Honestly, I've never met any men that carry the mini. The only reason I bought it was the women in our chapter, called volleyball and basketball. For the most part, they all blew the mini, except for the macho type.(No beating around the bush about what I mean, just telling it like it is)

One of the best training seminars I went to, over 18yrs ago, the instructor stressed officials to become as one team on the court. Look, act, talk as one. He mentioned things such as total black shoes....I do mean nothing white. Even when spot made the shoes with the white spot on the rear. Get yourself a black magic marker. One of the things talked about was as simple as blowing the same whistle as your co-official. Every since then, I always ask guys and gals that I have never called with. What type of whistle are you carrying. Others opinion of your abilities are directly dependent on your sharp dress, Good use of the mechanics, ability to control the game and character. In my opinion, poor use of the mechanics is a lack of respect for authority. If you don't believe me, just go home after your next camps video session. Plug in the DVD and listen to the director hammer you on your poor signal mechanics. NFHS of course......
JH to Varsity, I try to give every game and every official the same respect.

Frankly, I never cared either way which whistle my partner(s) used. I was more concerned (sometimes), with whether they would actually use it when they were supposed to.:p

That's what Larry Craig said. http://www.runemasterstudios.com/gra...ges/toetap.gif

Wipe...coffee...off....of....monitor......LOL.....

[QUOTE=texaspaul]Honestly, I've never met any men that carry the mini. The only reason I bought it was the women in our chapter, called volleyball and basketball. For the most part, they all blew the mini, except for the macho type.(No beating around the bush about what I mean, just telling it like it is)
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Hi, Let's meet.
I'm a WMSBVRWCAB&AWMCMGFVBNR. (That's white Male Soccer Basketball Volleyball Referee Who Carries A Black & A White Mini CMG For Volleyball Named Refnrev) The mini's are loud enough for MS or JV games and some girls V games, but I'm a Classis CMG man in BB.

If you have ever worked with an official that had a different whistle than you have, there is a big difference in sound. This is the only reason I want to use the same whistle which most use Fox 40 Classic. I even worked a game with an official that forgot his Fox 40 Classic and used a mini during a packed house game. My partner and I had trouble all night hearing his whistle. And there were times his whistle did not stop play when he called a foul all by himself. It was actually very frustrating.

Peace

Don't like the mini very much. Always scared I'm going to lose it. Fox 40 Classic CMG is my personal favorite, with the breakaway noose lanyard. After the game, just snap that sucker loose, stick it in oyur pocket, and head for the locker room.

Like the strength of the Dolphin, but the shape is distracting.

This is pretty much the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard.

This reminds me of the guys that you work with that are worried about the kind of shirt that you are wearing -- mesh or no-mesh? Flag or no flag? etc. ... They have one of every shirt in their bag so that we can all look the same, etc.

This has nothing to do with how good of an official you are on the court and doesn't make a bit of difference to coaches, for sure.

I have nothing against trying to look good -- shining your shoes, having your uniform look nice, etc. ... but when we get to the point of trying to have perfectly matching shirts and whistles, it is beyond the point of absurdity.

I used the Dolphin a lot last year. With the same amount of air, the Dolphin is louder. IMO, the sound isn't that different than the Fox40.

Back in the day, I got a pearl. I actually still have it in my whistle bag. Now that was a whistle that sounded a lot different!

Some use a mini, some use a pearl.

Very few use both.
http://www.nndb.com/people/493/00004...nnie-pearl.jpg

I worked with a newer official last year who was using a Pearl. Very weak, imo, I couldn't hear him half the time. Now granted he might not have been putting much air into it, but it was 10 in the morning in a Jr. High gym with not many people watching.

I had this problem on my original shirt. I took the small ring off an old whistle and put it on the loop and then clip the smitty to the ring. It works great no more pressure on the thread loop.

I used to carry a mini, but didn't even realize it. Honestly, I didn't pay that much attention; I just bought the Fox 40 and didn't even notice "classic" or "mini."

Then, in my first varsity game, my partner's critique after the game included the fact that he could tell I was using a mini, and it was hard for him to hear me on the court. Had nothing to do with uniformity, however; only the inability of your partner to hear your whistle in a packed gym.

Had him for a partner again in an AAU tourney later that year, and during the first break in action he came up and commented that the new whistle sounded good. :)

Not all of us like Kool-Aid.

Couldn't agree more. Officials tend to obsess about thing that only they notice. Coaches, players, etc. just want us to get it right.

I don't like the mini and wouldn't use one, but I would never worry about having the same whistle as my partners.