New Product

[Back In The Saddle]

Originally Posted by JugglingReferee

How about using a downs counter to keep track of team fouls?

Or something like an umpire's ball/strike/out clicker.

The problem I think you'd have with a gadget like this, Brandan, is the same one you'd have with moving a whistle, coin, chapstick, whatever from pocket to pocket. You've got to remember to do it, every time.

I briefly tried the pocket pool thing and I found that it took as much effort to remember whether I had switched the thing after the last throw in as it did to just remember the arrow.

An approach I learned from our dear, departed ChuckElias (RIP), and prefer, is to make the arrow part of your count. One-red-arrow, two-red-arrow, etc.

YMMV

[brandan89]

Originally Posted by Back In The Saddle

Or something like an umpire's ball/strike/out clicker.

The problem I think you'd have with a gadget like this, Brandan, is the same one you'd have with moving a whistle, coin, chapstick, whatever from pocket to pocket. You've got to remember to do it, every time.

I briefly tried the pocket pool thing and I found that it took as much effort to remember whether I had switched the thing after the last throw in as it did to just remember the arrow.

An approach I learned from our dear, departed ChuckElias (RIP), and prefer, is to make the arrow part of your count. One-red-arrow, two-red-arrow, etc.

YMMV

What happened to Chuck Elias???

[Camron Rust]

Originally Posted by brandan89

What happened to Chuck Elias???

He was abducted by aliens.

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally Posted by brandan89

What happened to Chuck Elias???

Who?

[ChuckElias]

Originally Posted by brandan89

What happened to Chuck Elias???

Nothing, Brandon. Don't let these clowns kid you.

A Fond Farewell

I still post all the time in the annual baseball thread. Glad to see you back on the forum!

[CLH]

Just my opinion, but this may be the dumbest product ever thunked up. But, I'm sure someone will buy it. Personally, I will not. This thing just looks stupid, and how stupid are you going to look, checking out your whistle on every jump ball. If you can't remember the possession arrow, try carrying a whistle or a dime in your pants pocket. But, if you really want to be a more than just a warm body in a striped shirt, learn to remember the arrow.

CLH

[refnrev]

B,
You buy this and some of your cajun friends are going to be asking "Who Dat?" and "What Dat?" when they see you using it!

[ernesto5]

I am the maker of the Possession Switch. I am not an official, but was a basketball coach for 15+ years. I started at the high school level and finished at the NCAA Division III level. I developed the possession switch in response to alternating possession management problems I experienced. My hopes were to place a mechnaical device in the Officials control that would allow them to assist in the accurate administration of alternating possession. The mechanical device had to be extremely easy to operate, reliable, professional, and visible to the participates of the game. Is all the switch is is a mechanical device. There needs to be a habit developed around the use of the device for it to be successful. That is true of any mechanical device!!!

There seems to be a lot of support of this board for memory management of alternating possession. That seems to be the only acceptable manor is which to adminster alternating possession. Along time ago business and industry found out that mechanical devices worked much better than memory. Microsoft Outlook is better than your memory, your cellphones that store telephone numbers works much better than your memory, a mathmatical calulator works better than memory, an address book works better than memory, and on, and on, and on, and on. I would guess that the quality of the folks working on the table have a lot more to do with successful alternating possession management than memory does.

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally Posted by ernesto5

There seems to be a lot of support of this board for memory management of alternating possession. That seems to be the only acceptable manor is which to adminster alternating possession.

I would guess that the quality of the folks working on the table have a lot more to do with successful alternating possession management than memory does.

That's exactly right. It is the job of the SCORER to administer alternating possessions. Now tell us why you expect us to do the job of those people on the table.

You don't seem to understand the concept. Again, it is the job of the SCORER to keep track of the arrow. Says so right in the rule book. Really. You should be trying to convince SCORERS to buy your little device, not us officials.

On second thought, SCORERS already have their own little device, don't they? It's called the arrow.

[Mark Padgett]

Originally Posted by ernesto5

Is all the switch is is a mechanical device.

Huh? Is is is what???