"Site Directors" gone wild

[Nevadaref]

Originally Posted by NewNCref

Girls AAU Tournament 15U

As halftime is ending, coach from Team A calls my partner and I over and says official book has A1 with 3 personal fouls and A11 with 2 personal fouls, and that he has A1 with 2 and A11 with 3, and that he has checked this with the visiting team book. He asks if we could change that. After checking that both books did in fact have this and seeing as how it would be an easy mistake to make, we ask that the book be changed. The lady working the official book says that, "you can't do that based on the simple fact that they have something different and I've been doing this all day and haven't made a mistake yet." She goes on to say that we will have to call the site director. At this point, one of my partners comes over and tells her that we don't need anything from the site director, she just needs to change it. She proceeds to begin calling the site director on the phone, and my partner tells her that we are ready to play ball.

At this point, the man running the shot clock starts tell my partner that he doesn't need to be yelling at her (which I don't think he really was, but that's not important). I proceed to get the table calmed down, the book is changed, and we're ready to play ball.

Before we can get the ball thrown in, the "site director" comes in, and wants to know what's happening. We explain everything again, and explain why we did what we did. Then, the shot clock operator tells the site director that my partner had been yelling at the book keeper, at which point, the site director proceeds to fly completely off the handle. The site director begins yelling and screaming at my partner, and I get between them, trying to escort him out of the gym. He proceeds to scream at my partner, and tell him that "we can take care of this right now if you want." I eventually get him out of the gym, and we get the game started.

Mostly, I just needed to vent about this whole thing. During three games yesterday, we had three T's (one in each game) and had a fan escorted out.

Any thoughts on how this might have been handled differently?

I need more information regarding why you decided to change the official book and go with what was recorded in the visiting book. At this point it seems that you guys mishandled the situation.

Remember the rule is that you go with the official book when the two conflict, unless the referee has definite knowledge that allows him to deem otherwise. So what "definite knowledge" did the referee have here?

Did you and your partner get together and recollect something like having a block on A11 in a big crash near the basket, plus the only hand-checking foul of the half, and then he also hit that kid in the head on the shot? If you could pinpoint three fouls that were committed by the this player, and he only has two recorded, then you have something concrete to base your decision upon. However, just having the visiting book with something different, a coach complaining, and saying that 1 and 11 are easy to mix-up isn't enough.

Additionally, where was the visiting bookkeeper sitting? On the team bench, in the stands, or next to the official scorer? The rules provide that they should sit next to each other and compare records after every goal, foul, and time-out. If they were doing this, then this situation would not have arisen. The official scorer would have said, "White #1, that's his 3rd," and the visitor would have disagreed right then and stated, "No, that was #11." Then a horn would have sounded and you or your partner would have been asked for the correct number at that point.

So, you are probably better off going with the official book and telling the visiting coach that he should have had his scorer sitting at the table and comparing information during the game instead of sitting over here and waiting until halftime. If that was the case, then you can put the onus on the team for not doing what they should and avoid upsetting your official scorer.

Lastly, how do you and your partner report fouls on #11?
Do you say, "White, one, one, block," or do you report, "White, eleven, block?"
I strongly recommend the latter as the normal speaking of the number prevents confusion and errors with table personnel. It seems to me that most of them aren't super experienced and will tune out after hearing the first number, thus missing the second number. So instead of saying "four, three," try saying, "forty-three," and see how it works for you.

PS I'm going to guess that the site manager was related to the official scorer. He shouldn't have gotten involved at all.