Thanks for my T?!

[Mark Dexter]

I've been thanked for a technical once in my career.

Junior high rec-type game, where one team had a primadonna player a bit better than the rest. She kept complaining about my calls (I was the only ref, so I know I wasn't perfect) and I went up to warn her about it, saying to knock off the comments.

She responds by looking at me and saying something to the effect of "I'll say whatever I want," so I T her up, we move on with the game.

After the game, the team's coach comes up to me, asking what the T was all about. I get a bit worried, but explain it quickly and calmly. The coach ended up thanking me - turns out that he was the player's father, and she was starting to go through the attitude phase of adolescence.