What's in your pocket?
 

First of all, yes, we all can see where this one could go in the wrong hands (not pointing any fingers ... ). Hoping for helpful answers, I'll pose it anyway for the curious among us (veteran and non- alike).

Other than the spare Fox 40, what do you take on the court with you?
Anything in particular for courtside?

(By the same token, anything absolutely a bad idea to bring that might not be so apparent at first, or that you've heard someone did have?)

This is gonna help a lot of newer folks.

Nothing but a spare whistle that is attached to a lanyard.

Peace

Needle.

Same.

I keep my needle in my jacket and another spare whistle/lanyard.

No joke. I use a Chap Stick. It's small, easy to grasp, lightweight and unobtrusive. I use it only to keep track of possession. Other than that, just a handkerchief in my back pocket.

Stamp for the scorebook in my jacket pocket. I need to get a needle because it seems like every night we have a game ball that is inflated WAY too much.

Handkerchief in one pocket, spare stick of gum in the other. Needle in right jacket pocket.

I have never carried a spare whistle in over 20 years. If I break one, we'll take a short break while I get another.

Nothing in the pants pocket. In the jacket, I have a spare whistle and lanyard (never been used), needle and something not mentioned yet....Listerine strips

Nothing in pants pockets. I put a spare whistle and a needle in the pocket of my jacket.

Pocket lint.

What if the whistle goes in the second half? :D

Handkerchief in back left pocket, and a pocket packs in the right front.

Red hanky.........in right back pocket? Not that there is anything wrong with that.

Then we are going to the lockerroom to get it from the jacket pocket.
Not as quick, but that's what's going to happen.

PS I've never had a uniform/equipment problem in all my years of officiating.

Nothing. Ever.

I do the same thing.

Peace

I Guess That You're Not Superstitious ...
 

Haven't you ever heard of a jinx? This would be a jinx by tempting fate. After such a statement, failure would be ironic. For the human mind, the irony makes it all the more likely. This therefore brings bad luck: it is a "jinx". The event itself is referred to as "jinxed".

When you think you are ALL KNOWING, you do not have those kinds of issues. Perfect people do not have less than perfect problems. ;)

Peace

"Brass in Pocket" (The Pretenders)
 

Jacket pocket: Needle, a few sugarless cough drops.
Pants side pocket: Extra whistle (old Acme Thunderer).
Pants back pocket: Credit card size pedometer (new this year).

Yeah, they don't make those silly mistakes that the peons make. :p

Cookie crumbs.

Billy:

Did you say Acme Thunderer? Ah, the good old days of peach baskets, center jumps after each field goal scored, and PEA'ED NOT peed whistles. :D

MTD, Sr.

Pack of gum and my pre-game run down card. It has the technical summary from page 71 on it and I like to review it prior to going on the court.

Don't you listen to Padgett?

You pee on your whisles?? That's disgusting.

I carry a yellow and red card.

When I don't like a coach, I show him the red card with a straight look on my face. :eek:

Hey, Coach. I just got a new red card. Wanna see how it works? :D

Never say never... I always have two pair of pants.... In three different games over the course of the last !@ years (yes hiding the number) that I have had pants split, tear, or rip...

If you never have you are lucky.... BTW never had a problem with a whistle though...

Jacket pockets -- reading glasses (for the book), chapstick (for chapped lips!).

Pants pocket -- tissue or two, spare hair band.

I don't carry anything in my pocket but T, but I keep it in my back pocket just in case I need to serve it.

Seriously, I used to carry a half-dollar coin when the Iowa girls experimented with Billy Mac's rule change. Since then, nothing.

contact solution, extra piece of gum and spare lanyard

Heads I Win, Tails You Lose ...
 

How did you like the coin flip instead of the jump ball? How did the coaches/players/administrators like it?

Juulie - I might have to start carrying the extra hair band! never thought of that, especially since this is the first year that my hair is long enough for one~! I started last year carrying a spare whistle in pants pocked because I had a brand new whistle that sounded like a cow dying... so embarrasing. Lesson learned.

Honestly? It was easier, but it just didn't feel right. It really felt like we were patronizing the girls; as if we had to protect them. May as well do 6 player ball, IMO.

Hmm. I don't carry a spare whistle either. If something happens I will go get another one. If something happens with the ball, we will try all of them before going a needle.

I need to carry a hanky, but as of now the only thing I have in my pocket is an Apple Jolly Rancher. :D

I used to feel this way about a needle, but I've found that looking for a ball out of a stack of balls usually yields all balls that are over-inflated.

Now I carry a needle and I only deal with one ball. I do get some funny looks from the occasional coach, but I'm okay with that.

Last Tuesday I had a ball where I must've removed about 10 seconds worth of air. I bounced the ball from 6 feet and it must've come up about 5.5 feet.

Isaac Newton Would Be Impressed ...
 

What would be scary is if you bounced it from six feet and it came up six and a half feet.

Four Out Of Five ...
 

My dentist recommends sugarless cough drops.
He would not do well in retail.

Complete ditto to what Snaq said. I knew mutliple players that played just before the rule change, and when I told them of it, they would, without exception, scowl at me about it.

The problem with looking for a ball, is that they schools do not often make many balls available. Or they are intent on using a specific ball because it is newer than they warm-up rack. At least that is my experience.

Peace

That's the way it's been in every game I've done. There is ONE game ball. Take it or leave it.

In two years, it's always been within specs airwise though, FWIW.

Varsity boys Friday night, the ball had a little too much hop in it. None of us had a needle, so the R had the AD get one from their closet. Easy enough.

So you had to chase down the AD (assuming they are in the gym at all), have them get the key to the right place (which they may not have) so you can get another basketball that may or may not have the right amount of air? As opposed to having a little device that costs less than a $1 and having it in your pocket which would take you only seconds to let out a very small amount of air.

I have had problems getting a person to open up our locker room, I do not think I want to chase down someone to "find" basketballs that may or may not have a decent bounce ratio. Then again, that is my experience. ;)

Peace

That hasn't happened to me and maybe that would make me change what I carry. So far I've rarely had this become an issue and when the ball does have too much air there is another one to use.

I just don't get this. Didn't both teams just get done warming up with multiple balls? I'm assuming the answer is yes and if so, we would play with one of those.

I'll Huff, And I'll Puff, And I'll Blow The Ball Up ...
 

I carry a needle in my jacket packet. Once, I had a game ball that didn't have enough air in it. No matter how hard I blew into the needle, I couldn't get enough air into it. What was I doing wrong? :D

Did you first insert the needle into the ball?

I keep a needle, spare whistle/lanyard and Listerine pack in the jacket pocket. I also have a small air pump that I'll bring out from my bag in case of need. I leave it at the table during the game (haven't lost one yet). I run into the underinflated ball more here.

Really? I don't think I've EVER had an underinflated ball. Does that have to do with altitude?

You assume they all have the proper logo on them. One of our schools only has 2 boys and 2 girls balls with the NFHS logo that's now required.

Yes I do. Who knows, something could happen that will cause me to change what I carry in my pocket. But have you ever tasted an Apple Jolly Rancher?

I carry a tylenol or two and usually take one if i do two games in a row

I'm afraid to leave my wallet anywhere, so i leave it in my back pocket. But you would never know it as there is no money in it, that's why I ref.

an extra whistle

and my watch, so it there is a problem with the timing for time outs I could whip it out.

flame on

That ( especially over 9,000 feet) and temperature. A lot of schools here have outside storage, and when the temps hit the minus range.... :rolleyes:

That being said, I've only had to pump a ball up twice since I've started..