A Venting about unsportsmanlike behavior

[rainmaker]

The attitude in the game I did last night was SO BAD, it made me sick. I'm not talking about the attitude of the "inner city" poor kids who were getting their butts kicked, but the attitude of the middle class white kids who were doing the kicking.

The losing team had lost a week or two ago by 94 - 0. Everyone in the city heard about it even though it was a JV game, so not in the paper. So this other team, who is not particularly good, came into the game knowing ahead of time they would probably win.

In describing this game, I can't give the "winners" the respect of calling them Team A, so I'll call them Team Z, and the "losing team" Team B.

Team Z was cheering loudly every time a B player fouled, and the Z players would slap hands and congratulate each other when they fouled on team B. One team B foul was a late screen by a very, very large girl who had no clue how to play basketball, but was gamely trying to play her part in the plays. She had no intention of hurting anyone, but since she was still moving toward the Z player when the contact occurred, of course it was a foul. The problem was that since she was so -- shall we say round -- and the other player was sort of small, the Z player literally bounced off and landed on the floor. The result looked like a hit, but this girl wasn't smart enough or skilled enough for that -- she just didn't have a clue. My partner called the play as a personal, common foul away from the ball. The Z coach came up off the bench carrying on and signalling an intentional and arguing with my partner. I'd have whacked her, but he is more mature than me, and sat her down and went on.

As the game went on, it was obvious that Team Z was not content to just win, or even beat the pants off Team B, but wanted to grind their noses in it. The fans were jeering and calling names, and some of the freshman players who weren't playing JV were quite offensive in their comments. Team Z was still full-court-pressing at 60 points ahead, and when the fifth B player fouled out with no bench players left (They had left for various reasons such as jobs and family responsibilities) the Z team started running up the score, with fast breaks and hotdogging fancy shots, and loud protests from the stands when we would wave off a basket for a travel, or double dribble.

At the end, when the buzzer sounded, a Z team player had the ball in her hand, and I said, "Ball please." She reached it out to me and then at the last second flicked it past me, across the gym. I would have whacked her in an instant, if I had thought it would have accomplished anything. But I will definitely file a sportsmanship report, for what it's worth.

The whole thing was so ugly, when I got home I felt I needed a shower, not because of the physical exertion, indeed in both the Freshman and the JV games, I never broke a sweat. But the shower might have washed off some of the foul smell left from such a nasty game.

The B team coach, however, got the last word in. He said to the Z coach, "Remember, what goes around, comes around." I don't believe in the religious teaching of karma, but he was merely predicting the near future -- Team Z is gonna take enough butt kicking before the season is over.

[mick]

Jewel,
In Michigan, we have a process for writing to the state regarding "praise" or "concern" for acts like that.
Michigan would like to know when that type of thing occurs.
mick

[Mark Padgett]

Juulie - I think I know who this was, but please email me with details. Thanks.

If your partner was so experienced, I think he could have found a way to get the Z players to tone it down, especially when they would high-five after fouling. I think you could make a strong case there for unsportsmanlike conduct.

[Hawks Coach]

I HATE BLOWOUTS!!! They present an opportunity for so many bad things to happen, for all involved.

I can only hope that you called it as tight as possible on Z. IMHO, you should have taken the first genuine opportunity to whack any of them with a T if they were behaving that badly. I firmly believe that a superior team must know how to establish a blow out margin by playing solid ball (I do not ever want to be in a close game with an inferior opponent), but then maintain a comfortable margin with dignity. You may increase the margin without even trying (some games are too much of a mismatch to help it), but you must always be above reproach for your behavior on the court when you are on top in a blowout. I will pull kids right out if they act like these kids did.

Sadly, the kids on Z are not learning some useful life lessons, and their coach is failing to teach them.

[PublicBJ]

A couple comments:

Even in a JV game, don't go looking for the ball after the last buzzer. You have no responsibility to go fetch it for the table. It will help you avoid issues. That being said, where I used to work, I could have whacked her, ejected her, and she would have missed her next game. (State rules in Washington.) But filing the report will hopefully have the same effect.

I refereed a Varsity game where my partner ejected the entire JV game. They mouthed off during a game, my partner told the coach that they could wait in the bus. No argument from the coach, the girls were escorted out of the gym to the bus until the Varsity game was over.

Also, I know there's lots of arguement about ignoring the score when officiating, but this is an exception. Team Z, with their behavior, gets no slack from me. Everything even questionable gets called on them. Zero tolerance.

[rainmaker]

Thanks for your comments, folks. I knew I could count on some support from y'all.

I don't know whether if I'd have DQ'ed her if it would have affected her varsity game, but as I thought quickly about what to do at that point, I decided that filing a report wuld have more lasting effect. The worst part to me was the attitude of the coach which although not actively encouraging all this snottiness, was most certainly passively condoning. She argued and came up off the bench at several no-calls, and was very difficult about the coaching rule (although in that one rule, she did submit, and not risk the T).

After 24 hours of contemplation here, I think I should have whacked someone, just to make a point, but they were skating so close to the line, I'm not quite sure when. Maybe that first high five after a clearly retaliatory but very skilled foul. Or in the freshman game when the Z team girl laughed at the B player who took the ball and shot at the wrong basket. Or when the bench was calling loudly for a technical on a B team player? But I wasn't sure whether it was the bench or the players sitting behind from the previous game. I don't know...

But the report goes in tonight with no embellishemnt by me; just straight dispassionate reporting will be convicting enough.

[BktBallRef]

Originally posted by rainmaker
Team Z was still full-court-pressing at 60 points ahead,...

