Try this: put the whistle in your mouth, bite it or hold it with your lips, and then when a held ball occurs, whistle while raising your hands. When you lower your hand(s), you can remove the whistle if you desire. It's very effective, especially for those of us who don't have three hands! :p

brianbrain, just because I go sans lanyard, it doesn't mean that I can't put the whistle in my mouth. I can put it in my mouth. I can remove it to address a player or a coach. I can hold it if I desire. I remove it with my hand when the ball is dead, just as you let yours fall out of your mouth. There's not a call I can't make. If it's out, I put it in and whistle. Simple as that. NBA officials don't seem to have a problem doing it. Do you think David Stern would allow them to do it if it was a problem?

Don't be so closed minded to things. Open up and you may even learn something. ;)

There is no improvement in this tactic, it's all about looks and being different. As I said earlier, it doesn't matter to me. In fact, I support using anything that makes you stand out, as long as it's legal.

Let's not fool ourselves though. Because you use this tactic doesn't make you a better official. That's BS. I'm thinking that the NBA might go to this. If they do, I know I'll never get there.

I don't think David Stern would be the guy to address this problem. Maybe Stu Jackson or Ronnie Nunn. I believe it was the NBA that started this new craze.

Yeah......that's the reason.

Okay Old School, whatever. If you're afraid to try something new, continue with what works for you. :(

Well, as long as you know what's holding you back.

Seriously, you've got to be joking with us. No one can be this obtuse in real life.

What the heck are you talking about now?

Does the microphone not fit inside your smitty loop on your shirt? I was supposed to use the PT system during some preseason games and that is how my mentor told me to use it since I work without a lanyard most of the time.

And as far as playcalling and calling jump balls and everything else, there is nothing I can't do while working without a lanyard as compared to someone who works with one. If I call a jump ball, I hammer on the whistle a couple of times and while putting my hands up for a jump ball I pull the whistle out. During a scrap I hit the whistle plenty of times while running in and if I need to use my hands I can easily slide it in my pocket if I need to and handle business accordingly without something hanging from neck and hitting me and players in the face. I also feel that the whistle is in more of a ready position for me. If I need to whack a player or coach I don't have to search for the whistle, I know where it is and don't have to look like a dummy searching for it. When you have done it for a while you can make it look really good and fluid. I had someone come to me and asked where my lanyard was and I said I work without one and he said he hadn't even noticed.

Once again some people like this and some people don't. Some shun others for working sans lanyard and some don't. You just have to be careful where you are working and know who accepts it and who doesn't.

My brother's first wife was a lying cheater. She drove a blue car. Can I make that connection? No.

I said it looks bad ... not that they are bad. And maybe to me it is just the people who are doing it. Just wanted to see what people thought and if any associations frowned on this ... I see it is mixed results. Thanks!

No. There's a small black click that connects just below the whistle on the lanyard. You have to buy this specially made smitty or regular lanyard to get the clip. It won't work if the mic is too far away from the whistle.

People say it's the sound of the Fox 40 that the mic responds to but it isn't. To test PT prior to the game, we just blow into the mic to see that it will stop the clock. The Fox 40 works with the mic because the air exits the bottom of your whistle, which is why the mic mounts just below the whistle. It's not the "distinctive Fox 40 sound."

I'm not afraid, it just doesn't work for me. The only way I will do this is if they force me too. I have far too many other things to worry about than my whistle. Perhaps, when I have mastered it like you have. I will look into it. Now, if the NBA said they would hire me tomorrow if I used only my hands. I would throw all my lanyards away.

Happy Holidays

So why didn't you say that to begin with, rather than just criticizing everyone else who has ever tried it?

I know a couple guys in our assn. that do it. It just so happens that they are also college officials. Don't know if there is a correlation. I have done games with these individuals and have laughed when they have either dropped their whistles or blown them across the floor. I personally don't know why anyone would hold them in their hand when a lanyard is acceptable. I think they are just trying to differentiate themselves. These are the same guys that voted to go to greys for no apparent reason.

I'll bet their cell phones are chocolate. :)