Worst. Technical. Ever.

[pauli]

any time a new rule or point of emphasis comes into effect, i am going to call it. i consider it an insult to the folk on the rules committee to ignore their efforts

[Adam]

I resent someone trying to steal my title. I called the worst technical ever; just last year. I know, because the coach told me so.

[SMEngmann]

I think this is a good discussion to bring up with the POEs for 06-07 having just come out. The POE of pulling the shirt out as a T in my opinion is a horrible POE because it basically puts an official between a rock and a hard place in a tight situation. Assuming the player hadn't cursed the official, if you're out there with a clear POE against pulling out the jersey as a T and a situation where an emotional and frustrated player is trying to show restraint, what do you do? If you issue a weak T here, you put a negative stamp on the game, but you uphold your duty to enforce the POEs (in my opinion strictly enforcing this is over-officious), or if you ignore or warn the action, then your assigning committee gets on you for not properly enforcing the POEs. This is why the rules committee should be more careful in determining proper POEs.

[Junker]

Originally Posted by SMEngmann

I think this is a good discussion to bring up with the POEs for 06-07 having just come out. The POE of pulling the shirt out as a T in my opinion is a horrible POE because it basically puts an official between a rock and a hard place in a tight situation. Assuming the player hadn't cursed the official, if you're out there with a clear POE against pulling out the jersey as a T and a situation where an emotional and frustrated player is trying to show restraint, what do you do? If you issue a weak T here, you put a negative stamp on the game, but you uphold your duty to enforce the POEs (in my opinion strictly enforcing this is over-officious), or if you ignore or warn the action, then your assigning committee gets on you for not properly enforcing the POEs. This is why the rules committee should be more careful in determining proper POEs.

I'm going to disagree. If we would all pay attention to this and uniformly (pun intended) take care of this during the season, it wouldn't put us between a rock and a hard place. This is a rule, it should be enforced. Players are expected to be disciplined enough not to travel late in the game, but if they do, you go get it. I won't say I never let a T go for pulling the shirt out (I did this year, a girl yanked it out at the bench after fouling out and I "didn't see it" because it was at the far end of the court). I should have made that call. I'm not saying I totally agree with the rule because I don't, but if its there, we need to enforce it. As always, just my $.02.

[SMEngmann]

Originally Posted by Junker

I'm going to disagree. If we would all pay attention to this and uniformly (pun intended) take care of this during the season, it wouldn't put us between a rock and a hard place. This is a rule, it should be enforced. Players are expected to be disciplined enough not to travel late in the game, but if they do, you go get it. I won't say I never let a T go for pulling the shirt out (I did this year, a girl yanked it out at the bench after fouling out and I "didn't see it" because it was at the far end of the court). I should have made that call. I'm not saying I totally agree with the rule because I don't, but if its there, we need to enforce it. As always, just my $.02.

I understand your point here, but there's a huge difference between a travel and a technical at a late point in the game. Violations are part of the game and they are black and white, requiring much less judgement than do techs. The problem with the POE is that it removes the ability of the official to use proper judgement and to take into account all of the variables of a situation. One of the main purposes of the T is to allow the officials to gain and maintain control of the game.

In the situation described, we're down the stretch of a state championship game in a tight contest. These teams have worked for 5 months to get to this level and this game, and good officials will have that in mind, because emotions can be magnified on such a stage. I know the T was for cursing, but had it been for pulling up the jersey, that T would be gratuitous and over officious in my mind. What is gained from the T there in terms of game control? Likely nothing, and at worst, the T could cause the roof to cave in. An official with good judgement here turns and walks away, especially since the player had already fouled out, knowing that there could be an emotional reaction, not anticipating the emotional reaction and responding with a T.

Does that mean that we should throw out the rulebook? No, but we should bear in mind why we call technicals to begin with, the primary reason is to maintain control/improve the conditions of the game. This T does neither in my mind.

[Nevadaref]

Originally Posted by SMEngmann

I know the T was for cursing, but had it been for pulling up the jersey, that T would be gratuitous and over officious in my mind.

Then you may want to reconsider working NFHS basketball games. Whether you are a fantastic official or not, if you aren't willing to call what the Federation wants, then this merits some thought. There are other levels and systems of basketball which you could work and be more free to handle these situations in the manner you please.

Originally Posted by SMEngmann

An official with good judgement here turns and walks away, especially since the player had already fouled out, knowing that there could be an emotional reaction, not anticipating the emotional reaction and responding with a T.

Does that mean that we should throw out the rulebook? No, but ...

Well, it certainly seems that you are advocating just that. How else can one take your recommendation that the official should turn away from this? BTW this is exactly the opposite approach that the NFHS is telling its officials to take.

I again point to the 2005-06 POINTS OF EMPHASIS, which contains the following directives:

"1. Sporting Behavior. ..... Specifically, the committee wants the following addressed:
A. Uniforms: Players are increasingly using their uniforms in unsporting ways. ... pulling the uniform out of the shorts in an emotional display; and removing the jersey either on the court or near the team bench, especially after a disqualification.

... Coaches bear a great responsibility in ensuring uniforms stay on team members. Officials must enforce the rule."

Please notice how what is in red and blue directly conflicts with your opinion.

Again, these are not my words, but those written by the NFHS Rules Committee. They, not we, are the boss when it comes to NFHS basketball.

[SMEngmann]

Nevada, I understand where you're coming from. My point originally was that this is a terrible POE because it advocates officials being overly officious and can put us in situations where we might be forced to call a technical which does nothing to help the game and, in fact could really hurt the game. Overly officious POEs have been, in my opinion, a disturbing trend in NFHS over the last several years. For instance the POE last year on flopping, and the one to call Ts for running off the court (before the rule change to violation). Why Fed wants more Ts and trusts the judgement of officials less is beyond me, but in the real world, calling these things can often put game officials on an island. The new uniform regulations are yet another example of those in the Fed office making it tougher on us to do our jobs.

That being said, as an official, do I deliberately disobey what the NFHS says and go by my own rules? No, I call the game as I am instructed to by my assignors. Does that mean I have to like what I'm told to do and the new rules? No, but I'm an official, not an assignor, and not on the rules committee, so I call the game the way my superiors want it called. Doesn't mean I have to agree though with everything that comes down from the higher ups.

One other point, much of officiating has to deal with the spirit and intent of rules, as you well know. Rulebook officials often get in all sorts of trouble with players and coaches and routinely manage to lose control of games (at least those who I've seen). It seems like with the POEs, the rules committee wants us all to move in the direction of being rulebook officials, which I strongly disagree with.