Don't you just hate that?!

In such a case, if Z1 breathes on A1, I've got a foul. And if I have to call 3 or 4 before the ball ever gets to the FC, it doesn't bother me.

I'm with PublicBJ. Team Z gets zero tolerance, period. This is definitely a time when a couple of Ts will make the game better.

I think you missed a golden opportunity.

[Hawks Coach]

The more I think about it, the more I wish you'd popped out a couple Ts like Tony said. It would make the game better because the kids would have cut the crap, which will allow the other side to play and maintain some dignity (which is hard enough when getting your butt kicked without having your nose rubbed in it!). Certainly there was unsporting conduct, and it's up to you to decide what crosses the line. It sounds to me like they went way over it and could have used a lesson and some reining in from the ref, since the coach wasn't doing the job. And hit the coach with one, too, if possible, just because they encouraged or tolerated this awful behavior!

[Ron Pilo]

Well, Now let me think. I would probably take and opportunity to talk to the players and coaches about their attitudes and expect a change.

But after thinking about I might just walk right over to coach Z and let them know in no uncertain terms that I will start T'ing every single act of unsporting behavior on team Z and if that meant no more players available for team Z. Too bad, so sad.

That kind of behavior has no place in any "Game" and I will deal with it swiftly and severely.

[BktBallRef]

Wouldn't that be great? Kick out Team Z players until they only had one. Wonder if Team B might have a chance then?

I bet so.

[Brian Watson]

When a team is still pressing 60 points up I strictly interpret any rule that can be called a foul. We may shoot a few, but the pressing team usually gets the message.

[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

Originally posted by PublicBJ
A couple comments:

Even in a JV game, don't go looking for the ball after the last buzzer. You have no responsibility to go fetch it for the table. It will help you avoid issues. That being said, where I used to work, I could have whacked her, ejected her, and she would have missed her next game. (State rules in Washington.) But filing the report will hopefully have the same effect.

I refereed a Varsity game where my partner ejected the entire JV game. They mouthed off during a game, my partner told the coach that they could wait in the bus. No argument from the coach, the girls were escorted out of the gym to the bus until the Varsity game was over.

Also, I know there's lots of arguement about ignoring the score when officiating, but this is an exception. Team Z, with their behavior, gets no slack from me. Everything even questionable gets called on them. Zero tolerance.

I am curious as to where the JV team was sitted in relation to the varsity bench. The reason I ask is that in Ohio, if the JV team is sitting on the varsity bench during the varsity game, the players are considered bench personnel. In Ohio, players and coaches who are ejected from game are suspended for two games if it is their first ejection of the season and suspended for the rest of the season if it is their second ejection of the season, plus the coach and his principal get to have a personal meeting with the Commissioner in Columbus after the coach's second ejection.

[TXMATTHEW05]

I can understand when a team has a demanding lead, and they are still pressing and such - they may use that as practice. That's what we did sometimes when I played - the coach couldn't care less about the score, but how we played. We didn't get cocky, we didn't get arrogant, and we didn't rub it in. And - we played normal. That's how we played with everyone; it was just a REALLY bad team. The score ment nothing to the coach. He didn't even glance at it.

What really hits a nerve with me is when the parents start harassing the coaches. Whether I like them or not, that is definatly "get out of here" material.

I probably would of called ultra-tight on Z, since what they were doing was nothing but stripping the dignity away of the other team. It puts an umbrella of shame over the sport.

[rainmaker]

Tony with a big T, we did crack down quite a bit and I waved off several baskets for travelling. It's the first time I've been thankful that the NBA and their "bad habits" influence younger players.

I wish I had thrown a T or two. But I've been working on how to handle the borderline stuff and trying to control it with other methods. And in fact, after I gave a couple of hairy eyeballs, the high five for the fouling stopped -- at least it stopped being noticeable. I think next time, I'll be quicker to stop the game and require some crowd control. Although the fans weren't threatening or abusive, really, they were taunting and their noise was not the joy of winning, but the sort of nasty cheering one might expect at the guillotine. I mean how exciting is it when your player beats only four opponents down the floor for an easy lay-up, when you're already 50 points ahead?

The follow-up is interesting, though because that evening, the varsity team B lost, but only by one point. And then last night, Team Z got beat by another team in the same league by like 25.

I do have another question, though. What should I have been doing about my own attitude? I was so angry by the end of the game, I was fighting back tears. I don't feel that was the best way to feel, and it didn't help me do my best reffing job. How do you guys and gals control your own emotions? I did mouth off to one player, slightly, and I 1regretted it. 2 I 345 6 Okay, the baby is taking over the keyboard here and I've got to go, so 'nuff s7aid.

Thanks for all the comments.

8 9 01

[LarryS]

Originally posted by TXMATTHEW05
I can understand when a team has a demanding lead, and they are still pressing and such - they may use that as practice. That's what we did sometimes when I played - the coach couldn't care less about the score, but how we played. We didn't get cocky, we didn't get arrogant, and we didn't rub it in. And - we played normal. That's how we played with everyone; it was just a REALLY bad team. The score ment nothing to the coach. He didn't even glance at it.

Not sure the quality of that kind of practice. I never played basketball at a significant level, but did play baseball. When we have a game in control (like the 20+ leads we had on several occassions) we "practiced" doing specific things when at bat. You know; switch hitting, putting certain pitches in play in a specific area (the HIT portion of the hit and run), etc.. Not sure how much of that can be done in basketball but there are ways to keep the score down to a certain extent. If nothing else, work on passing.

Team Z would never see a game called closer on them.

I hate coaches like that.