Update on working the clock/books at a tournament this weekend. I was volunteered again. First game was a girls 3/4 grade stop clock game. It was the game that never ended. Over an hour to get through two 15 minute halfs. Next game was a 10th grade boys game. One team had 5 players, the other (home team)has 10. The one with 5 was up by 20 in the first half. Lots of fouls, lots of trash talk, lots and lots of fans and coaches screaming. Second half is worse. The team with 5 is outplaying the other team all over the court. There's 9 minutes left when something happens under the basket. I say something because I don't know what occured. The home team coaches are up on their feet, the home team bench is on the court, the fans are up standing on the floor. We couldn't see the refs from the table and there was no whistle. About 15 seconds run off the clock before the whistles start. The fans are then screaming about the "morons" at the table who didn't stop the clock. The home team asst. coach gets in the face of ref one, he t's him. The coach storms out of the court and gets a t, then a second t for refusing to sit down, then he gets escorted out. He refuses to leave. The game starts with free throws from the technicals and heads downhill after that. One of the home team players has four fouls and tells the ref that his next one will take out one of the players on the other team. Ref tosses him from the game and for the remainder of the tournament. Fans storm the court, a man with a trach chases the ref onto the floor and since he couldn't speak he keeps flipping him the bird. Security arrives, fans tossed, sheriff arrives (4 cars). Fans and coaches refuse to leave. Ref calls the game. Fans tell the sheriff that they are going to wait for the moron table crew and refs to leave and then they will "get them". Sheriff stays around until end of tournament and my daughter and I are escorted to our car by two sheriffs. This is all at around 9:00 pm and after I had been yelled at by a coach from our first tournament game of the day at 10 o'clock in the morning because my team won by 26. Long day. I think I deserve hazard. I didn't realize working the table could be hazardous to your health. Today the same tournament tossed a coach by 9:30 am and several other fans and teams throughout the day. They didn't want a replay of the night before.

Oh, and we came in second place for the tournament. Not too bad for 6 girls and 6 games in two days.

Just sharing.

Coach Gbert

Just remember there are always ways to shave time off the clock. It's easiest if you're using a Nevco scoreboard ;)

When I used to work the table for the elementary school league before I put on the whistle, I could get a game with 32 minutes of playing time done in 30 with no one the wiser :D

Ah yes. . . .I LOVE THIS GAME! ;)

Sounds like quality coaches and quality parenting this weekend. It's nice to know that qualified people are helping teach and mentor these children.

If they've had a hard time scoring points all game, then how much value should they really put in those 15 seconds?

Can't charges be pressed if someone threatens to "get you" in the parking lot after the game?

Coach -- how hard could it be to place in a tourney where most of the coaches and fans get tossed? All you have to do is keep your mouth shut!

PS Just kidding! :D

There were 159 teams entered for this tournament. My division (7th grade girls) had 12 teams. At least none of my divisions coaches or fans were tossed. It seems like the loudest fans were the boys 9th grade and up, and remarkably, the fans of the girls 3/4th grade teams. Everyone else was normal, as far as you know "normal" goes for fans and coaches!

Coach Gbert

Sports Parents
 

Has anyone seen the advertisements for those "Sports Parents" shows on one of the cable networks? It's a follow-up to all those beauty pageant parent shows. I don't know if I want to watch it. . . .it looks too much like work!

Re: Sports Parents
 

I am interested to see what kind of perspective they have on this show. It'll be interesting to see what kind of parents they choose.

Chris,

Yes, unless you're in PA :(

Coach -- If I thought you or your team were of any less than stellar ability, I wouldn't have said what I did. It just struck me that it might happen for a team to win or place simply because everyone else got tossed.

I'm not surprised that the fans of the 3/4 girls were the worst. That's when the "Lisa Leslie" bug (called the Michael Jordan bug in boys' families) bites hardest. Only the most well-balanced ever recover.

An AD friend of mine taught me that trick doing middle school CYO games. Just a little "Set Time" and BAM the game is now one minute shorter. Never did it but certainly was tempted.

I've had more problems with that 3/4th grade group than any others. No knowledge of rules and they all think they are related to Bob Knight.

Generalizing here of course: The younger the kids, the dumber the parents. Also, coaching these younger age groups is the training ground for coaches looking to make that step to a D1 program.

7th grade girls, eh?

Good grief.

Well, I guess we have hockey parents, and you have basketball parents (although we also have a few crazy basketball parents too!).

Either way - they're all psychotic.

A sad comment on both our societies.

Re: Re: Sports Parents
 

Just from the one commercial I saw, they were focusing on the psycho parents. I did see the show about the beauty pageant parents, and they were insane.

[Edited by mplagrow on May 23rd, 2005 at 10:44 PM]