I need some game talk!!!
 

I sure am ready for everyone to do some games and post some good stories. (funny and informative) My first of the season is Friday. My shirts and pants are pressed and have been ready to go for two weeks now. I just shined my shoes for the third time in the past two weeks. But I'm not anxious.:D

Third time? Wow.

I know a guy last year that was so ready to get on the floor. He cleaned his gear bag out and cleaned everything up. The only problem was when we were at the game he found a problem. He forgot to put his whistles back in his bag. Lucky, he was working with me and I have a few spares. :)

OK Tanner,
Knowing and loving you as we all do.... just exactly what constitutes a few whistles?

A. 1-4 And we all know that one's not it, right M&M!
B. 5-10
C. 11-24
D. They're cheaper by the case anyway.

I've been advised by my lawyer not to answer this question and to protect the innocent. :D

Oh, alright.... it's C. But in fairness, it's less than 20.

For me, I have 6 in my bag (4 black, 1 blue, 1 pink) and one in a pocket of each jacket. The only reason I know this for sure is that I just took them all out to wash them before the season gets going.

Hmm, I forgot about the pink and blue whistle. ;)

I think I've got about 15 black, 1 pink, and 1 blue. But I haven't counted...and I'm afraid to. :p

I'm very paranoid about forgetting my whistles. I keep an emergency whistle and smitty in the car. But I hadn't considered one in my jacket pocket. I'll do that.

Not counting the emergency whistle in the car, I have 3 black with pipe tips, a black pearl (for multi-court facilities), one white and one pink. Where does the blue get used?

I keep my whistles in a plastic bowl with a lid, to keep them clean and uncrushed. But I've noticed the last couple of years that the metal clips on my smittys rust. I finally figured that had to be from putting whistles back in the bowl still wet after use. So the next time I buy something with one of those silica gel packets, I'm going to put it in my whistle bowl.

I believe it's the "male" version of the pink one, for cancer awareness. Use the pink whistle during women's/girls' games, and the blue during men's/boys' games that particular week.

Good idea. But DO NOT EAT it. I learned that lesson the first time... ;)

That is a good idea. I bought a mouth guard container with a small carabiner. Wish I could remember the name brand. It clips on a gromet inside my bag and is out of the way protected. It has holes in it as well to allow the whistles to dry between use.

Edit: Its a Shock Doctor case.

I Want To Play Too ...
 

In my bag I have five, black, mini Fox 40s, one pink Fox 40, one blue Fox 40, and four Acmes with peas. Our local board requires us to carry an extra whistle in our pocket to help keep track of the possession arrow, which is what I use my old Acmes for. That's eleven in my bag.

I also have a black, mini fox 40, on a lanyard, and a loose Acme hanging in my closet for when I do a Catholic middle school game, and go to the site in uniform. In storage at home I have nine, old Acmes with peas.

I have twenty-two whistles? I don't remember buying all of them. I only remember tossing a few whistles in the trash over the past twenty-seven years. I hope someone posts with more than twenty-two. I don't want to be known as the Forum whistle guy. I guess that you can never have too many whistles. Do they procreate, and multiply, like rabbits over the summer?

From The Forum Whistle Guy, I Guess ...
 

No new posts since November 13, 2008. Did I win? Or, maybe I lost. I thought for sure that Mark T. DeNucci, Sr. would have more whistles than me. I'm sure that he has some that are made of stone, or wood. That's how they used to make whistles, back then, in the olden days.

Alright, I officially counted... I have 27.

3 CMGs - black, 24 classics (22 black, 1 pink, 1 blue).

The ones that are chewed up I attach them to an inside zipper. 1 CMG is retired as it's the whistle I used in my first game. Man, I chewed the crap outta that thing!

Did I Win, Or, Did I Lose ???
 

Thank God. Now you're officially the Forum "whistle guy". And it wasn't even close. You must be some weird guy to have so many whistles. Do you collect old National Geographic magazines too?

You're kidding, right???

I mean, no matter your personal philosophy on the subject, for an association to REQUIRE such a thing is a little OAOA don't you think?

Ha Ha. No, I just don't throw them away. I'm only subscribed to two magazines: Referee and QST. And yes, I've got every issue since I've been subscribed to both magazines.

Broken Arrow ???
 

I would prefer not to, but it's expected by my evaluators. I didn't mind doing it for the first couple of years after we switched from jump balls to alternating possession. The crew at the table was unfamiliar with the rules, and mechanics, of switching the arrow, and mistakes were often made, and easily corrected, with the memory aid of switching the whistle in our pocket to coincide with the arrow. Now, most table crews are very familiar with the rules, and mechanics, of the alternating possession procedure, and they seldom make mistakes, so the whistles seem kind of redundant. I never thought we would use this mechanic for such a long time.

Do your evaluators also insist that you put a different color ring on your fingers to keep track of the team fouls? :D

I can't see why not, that's logically the same as what they are making you do with the AP arrow. Why would they trust the table on one issue and not on another?

Rings On My Fingers, And, Bells On My Toes ...
 

That's exactly what I humorously thought when these mechanics were first introduced to us many, many years ago. It's not so funny any more.

Do you actually use it? Or just leave it in your pocket?

ALt poss Gizmo
 

there is a gizmo you can buy to put on your Fox 40 whistles that will help you with ALt possesion it flips back and forth Light/dark.
It is just like the pocket whistle if you remember to do it it works great.

ugh!

It alters the sound of the Fox40. While it is a neat gizmo, it's just easier for me to remember which way we are going and to confirm it when the arrow is suppose to change.

I have never used it nor seen anyone who has
I consider knowing the AP arrow, score, Time, and Shot clock information as a part on game managment, and keeping my head in the game at all times.

It is a great thing when there is an issue and the crew can quickly say the shot clock should read 19 seconds, when it has accidentally been re set or the calling official comes out of the scrum with a jump ball and direction rather than having to check with the table - this awarness on the floor is one of the things I worked on all summer and it has been an advantage already in the four games I have worked several times.

When you have these little items under control it is one less thing you have to worry about going wrong in a game, it gives those there (correctly) the impression you are on top of things and that can keep a coach off you back on a borderline call because they know you are in the game.

Well stated, and using the gizmo or rubber band or whistle in the pocket or (insert crutch here) only diminishes the professional appearance.

Agreed, but -- the newer official has lots of other (more important) stuff to learn -- so the "training wheels" might be appropriate at that level. After a couple of years, though, the official should learn to remember the arrow.

Any special methods to cleaning your whistles? I rinse mine with water and then let them sit in mouthwash for a few hours.

Then you need a rubber band on your wrist to remind yourself to switch the whistle to the correct pocket, then part your hair in the right direction facing the table to remind yourself which way the rubber............never mind.

"Good Grief" (Good Ol Charlie Brown) ...
 

We've been taught, and continue to be taught, to switch the whistle from pocket to pocket, since 1985, when the alternating possession procedure first started. You would think that the table crews could learn the proper procedure in twenty-three years. We have table crew members who have never, in their entire life, seen more than one jump ball in a four period game, and have never attended a basketball game where there wasn't an arrow at the table.

And here's another opportunity for me to suggest two minor changes in the jump ball procedure. First, do away with the jump ball that starts the game. Second, we do away with the jump ball that starts the extra period. That's all. Just two little changes. Let's start the game with a coin toss, just like in football, and futball. I'll bring the coin. The loser of the toss gets to keep the coin, so everybody walks away happy.

I have a harder time remembering which side of the school our locker room is in.

Matter of fact, we had no arrow at our scrimmage Saturday and I had every held ball all morning. Not hard to remember. Even when we had none, I remembered which way we went on the tip.