I Hope That This Doesn't Start A Fight ...
 

Is it "Blue, 42", or "Blue, 4-2"?

This has been emphasized to us in our classes- under the umbrella of "preventive officiating" especially younger officials- while reporting the foul announce color, number and use the appropriate mechanic. You don't have to say anything. In fact, the higher the level of game, there's less of chance the table will hear you anyway, and it prevents a coach from *****ing about a hand check foul reported as illegal use of hands....


And for us here in NJ, saying "on the floor" is a big no-no, and will keep you in the middle school games forever.... our spot of foul mechanic is to wave off the shot and "before". NEVER "on the floor". Of course, it wasn't a problem for me until I was told NEVER to say "on the floor" and my next game I said it twice... arrrrgh!

You're supposed to report the player's number to the table. Is the player's number "42" or is the player's number "4-2"?

When In Connecticut, Do As Connecticuters Do ...
 

Easy answer: The player's number is 42, but for the past twenty-seven years, here in my little corner of the Constitution State, we've been taught to state "4-2". Do you want to fight about it? I'd rather fight than switch. Meet me outside.

Not me. Fight Bktballref. He's the one who pointed out this obvious, yet overlooked, fact to me. The player's number is 42. Report the player's number.

You probably don't want to fight Bktballref, though. I heard he tackled South Carolina's quarterback in Saturday's game. :D

We Don't Take Too Kindly To Hyphenated Words Either ..
 

Bring him on. I'll fight anyone who comes into my little corner of the state and trys to report to the table by saying "forty-two". We don't take too kindly to folks saying ten-dollar words like "forty-two" in our basketball games.

Barely, he didn't really wrap him up at all.

Except when reporting "50", people often mistake that for "15", and vice versa. People end up saying the digits individually after that, anyways.

If someone tells me that the worst part of my game is that I said "four two" instead of "forty-two", I will be pleased.

When I went to my first training sessions a few yrs back, I never realized I had the bad habit of reporting by saying "I've got" before reporting fouls. "I've got blue, 4-2, with a hold." I was told to slow down, and as is stated report - color, number, and give a signal. The less said the less room for error......good advice given to me by a senior official. Every now and then, early in the yr I do catch myself however....that's why I practice and get my scrimmages in.

Purple 22 Foul, Yellow 23 Shoots Two ???
 

You're correct. That's the wording in the manual. We're a bunch of rebels here in Connecticut, that's why we do it differently.

Where in the manual does it state that officials are not supposed to use two syllables for jersey colors, yet we've been told that dozens of times by the three interpreters that I've served under. It's "Gold", not "Yellow". It's "Blue", not "Purple". It's "Red", not "Orange", etc.

In HS around here, most scorekeepers like to hear the number at the same time as seeing the hand signal, since we report one numeral at a time. That's why we report 1-3 while showing the 1, then the 3. How do you report "thirteen"? Do you say "thir" when showing the 1, then "teen" when showing the 3? Since it's an issue of communication with the table, we just try to do what works best for them.

In NCAA-W, since we do two-handed reporting, it makes more sense to verbalize the actual number since we are showing both digits at the same time.

I've always been told the same thing, with the reason being it is easier to communicate in one-syllable words. However, I was told at a camp this season that we should report the actual color, not the one-syllable version, because the actual color is part of the players' and teams' identity. One team around here is called the Purple Raiders, so why should we call them "blue" if most of us are advanced enough beyond one-syllable words in our communication skills?

How far do we take that? Would / should we use "crimson", "chartreuse", "teal" or "ochre?"

Some of us more "enlightened" people might.

Btw: Shut up. :p

That's quite an interesting statement. How was this preference determined? Survey? Negotiations with the local scorekeepers and timers union? It has a air of urban legend about it, as if it were the unquestioned wisdom of the fathers that has been passed down for so long that nobody questions it.

Just sayin ;)

Urban legend?!? I'm shocked. Shocked, I tell 'ya.

I believe everything my elders tell me; it's only common courtesy.

(That's why I believe you... :p )