Today, I was watching a D-II game in person and saw a head coach, on the floor right after a held ball call, give the official the "choke" sign. I think that deserved a T. I think the officials choked by not giving the T. IMO, the coach crossed the line.

I worked a Juco playoff game on Saturday. I called a foul on a player during a scramble for a ball on the floor. The kid got up and walked over to me like he wanted to chat about it. I just said "Get out of my face," and his teammate pulled him away.

Another official who was in the stands said that after the kid moved away from me, he gestured "impolitely" at my back; pointing and probably saying something. I would have T'd it if I'd seen it, but it was behind me.

Maybe the officials in that D2 game simply didn't see the "choke" gesture if there was something else happening on the floor.

The cowards are hard to find. :(
But they'll eventually get theirs.

One of your partners shoulda got that one.

That where the "Freeze" vision mechanic of the free official is useful. Sadly, I feel that mechanic conflicts with the newer "tempo" mechanics of getting the ball back in play.
mick

Probably, but they were making sure the bodies on the floor got untangled without incident. I made sure that "my guy" didn't cause any more trouble, but there were other players on the floor.

It's standard practice for 1 of the 3 officials to stay out of the pile to observe...what happened here? Must have been a huge mess.

Well, one of the 3 went to report the foul. I think my partners were just trying to untangle the other 3 or 4 guys on the floor. The guys on the floor probably seemed like the more likely source of trouble.

I have allowed a coach to get away with a little more than I would normally, when the score was close and a "T" would really hurt his players. Now don't jump all over me for this. I'm talking a "little more" and "really hurt."

My personal tolerance level is relatively high. If the coach is not screaming from one side of the court to the other, and his comments are not meant to demean me, I'll listen. Cross the line where his intent is to embarrass/demean me, then he earned it regardless of the pain he inflicts on his team.

Why did he leave the area with tangled bodies on the floor? In hindsight it doesn't look like the right thing to have done, no?

[QUOTE]Originally posted by ChuckElias
[B]Really? The stuff behind you wasn't any more trouble?

I'm with Dan. Somebody should be watching. If they're all over the floor, then give your partner a hand sorting it out, and don't bother reporting until the mess is cleaned up.

If two officials can't handle 4 guys on the floor, then we have bigger problems than a gesture at my back. The guys on the floor were being handled. So there was no reason for me to be there.

The guy behind me was behind me. I can't very well eyeball him forever; I have to report the foul sometime. His teammate took him out of my face and that's all I cared about.

I really don't think there was much more to be done, unless you're saying that the reporting official should always wait to report until all bodies are up off the floor and separated. And in that case, I would probably disagree with you. And even if I agreed with you, this kid would still have made the gesture behind my back. So I still think there wasn't much more that could've been done.

We disagree.

2 guys untangling (your word) 4 players on the floor means there is 1 guy left to monitor everything else. Jogging to the table & crisply reporting the foul should be the least of your concerns.

I didn't jog away until I thought things were settled on the floor, and they were. The only thing that was not "handled" was the gesture at my back, which would've happened regardless of how long I waited to report.

If I'd waited an extra 2 minutes for everybody to get up and migrate away from each other, then we might've gotten the T for the gesture. But I'm willing to trade that T for those 2 minutes.

Why are you so worried about some kid giving you the finger behind your back? We agree, there's nothing that can be done about that. In this sitch I'm more worried about that kid or some other kid cold-cocking his opponent behind your back. And having everyone in the building see it EXCEPT for the 3, count 'em 3 (!) officials. Just as everyone in the building saw your friend give you the finger, or whatever it was he did that you and your 2 partners did not see.

If you want to keep saying you're happy with how this played out then fine, just be aware that the way it played out was the crew missed something that was painfully obvious to everyone else.

That's all I'm saying.