Give me an example.

A coach screams "F**K!" from his bench. Come on your's & Rut's points are well taken that nothing is an automatic that you must always use judgement in every case, but can you think of a situation where you wouldn't tech that? I guess maybe if his response was to the gym being set on fire I might let it slide....

Yes I could. And yes I have not given a T when I heard something from the bench. And yes it depended on where I was officiating. I can tell you if I were to go into Chicago and gave a T for every bad word on first incident, the bench would be cleared and the two teams would be forfeited (and I am not talking about inner city schools, the Catholic schools are bigger culprits of the language issue).

Peace

I'm not saying someone just "said" "f**k", I'm talking screamed at the top of their lungs "F********K!!!!" (and stomped their feet for good measure:) ) I have never had it happen, but I would think I wouldn't think twice or consider where I was or why it happened...how about a coach grabs a player he is pissed off at for whatever reason, grabs him by the shirt and throws him over the bench Bobby Knight style...or while we are on the subject throws a chair across the floor?!?! Like I said your point is well taken, but there are certain cases where you are not going to have to use a whole lot of judgement b/c the action stands pretty well on its own don't you think?

If you have to embellish, then that should tell you why I do not like the "automatic" label. Because what you consider screaming at the top of their lungs is not what I would consider screaming at the top of their lungs.

In my experience many of my games I cannot hear what comes out of bench area during a timeout and I am not paying that close attention to every word a coach or someone says all the time. And I will honestly tell you if I am working in certain conferences I will do one thing and working in other conferences I will do something else. I will do that because the standards and the outrage are completely different. There are some areas around here if you say "Jesus Christ" then that would be offensive. Other places it would not be (even those religious and private schools as an example).

Once again, no one said that we would not give a T for a clipboard slamming. I think we were saying there would have to be some judgment and evaluation of the situation. It might likely end up that way, I just have a problem with the word "automatic" when these situations are often not so black and white.

Peace

I'm 99% sure I'd call this, but there is still the possibility I'd let it slide. Such as?
B1 slams into the coach full speed and the coach tears a ligament in his knee.
Or, his star player slips on the water spot in front of his bench from the last timeout, and coach hears the player's bone break. I might let this one go.

Ha ha touche!! Still not convincing me on the throwing the chair across the floor thing though, that has to be automatic. Unless maybe this - coach is arachnaphobic (has doctor's note to prove it) and an opposing fan puts a big tarantula on his seat when he gets up. He sees it just as he is sitting back down.

It actually brings up an interesting distinction though, I am a lot more willing to agree that no "language" infraction is automatic, but there are actions that are automatic in my opinion....flipping somebody off and I see it (what could his excuse possibly be?)....the whole throwing the chair thing....it is a lot harder to put a "spin" on an action...

Not to hijack this thread, but this makes me ask a similar question: If a coach picks up a chair and slams it straight down (not throwing it Bobby Knight style), automatic T? How about if he lifts his feet high enough and stomps down on it really hard?

Reason I ask is that Bob Erickson (now retired coach from Doane College in Nebraska) was famous for doing the aforementioned antics. Most of the officials that worked those games usually let it slide because he did it out of frustration at his own players and never because he didn't like a call by an official. However, there were a couple of officials who T'd him up the very first time he did it in their games, and a couple of others who would T him up if he did it while Doane was on defense. I'm just curious everyone's thoughts on this.

...unless a fan comes out of the stands with a knife and is about to attack an official. Coach throws chair to protect the official. :)

I did have a similar action happen last season. There was a player that dislocated his knee cap while driving to the basket all by himself. When it was obvious the player was hurt, he began using a couple of profanities. We held up the game for about 20 minutes to get this kid off the court. I passed on giving the kid a T. I think that was a good decision.

Peace

Absolutely...been there myself playing in a league on a court right next to a group of 9 year-olds practicing....not my proudest moment with some of the language that came out of my mouth, but sometimes you can't control such things...

Why...
 

Why does it have to be a black white thing Rut?

You would not understand. :D

Peace

From a Coach's Perspective
 

During my time coaching at the HS Frosh level, I always wondered why some officials seemed to be so concerned about what I was saying or doing to people other than them during a game, especially during a live ball. I was T'd once for saying "d*mmit" to a player on my bench, with my back turned away from the court, while the other team was in the process of making a lay-up.:confused:

I was T'd once for flipping my clipboard over my shoulder, with no verbal comment, where there wasn't even a remotely possible officiating-related reason for doing it, after my player did exactly the opposite of what he was instructed for the 63rd time that game. We had an empty bench area, and the clipboard landed in a pile of player bags never made a sound, but I got T'd, during a fast break by the opposition (boy was my counterpart ticked when they stopped that to T me, and then the kid missed his FT's! :p )

I've even saw during a JC game where I do PA announcing last year, a ref stop to badger a coach who dropped an F-bomb on his adult players, but only loud enough to be heard within 5 feet. The ref started an argument with the coach while the ball was in play, at a JC game! :eek:

It seems to me that at HS and above, unless it's blatantly unsportmanlike, or directly addressed at an official, or causes a safety hazard, there shouldn't be a lot of mind paid to things like flipped clipboards and the like. If a coach is making as *** of him/herself, let their Administrator deal with it, especially while the ball is in play. My .02.