I keep the book for men and women's games at a D-III school. Last night in the women’s game it was late in the second half, one team had 8 fouls, the other team had 9. The team with 8 charged fouls committed a foul. I had a brain freeze and was confused about the number of team fouls and which team had committed the foul. I told an official that it was the tenth foul and it should be two shots. Fortunately for me, a timeout had been called just after the foul and before the free throws. I realized my mistake and notified the same official before free throws were attempted.
While I lucked out this time, I’d be interested in hearing any comments about how I might avoid this in the future. The visiting team didn’t have anyone at the table keeping a book, so there was no help there. I’d be interested in hearing anyone’s comments about this or comments in general about important things for scorers to know when keeping the book, especially when doing it solo, as often happens here. Thanks.

Yeah, don't drink Slurpees during the game.

Thanks. I'll be sure to keep that in mind.

Just my opinion, but I think the only thing to prevent that is concentration. Everybody (including refs) loses concentration once in a while. The key is doing it less and less frequently. Just keep working at doing a good job, pay attention as hard as you can, and be aware of what got you into trouble last time -- and don't make that mistake again.

Good luck, we need all the good table people we can get! :)

I have kept the book for an AAU team and I took those duties very seriously, especially since most of the 'other' scorers end up being partisan. I don't cheer or make any noise when I assume those duties. I found that by not anticipating the call and by waiting for the official to signal the table, I was able to keep track of all I needed to such as team fouls, time outs, etc.

I 2nd the slurpee comment. If you knock it over, your arms will eventually stick to the table.

Thanks for the comments. I guess that's right, it's a matter of focus and concentration.
Mention of the Slurpees making things sticky at the table got to me thinking a little more seriously about that; it can't be good if soft drinks get spilled at the table. I haven't had any refreshments at the table myself and haven't noticed anyone with soft drinks at our scorer's table, but maybe they're there and I haven't noticed. It obviously isn't a good situation if the book gets ruined because someone at the table knocks over a cup of Pepsi, or if the players come near the table going for a loose ball and drinks get spilled as things go flying. This must have happened where the book gets damaged in this way. I hadn't really thought about this is all.
Thanks again.

for me when I work at the board (less often these days scince I ref now, I did it all the time before though) I usually start of with being sure who takes care of what, who's time keeper and so on. And I always have the time keeper notifing me when entering a new minute of play (scince the minute is to be entered next to the score in a FIBA score sheet)
I never drink or eat while working, I do that in the QTR pauses, never during play.
I always make eye contact with the officials and nodd to them when acknowladging there calls, esspecially when a foul's being reported. Then the official know I follow him, and he also knows that if I for some reason say "hold on" and check the sheet for something he can't keep signaling.
And if you lose focus, try to sit and comment the game (preferebly loud even though it's quite embaressing if people don't know why you're doing it)
then you'll notice you quickly get a grasp of what's happening and regains focus on the game.

Good luck!

Thanks for those comments/suggestions. Regarding eye contact, I had been told to make sure to do that, and I did my best. Sometimes, however, the official didn't seem to be looking at me as he came toward the table. He's looking over at the table, but doesn't seem to be looking directly at me. I don't know if that was my imagination, if he couldn't find me at the table or if it was something else. I notice on many televised games that the scorer (at least I assume it's the official scorer) is wearing a striped shirt. That hasn't been done since I've been here (I've been watching the games here as a spectator until recently, and didn't see a striped shirt being worn at the table). I haven't worn one, and none of the coaches/administrators have mentioned this to me. Would that help? Is there anything else I can do to make sure the official is looking directly at me as he comes over? Thanks.

I've had trouble keeping track of details, too, and what I've done is to memorize a thought process for each aspect of the game. So after I whistle the play dead, I have an automatic pattern of what thoughts come into my head, and what actions are associated with those thoughts. I don't think it would be remotely out of line to signal the number of shots to the ref every time a foul is called. Put into the process double-checking the book for number of fouls and you'll be pretty much 100%.

Just the fact that you're concerned about a single mistake is a sign of why you have that job. You're trying to do the best you can, and you want that to be 100%. Stick to it!

You should definitely wear a striped/officials shirt. Although I can't site rule number, I believe that official scorers are required to wear one. That will certainly help in making you more visible to the floor crew when communicating.

I echo the previous comments about making eye contact and waiting to record any info. in the scorebook until the official has finished reporting (even if you 110% certain who the foul is on). The suggestion about using hand signals for bonus or double bonus situations when the official first makes eye contact is helpful.

When I am the referee, I instruct the official scorer to let any official know that "the next foul will be #7" when we report foul number six. We can then communicate amongst each other to make sure we do not lose a potential FT shooter or do not award FT's when needed. The same goes for foul #9 ("the next foul will be #10). This may also help you to stay focused on the foul count and prevent any lapses.

The mere fact that you are concerned about avoiding this happening again tells me that you are great to work with during a game. Your interested in doing things right and it's important to you that the game runs smoothly. I can safely assume that I speak for all floor officials when I say: "I'd love to work a game with you on the book!". Kudos to you.....

Thanks for all the suggestions and feedback. If (more likely when) I have other questions, I'll post them (in addition to asking those questions of the officials I'm working with directly). Thanks again.

On saterday night I had terrible table people. To make a long story short it was a close game going into halftime like 30 seconds left and the ball went out of bounds. Both teams call for a time out. In my judgement I belive that the home team called for it first so I award them the time out. I report it to the scorer and the game goes on. With 5 mins left in the game the away coach calls a time out. he is notified that he has one left and goes crazy because he believes he has 2 left. He calls me over and I tell him that I have no knowledge of the amount of timeouts each team should have, and so I can't change it. ( Did I do right). I do think however that the scorer must have heard the away team call for it and marked it before i reported it. I think this because at the end of the game the home coach came to me and said somehow he had an extra time out. If the home coach told me this when I was sorting this incident out with the away coach, could I have sorted it out even tho I had no knowledge???
thanks

One thing I do to keep my head in the game when I keep the book is verify the score and foul count with the clock operator after every basket and foul. It keeps me in the game, and keeps the scoreboard synched up with the book (which is the single most vital thing you can possibly do right as little Jonny's mother will likely turn violent if his only two points go to those "other" kids). Oh, and definitely no Slurpee. It just makes the clock operator and officials thirsty; then you have to share and you have no idea where they've been. :eek:

[Edited by back in the saddle on Jan 23rd, 2006 at 11:24 PM]

Yep. Visiting coach is irked 'cuz he thinks he has one too few, home coach volunteers that he's got one too many, you have a situation where you can plausibly surmise that the scorekeeper recorded one on the wrong side of the book, that's good enough for me. Makes both coaches happy at once. You get a medal for that in some leagues! :)

Doesn't the scoreboard show fouls? Double check on each foul that the total shown on the scoreboard matches the total in the book.

Yes, wear an official shirt even if it is not required by your conference.