Shut Up!!
 

VB last week about the first 2 minutes of the game. I'm lead and just as I get across the endline with players quickly advancing, I hear a very loud "traveling" ring out from the table that I just passed. I immediately recognize the voice and it is from the score keeper. (The gym only has bleachers on the side opposite the table and the teams.) The next thing I notice is the Trail, he's about 6'4" with arms extremely long for his size who is jogging to catch up with the players from the semi fast break. As he goes by the score keeper I see him stretch out his arm full length and then point with one long finger right at the scorekeeper's chest. Trail says something I can't make out since the gym is very loud. The score keeper kind of hunkered down then and we never heard another peep the rest of the night. At half time I asked the trail what he said. "SHUT UP" is what he replied! I now know how to quiet the table in the future!! I guess since I heard it first it should have been my call???? Ever have one of those reffing situations like that that crack you up and it keeps popping into your head? I've been giggling about it all week, looking forward to this weekends games to get some more laughs! I hope at least one person reading this gets a laugh too! Thanks for all the good advice and humurous comments from Mark and others.

Loudwhistle

While it maybe funny, it's not a very smart way to handle the situation.

First and only time I ever had this was this year. Visitors' bookkeeper, seated at the table, was protesting vigorously as I reported a foul. As I finished with the foul, I strolled up directly in front of her and calmly said, "Ma'am, you are not going to sit at this table and call the game. It just ain't gonna happen." Never have I seen an adult have the "I wish I could disappear" look to the degree that this lady got it. She began to apologize, more profusely that her earlier complaints. I dismissed it with a wave of the hand. She continued to apologize between quarters and between games, so maybe she got the message and it will stick with her for a while.

I got no problem with my partner telling the scorekeeper to shut up. Its all in how you go about it. Of course you don't want yell at this person from across the gym, but a quick shut up can solve the problem. Not to mention the score keeper knows they are not allowed to yell at the refs.

Then why not tell him that politely during the next stoppage in play?
Quality officials aren't rude to anyone while on the court.

Amen. It's the wrong way to handle the situation.

Concur. I was always brought up to treat people the way I would want them to treat me - or my family. Rudeness doesn't cut it.

Some situations do get heated, we get sarcastic, failed humor, coach gets out of control, etc. Hey, it happens.

I would wait until the next stoppage and go to the table and politely, so only they or a few close could hear, let them know this type of behavior will not be tolerated and if kept up they will be replaced. I believe we need to take the high road wherever possible.....JMO.

Amen, that. Professional behavior requires us to treat other people respectfully, even if and when we are not afforded the same courtesy. Now, if only we could figure out how to transfer that concept to this message board.... :o

Shut Up
 

I was told of a situation in a BV game. Home book was animated and very vocal of calls made by the officials against the home team. Official warned him to stop this because he is part of the officiating crew and must be unbiased. Official calls a foul right in front of the table. Quess what happened next? You got it-the home book gets really animated and vocal. So the official calls a T on the home team for unsporting conduct. When asked to explain the T, the official tells HC the homebook was told to stop but didn't AND he was part of home team bench personnel and HC was responsible for his actions.

Wow. How bad is that? Let me count the ways... :eek:

I had a very similar situation a few years ago. GV game, neither team very good, players tripping over themselves and each other all game, all in all, just very ugly.

Late in the third quarter, ball goes out of bounds on the sideline near the table after several players fell down trying to get the ball. I'm preparing to administer the throw in when the visiting team scorekeeper, an old lady sitting at the table, starts making comments about the officiating. I took a step or two toward the table and very sternly told her that if she was going to sit at the table, she would keep her opinions on the officiating to herself. Everybody in the place saw it and she looked like she was trying to crawl into the scorebook. Never got an apology, just a dirty look every time I reported anything to the table. I just smiled at her......

A) I would never say "Shut up" to anyone during a game, unless it was someone with whom I had a relationship outside, such as a friend or family member and they were just teasing me. In the OP, that doesn't sound like the sitch, but at least the partner said it quietly so as not to humiliate the person. Even so, it seems risky.

B) The best way to handle the table is to remind the folks there before the game that they are now officials and may not comment on the calling of the game. If you say this before the game, then if there's any "opinion", you can remind the table person quickly, without having to explain.

Would you tell your partner to shut up?
The table is part of the officiating team, they should not be told to shut up...

