Last night I turned on the best looking babe on television, Judge Judy. Her first case was a basketball referee suing a coach for $5000 for punching him in the face following a game. According to the show, here's what happened.

It was a Boys and Girls Club 14 and under single elimination tournament game played under NF rules. The game was very close and in the fourth quarter, it started to get a little rough. There was a hard foul and both players went to the floor. There was some scuffling and pushing while they were down and one ref was indicating the call to the table while the other was going towards the players. The coach of one of the teams ran out onto the floor and grabbed the player from the other team. The ref who was near the players called a T on the coach for coming onto the floor. The other team made the free throws and scored on the subsequent possession. The team of the coach who got the T lost by two points.

After the game, both refs went to shake hands with both coaches. As the ref who made the call approached this coach with his hand extended to shake, the coach pushed him in the chest with both hands, knocking him backwards. The ref then dropped his jacket and bag, since he was off balance. The coach then punched him in the side of the face. Since the ref was wearing contacts, there was some eye damage.

The coach claimed on the show that he made the punch in self defense. He said that after the ref dropped his jacket and bag, he started to approach the coach. The coach thought the ref was going to hit him so he struck first.

Of course Judge Judy, in her infinite wisdom, didn't buy one word of it and, after giving the coach a good tongue lashing for doing this in front of kids, ruled in the ref's favor and awarded him the full $5000.

Here's the kicker: the coach is also a ref!!! In fact, he has worked with the other ref before. I wish I knew this guy - he wouldn't hear the end of it from me.

How much eye damage was there?

$5000 worth

lesson learned...
 

...why bother shaking the coaches hands after the game?<p>Approve the scorebook and leave the floor.

Absolutely incredible!!! There's no understanding the human mind, is there?

The crappy thing is that guy won't have to pay a dime. As part of the show, they will pay out what ever monetary amount that is awarded.

NF Different rules?
 

As I am from Australia, I'm not familar with NF rules (we use FIBA) but I would have thought that if the coach in question was entering the court <B>to assist in breaking up the scuffle</B> no tech foul should have been called.

Is this rule different in NF? Obviously it still doesn't excuse hitting the ref.

Also, what are suspensions like at this level in the US. Recently a player in a Under 18's Mens game I was running, decked my partner. He appeared before the juducary and will not be playing, coaching, refereeing or holding a medical position with a team, in basketball until 2026 (a 25 year suspension!)

I would be interested to know how this compares to the USA.

Under NF rules, a coach may only enter the court after being beckoned by an official to attend to an injured player.

If a player assaults a referee, the penalty varies from organization to organization and from state to state. In my state, Oregon, we have a referee assault statute (ORS 30.882). The offender would be charged with a class A misdemeanor, which is a crime that gets prosecuted by all county district attorneys. If found guilty in criminal court, the offender must pay liquidated damages to the official of between $500 and $1000. The official also has the right to sue for additional funds in civil court.

I have not heard of a high school player assaulting an official in my area, but I think that player would be suspended for the balance of his high school career. If he wasn't, I think there would be a referee revolt.

BIG DAVE: Here we're told to stand away from the table let the players clear, look at the table and nod to see if all is okay, if it is we are told to leave immediatley, that way you never get close to either bench and nothing like this can happen.

Mark is being modest in this description, since he was actually one of the principals in getting this bill passed!