Bench Decorum

[rainmaker]

How much do y'all address the issue of bench team members "calling" violations and fouls? Do you ignore the bench as they yell, "Travelling! "3 seconds!" "Double dribble!" At what point do you draw the line? I find that it gets under my skin very quickly, but when I ask the coach to get it under control, he acts as though I'm speaking Hindi (well, actually the Hindi people mostly speak Urdu, I think) or something. Am I the only one that's dealing with this?

Tim Taylor, Smitty, Camron, I'd be especially interested in your practice in this area.

[Junker]

I definitely don't ignore it. I do like you and remind the head coach that they are the only people on the bench that will be addressing the officials. If it continues, throw the T. Almost every time I say something, the coach goes down the bench and yells at the players.

[Smitty]

Juulie, if I hear a team member on the bench whining about any calls or no-calls, I will make sure to tell the head coach to control his bench. Every time. Every year I get less and less tolerant of players and assistant coaches whining toward myself and my partner.

[rainmaker]

Originally Posted by Smitty

Juulie, if I hear a team member on the bench whining about any calls or no-calls, I will make sure to tell the head coach to control his bench. Every time. Every year I get less and less tolerant of players and assistant coaches whining toward myself and my partner.

Any whining at all? I mean, I'm hearing it every game, almost, and I really have started to think that no one's worried about this but me.

[Smitty]

Originally Posted by rainmaker

Any whining at all? I mean, I'm hearing it every game, almost, and I really have started to think that no one's worried about this but me.

If I am certain it's one of the players on the bench or an assistant, I have a zero tolerance policy for that. Sometimes it's hard to tell if it's someone on the bench or in the stands, though. I won't say anything unless I am certain it's someone on the bench that's whining.

[Jurassic Referee]

I'm with everybody else. One whiner per bench only----> the head coach.

Nip it, nip it in the bud.

[WhistlesAndStripes]

Had an interesting thing happen this past weekend. Thursday night in a tournament game, I ended up wacking a coach for too much refereeing. Friday, I spoke to another official who heard the T on the radio, and spoke to the coach about it Friday morning. Coach told him that he knew that he had received the T for too much refereeing and that even his wife had let him have it pretty good that night at home.

Saturday afternoon, I show up at the same gym, and when I arrived, it was the start of the 3rd quarter, and this same team was playing. Throughout the entire 3rd quarter, the coach was in his seat, coaching his players. As I got up to leave at the quarter break, I asked a couple of the officials if one of them had wacked him in the first half or something. They said, "No, what you did to him Thursday night changed him."

It gets even better.

When our crew came out onto the floor before our game, as soon as I had taken my position to observe the home team warming up, this same coach stepped up beside me. He told me that he wanted to apologize for his actions Thursday night, that he had gone home, thought about what he did, prayed about it, and was convinced that he was wrong. I accepted his apology, and that was the end of it.

Miracles never cease!

[deecee]

WS -- WoW -- but I have always said that you can only effect (affect? -- someone help me here) or reason with those that are at least reasonable themselves.

[TimTaylor]

Originally Posted by Smitty

If I am certain it's one of the players on the bench or an assistant, I have a zero tolerance policy for that. Sometimes it's hard to tell if it's someone on the bench or in the stands, though. I won't say anything unless I am certain it's someone on the bench that's whining.

I agree, our attention isn't really focused on the bench and sometimes it's difficult to hear where it's coming from. When I do catch it for sure, at the next opportunity I simply tell the HC to get his bench under control. Like JR said, only one whiner allowed per bench - the HC....and even that has a limit....

[Mountaineer]

I'm still laughing over the "Sorry Robin, I only talk to Batman" comment on another thread - I cannot WAIT to use that one.

[Junker]

Talk to the coach the first time you hear it. If you can point out a specific player it helps. Then if it happens again, throw the T. The Barney Fife rule is certainly in effect with bench decorum. The more you listen to, the more you'll get.

[rockyroad]

Had a game last week where the two assistant coaches kept calling out "Travel" every time the home team player made a move...the first time I was in front of their bench was about 5 min. into the game...they did it again. "I said - quite loudly - "Her left foot was her pivot and it never moved. Now knock it off." They did...din't hear it again that night...of course, at the next time-out one of those assistants stood there and glared at me the entire time-out, standing with her back to the huddle and all that...I think maybe she was mad at me. Since she was pretty good-looking, I had no problem staring back!! (Apologies Juulie...just couldn't help myself)

[Dan_ref]

Originally Posted by rockyroad

Had a game last week where the two assistant coaches kept calling out "Travel" every time the home team player made a move...the first time I was in front of their bench was about 5 min. into the game...they did it again. "I said - quite loudly - "Her left foot was her pivot and it never moved. Now knock it off." They did...din't hear it again that night...of course, at the next time-out one of those assistants stood there and glared at me the entire time-out, standing with her back to the huddle and all that...I think maybe she was mad at me. Since she was pretty good-looking, I had no problem staring back!! (Apologies Juulie...just couldn't help myself)

Yeah, tell 'em to knock it off. As for your coach friend, I have no idea what this is supposed to accomplish when they do that stare you down bullsh1t. Idiots.

Anyway Rock, you should have banged her. I'm sure she might have even noticed.

[Mark Padgett]

Juulie - you know the stuff I use.

On counts to three -"Wow! Someone's been watching Sesame Street" or "You finally learned how to count to three? Good for you!" or "If you count any higher, will you have to take your shoes off?" or "You can count all the way to three? You must go to public school!"

And we all know the standard - "When you count out loud, it makes me lose count and I have to start over".

[bgleason@neonin]

First I try to say something somewhat amusing to them like, "you sound like your parents". If that does not work I become more forcefull and tell them loud enough for the coach to hear, to knock it off. If they continue or get worse I bang the bench. I never warn the coach, because if I hear it, so is he. If the T coems early in the game it is usually forgotten about and fixes the issue.

The other thing I do is completely ignore it if the crowd is loud enough so no one else hears them.