker. And perhaps he is that way partly because he works for an AD who is one of those people who refuses to accept responsibility for one's own actions. Thus perhaps the coach's behavior did merit intervention, but the AD is backing his man. Perhaps not. But perhaps.

[Stat-Man]

One time at a summer tournament (adult), we had a game where apparently, one of the players was drunk on the the court. Seeing at the time, one of the referees was the city's assistant police chief, he gave him two quick technicals and had the on site security deal with him.

[aces88]

Here is a column from the New London Day, which is the largest circulation daily newpaper in southeastern CT where Waterford is located.

http://www.theday.com/eng/web/news/r...1-de4cd40a3522

By STEVEN SLOSBERG
Day Staff Columnist
Published on 3/10/2005

From the hall of fame to the Hallway of Shame, literally and preposterously, in less than a week.

That's been the fate of 66-year-old Richard Conover, the Waterford High School boys basketball coach.

On March 1, Conover was the toast of the room, doing shtick on stage, as one of the first five inductees into the fledgling New London Sports Hall of Fame. Never mind that he'd undergone surgery for prostate cancer the week before. He was back that Tuesday night for the ceremonies, and on top of his game.

On March 7, last Monday night, Conover was led out of a gym in handcuffs by a town constable in Beacon Falls, in southwestern Connecticut. He was taken from a high school tournament basketball game, charged with breach of peace.

Waterford school administrators — the superintendent, the high school principal and the athletic director — stand by the coach, saying they've never come across as bizarre an episode in their careers. The athletic director at Woodland Regional High School in Beacon Falls, where the game with Waterford was played, declined to say anything. Same for the Beacon Falls police.

Conover, who lives in Gales Ferry, has refrained from speaking out, though he may go public soon.

But a Waterford fan, the father of a player, who was at the game with a dozen or so others from town, says he saw it all, from maybe 10 feet away. He asked to remain unnamed because his kid is on the team. His account fleshes out the news account published Tuesday in the Waterbury Republican-American, and in the versions relayed by Dr. Randall Collins, the Waterford superintendent, and Waterford High Principal Donald Macrino. Neither of those men was at the game, which Waterford lost, 74-61.

With 2:26 left in the first half of a physical game in which Waterford was getting skunked by Woodland, one of the refs called a technical foul on Conover. Everyone agrees on that. Conover got upset, as coaches do, over a call, and badgered the ref. As play stopped so a Woodland player could take the penalty foul shot, Conover kept asking the ref for an explanation of the technical. “He wasn't screaming, there was no swearing,” said the father who observed it.

Then it happened. A Beacon Falls constable walked over to Conover and told him to calm down. Conover did not take the admonishment by a cop — not a ref, not a coach, not anyone connected with the game — placidly. He barked at the cop's imposition, his trespass on the court.

The game went on. As the teams headed to the lockers at the half, the cop, who apparently had called another constable into the gym, walked up to Conover, insisting on talking with him. Conover said he had to be with his team, that he was coaching a game. The cop persisted. The coach, and the constables, left the gym for an alcove or hallway. The next thing anyone saw was Conover in handcuffs. What passed between coach and constable is anyone's guess.

But, earlier in the game, what the Waterford father says he saw was a Woodland administrator tell the cop to go stand by the handful of Waterford fans to keep them docile. “I was saying something to the ref, and the cop turns to me, puts his finger to his lips, telling me to be quiet and enjoy the game,” said the father. “Unbelievable. No one's ever seen that. We were getting on the refs, but nothing anybody hasn't done before.”

The cop was directed to the Waterford side of the bleachers, close to the bench and the coach and, as it turned out, spontaneous combustion. “I think what happened,” said the father, “is that the cop got embarrassed by Conover when he came to the bench during the game, and he waited to halftime, not even until after the game, to let him know. Absolutely absurd.”

Collins, the superintendent, said the coach has been sent a letter, saying he should have handled matters differently. But Conover has the support of Collins and Macrino, who tout his character and his years of leadership, and blame the sorry business on the cop walking onto the court.

Conover wasn't among the first chosen for the local Hall of Fame on a lark. Whatever passed between cop and coach at halftime, the outcome, the humiliation of Conover, was the crime.

This is the opinion of Steven Slosberg.

[aces88]

I am in western Hartford County, so I'm not too far from you.

[Robmoz]

Originally posted by ChrisSportsFan
I know alot of refs who are police officers, that might be a good strategy to chilling a coach out. But, I have one question; should they carry their badge on the court?

Badjez? We don't need no stinkin Badjez!