Just Wondering??

[Mark Padgett]

In retrospect, I think this is one of the most thought-provoking questions ever on this board. It brings up the much larger question of discrimination.

Obviously, if the coach had disparaged the official's race, color or religion, he would have been tossed and probably expelled from the rest of the tournament. But because he disparaged the official's gender, we all think a single T was appropriate.

Under most federal and state anti-discrimination laws, gender bias is considered just as wrong as bias of the other identifiers. But, I guess, we don't, based on the responses. And, I'm just as guilty as everyone else, since I feel the single T in the case was the correct penalty.

What if the official had been over 50 and the coach made a remark about expecting a call like that from someone that old? Would we have even called the T, or just let it go as being non-offensive? Age bias is usually also protected under law (at least in employment).

Maybe laws don't really reflect the feelings of society. Of course, laws also have to protect people, regardless of the feeling of the majority, so perhaps my analogy isn't valid.

Maybe some comments from female officials would be of interest here.