The MF rule is basically there to keep in your pocket and pull it out when it can be used effectively. When? Good question. One situation might be late in the game where a team too far behind to do any good is still fouling (2 or more players involved, obviously) and the team they are fouling is not in the bonus. If you are concerned about player safety, you might call a MF, put the player on the line, and move on. Another situation might be a fight that breaks out during a live ball. You can judge a flagrant MF on 2 players and throw them both out.

I've never called one either and I can't think of too many situations where an intentional or flagrant foul might not be better.

Yea, yea, I know. I guess I was trying to address his other thread on the subject, where the vet screwed up the penalties and not only called an "intentional" a technical foul, but penalized the foul incorrectly. My point was in that case, knowing the correct penalty makes you a good official, not simply a "rule book ref".

Listen to what I mean, not what I say. :D

I know; I was just buggin' ya. But I'm sure that somebody would have said something, at some point.

This works in most cases; but not when B1 and B2 come in and foul an airborne shooter.

True. Even though I am sometimes on the side of just following what the book says, I have never seen this one called. What's most common, I find, is that B1 plays good defense, perhaps even blocks a shot, and B2 fouls the shooter. Then, B1 chirps at B2 for thwarting his efforts. :)

I wouldn't be afraid to call it; but I do not want to be the first one in my city to make this call. ;)

I hear this all the time.
 

Whatsa matter with you guys? Don't you know the MF RULES?

Sorry, it was just too obvious.

I did this once in football. Another official said I made the wrong call. I asked a college crew chief his take, and he agreed with me. In the end, a million chinese won't care tomorrow.

fixed

The ONLY time I could imagine calling a multiple foul is if both/all fouls were intentional (excessive contact variety) or flagrant. I simply would not let such a foul go just because it would be part of a mulitple.

Did you know: if you're one in a million, there are 1500 people just like you in China?

That's probably the only situation...
 

...where anyone would try to call that. It's still going to be painful though, and I wouldn't want to be there.

Just to put everyone at ease, I have never called a multiple foul nor do I ever foresee the opportunity. It was just one of those things that when you read it you say, I wonder if anyone has ever called it. Especially the one where it is a non shooting foul and you award two :)shots. I would love to hear the coach/referee dialogue.

Had a 3-whistle multiple foul once in a deaf tournament. It was late in the game, and the team trailing actually had 3 players commit fouls at the same time, on 3 different offensive players. All 3 of us blew our whistles, and found ourselves with three different numbers. I told my partners (who didn't know any sign language) to go ahead and report theirs, and then I would report mine last, because I knew the losing coach was going to blow his stack. Sure enough, when I reported the third number, the coach went ballastic on me, hightailing into my direction to give me the what-for, and I added a T to the nice little mess. I turned around to get with the partners on administration of the three multiple fouls and the T, when there was a commotion that distracted one of my partners and caused him to assess the losing coach his second T and an ejection. What a mess.

The next year when I worked the tournament, in a different city with different partners, that same coach made a line about me hating his team, and I didn't catch it, but so many of the fans told me afterwards. Some people just don't get it.

First of all, you're talking about simultaneous fouls, not multiple fouls.

Secondly, I have the same philosophy about simultaneous fouls as I do multiple fouls - one of them happened first. Get together, figure out which one it was, ignore the other(s) unless it's intentional or flagrant.