Officiating without a lanyard.....

[Rufus]

I actually had the pleasure of watching a varsity crew with one fellow who didn't use a lanyard call a game this year. He was quite adapt at using the whistle and quickly putting in his pocket to make the violation/foul call. I was watching with another sub-varsity official and we remarked that we would have spit the thing across the floor at least a dozen times.

The only other time I've seen that is Billy Crystal in "Forget Paris" where he plays an NBA ref. Kind of a quirky character trait, and an interesting film.