I had a game about two weeks ago where the visiting team's HC & AC are both standing together and screening my view of action from the table.

At the next time out, I beckoned the calling official and asked if he could determine who the HC was and remind them only the HC can stand since i couldn't see through both of them. I didn't have a problem for the rest of the game.

Unfortunately, the official was completely and totally wrong.

A scorer at the table is NOT part of the bench, under any circumstances.

I've stopped talking to problem scorers. Instead, I go to the coach and explain that he/she needs to have a word with their scorer. If I have an issue after that, I will have the scorer removed from the gymnasium. I've yet to have to take that final step.

Shut up! :D

When I first started out, maybe in my 2nd or 3rd year, I was doing a 7th/8th grade boys game and this one kid just wanted to complain about every whistle. Finally, I told him "Shut up and just play". As soon as it was out of my mouth, I realized I shouldn't have said it. I haven't used "shut up" on the court since then.

I will tell the scorer quietly that their job - if they desire to keep it, is to record information that the officials give them, and to keep track of scores and who makes them and our job is to officiate the game. Following that, if there is no improvement - I will call game management (not coach) over and politely tell them if the current scorer cannot remain neutral and quiet they will have to be replaced. After all - the referee designates the official scorer. We usually accept whomever game management has hired - but do havet he authority to make a change.

I read this post yesterday, thinking that mentioning pregame to the table crew about what they cant do was similar to telling coaches before the game what they cant do (of course a bad idea w/coaches), plus never having heard a problem from the table in my short BB career.....until last night.

Visiting girls frosh losing by 15 with 4 minutes to play, I'm trail tableside waiting for partner to administer inbound when visiting scorekeeper "dad" starts commenting about us- loud enough for fans around him to hear. I whistle to inform pard, walk toward table while looking at scorekeeper. He starts to stand up after seeing my face, saying "I'm out of here"(kinda funny), but sits back down as Im right in front of the table, telling him about table personnel being part of the officiating crew, no comments to be made like that, so stay quiet (putting 1 finger up to my mouth)-all in a voice that most fans heard, (not loud, but stern) due to the quiet nonaction, in a gym with maybe 60 parents.

I embarrassed him and I dont regret it. Either he learned the lesson or is one of those that just doesnt get it. As an newer official, I'm learning from my mistakes (that embarrass me), and figure I wont do those again as the lesson is now ingrained.

You should ALWAYS have some pre-game with the table, it prevents lots and lots of problems. Be certain they have some clue what they're doing, not by asking, "Do you know how to do this?" but by asking about specifics. Remind them that they're officials, and be sure to include in that that you won't be reprimanding them, but helping them, including standing up for them if a coach or a fan is being obnoxious. Doing these things goes a long, long way toward getting them on your side, and finding problems early so they can be fixed early.

Problem scorekeeper story. She wasn't yelling at us, but she wasn't doing a very good job, either. Kept forgetting things, recording things wrong. It was a JV game, but lots of fans. One dad in particular was treating her very badly, and came down at the quarter break to actually accost her and was complaining loudly, gesturing. My partner and I had been discussing sitch just as we saw him. We got him excluded from the gym, and then addressed her. She was clearly drunk, but trying, really trying to do it right, and I was mad at the obnoxious dad. So I sat down with her for the next 20 seconds and just read her a little pep talk and nursed her through the rest of the game. Then I made sure she wasn't going to be the scorekeeper for the varsity game (she wasn't!) I just felt it was important to let everyone in the gym know that they couldn't treat any officials that way, and that they couldn't yell like that dad.

Next time in the gym, the new score keeper told me she'd been there that day, and she was impressed with how we handled it. She was totally willing not to criticize us because we'd been completely on "her" side (meaning the table) against that dad.

PS I wouldn't normally allow someone who was drunk to work the table, but she was trying to do well, and I sort of felt for her. Also, the AD in that gym and I go way back (not always in a good way) and I didn't want to have to deal with him. I know that's not necessarily the right way to do things, but the end result was good -- as I said above, the new scorekeeper is a total ref-fan, because she knows without question whose side we're on. Also, the AD thanked me for being kind to this mom. Her daughter was struggling and didn't need to see her mom kicked out. Score one for the touchy-feely approach.

Juulie - what about the people at the table? Do you exclude them? I didn't know you spoke "table". Is that one of those Indo-European languages? :p

See what happens when I run out of meds. :(