He Gets His Name In the Paper ...

[BillyMac]

Last night, boys varsity game, visitors leading by twenty points with less than two minutes to play. Junior varsity players, who dressed, and sat on the end of the bench, for the varsity game, from both teams, are sent to the "X" as substitutes. Play continues up and down the court with no whistle to stop the clock. I ask the home coach, since he's way behind, if he wants me to get the substitutes in the game, and he replies, "Yes, please". After a basket by the home team, I blow the whistle, yell to my partner, "Black ball", and bend down to retie my shoe, after which I called for substitutes. Parents got a good laugh out of that. Visiting coach jokingly asks, "What's the ruling on that?", to which I reply that he could have helped me with a time out request, to which he replies that he didn't want to delay the game with a timeout. By the way, one of the junior varsity substitutes got a basket, and by the way the bench erupted, I think it was his first varsity points.

After the game, my partner and I were discussing the play, and he suggested that the shoe tying appeared "bush", as would be to simply blow the whistle to stop the game, only, for the substitutes. He suggested I pretend to adjust my contacts (I don't wear contacts), or pretend to talk to the table, pointing at the scoreboard, as I do so.

Forum opinions please? I will accept all opinions, from, "It's not our role as officials.", to "Just blow your whistle and get the substitutes in". Full disclosure. I was the twelfth man on a twelve man, undefeated freshman team, who sat in front of the table, on more than one occasion, to see the clock wind down and never get in the game.