whats the best captains speech that you have heard??
 

for college and high school

Hi, I'm Larry. This is my brother Darryl. This is my other brother Darryl.

The best ones are always short and to the point. Cover the necessary points from your state office and/or supervisor then move on.

The worst ones usually start off with: "Ok, as you can see we are going to play the solid [insert color] around the floor...."

I agree. Short and to the point. You start giving this great speech, and I guarantee most of it will fall on deaf ears.

I try to give them Hope, and promise Change.

[Ladies or Gentlemen] You've been selected as catains due to your leadership ability. You know who your hot heads are. If you take control of them, we don't have to. I have three rules to basketball. Respect the game. Respect your opponent. Respect the officials. Good Luck.

Depending on the situation I might end with (for girls) "and don't hang on the rim when you dunk."

Depending on the situation I might end with (for boys) "if you run into the cheerleaders, keep your hands down."

Had a partner give the whole lines, speaking captains, etc. I nodded off before he could ask if I had anything to add.

I don't even ask for speaking cpatains. I want everyone there to work for me. And if its done respectfully, I'll answer any player's question.

Hey guys/gals. Introduce yourselves. Remember the state's emphasis on sportmanship. Any questions? Let's all have fun tongiht!

As told to me
 

Ref: "Are both teams legally uniformed and properly equipped?"

Coach: "No, number 14 (coach's star player) isn't properly equipped."

Ref: "Whats wrong?"

Coach: "He has no balls!"

In Florida, we had a state approved card to read from. At a Boys Varisty contest between 2 rival schools I pulled out a card and began, "Gentlemen, you have the right to remain silent..." Put the card back in my pocket and said, "I'm sorry, wrong card."

I always forget that card in the changing area. The intros usually take longer than the conference itself.

Years ago we had a travelling team from the Rio de Janeiro area come through - all 16-18 year old kids - and they played a couple of the HS teams in this area...we got about 5 inches of snow over the days before they came in (that's a lot for us). So at captains meeting before the game, the R says this:

"Gentlemen, nice to meet you. I have one question for the visitors: Who won the snowball fight last night?"

Took about 5 seconds before they started smiling and telling us all about it - kids vs. the coaches, kids claimed they won, etc., etc...

Best captain's conference I have ever been involved with.

Hi. I am Dewey, this is Cheatem and Howe.

Ok, guys, look if you don't foul or commit any violations tonight, then we can get this game over with very quickly and all go get laid.

I tried that once, the poor 8th grade girls all looked at me funny. :eek:

You owe me a new keyboard.

That's good.

My conference takes no more than 30 seconds, although I do get a speaking captain from each team just so I have someone to verify the team is ready before the toss.

A Mark Goodson, Bill Todman Production ...
 

That's my line.

Morehemoodus, "Place of noises"
 

One of our area teams are the "Little Noises". When I work their games I always ask the opposing captains if they know why this team is called the "Little Noises". They never do, so I have one of the "Little Noises" captains explain it to them.

"Guys, you are not NBA players and we are not NBA officials. Every time you watch Lebron James on tv, you will see something illegal. It looks good on Sportscenter. It looks bad here."

Ohh. I'll need to file this one away for future reference. I thought that was pretty standard. :eek:

It may be standard where you are, so I'd check with the vets in your area before dropping it. I did the lines thing a long time ago until someone reminded me that these kids have all played basketball before and know how to find the OOB lines. I asked for speaking captains once, and the vet i was working with asked me why. Since then, here in CO, I haven't done it. I've only seen a couple do it, and they were not the ones working high level local games.

That all being said, it's regional, I'm sure. Around here, shorter is better.

My pregame speech is quite a bit shorter than most guys I work with. I've had a few that have gone on for over a minute, explaining rules, yada...yada...yada...

I just have everyone introduce themselves, ask for a speaking captain on each side and put them in charge of their team, tell them to keep their jerseys tucked in and emphasize sportsmanship. Takes no more than 30 seconds or so.

Thanks for passing this on. I used the dunk line in my G V game tonight (4 OTs by the way) and it was perfect.

I read somewhere, probably here, of a college pregame that was great:

"OK guys, no bull**** tonight"

Trying to work that into my MS girls/boys CYO- it's a hard sell!

My partner used the famous, "First team to 100 wins" line last night during the GV Captain's meeting before our game.

I guess after watching their shoot around he figured he was pretty safe....he was. Both teams combined didn't even come close!

Things I'm Sick of Hearing from Partners...
 

Don't say . . .
> "OK, tonight we're gonna play the black line all-the-way-around..."
> "Do any of your players have contacts?"
> "Which one of you is the speaking captain?"
> "Do you have any questions about the rules?"
> "Here's the points of emphasis that are new this year..."
> "Don't get caught reaching...play defense with your feet"

I guess I don't really know why I ask for a speaking captain. Probably because everyone else around here does it. Is it really all that necessary?

I'm not a big fan either, but was specifically told to ask for this and annotate it in the book. These are the supposed "go to" people if you have issues with a player to help you control the team. i.e. - "speaking captain, you need to watch #42, he's being a bit too boisterous and chatty and is near getting himself in trouble." (or something like that)

That being said, after identifying them, I personally have never used one.

The official's manual specifies that you confirm with a captain that the team is ready for the opening jump.

I still do this. I've been doing it for 23 years now and it's the only real link to the past I have since everything else has changed (it seems).

Does that require a speaking captain? Any captain should be able to do this. I don't ask anyone if they're ready for the jump. I never ask for a speaking captain. I also rarely remember who the captains are once that little meeting is over. If I need a captain during the game, I ask for one.

"Any captain?" There can be only one. 3-1

NCAA AR41 gives additional information, that I tend to follow in HS games.

Note that none of this prohibits an official from speaking to anyone who is polite.

The rules only require us to notify the captains: "The officials shall conduct the game in accordance with the rules. This includes:
ART. 1. . . Notifying the captains when play is about to begin at the start of the game." (NFHS 2-7-1)

Although the requirement for notification would logically imply this is an opportunity for the captain to ask us to hold on.

BTW, if I'm going to be taken to task over calling the end line "the baseline"...where would I find "speaking captain" anywhere in the literature? ;) :D

Freddy Has Obviously Been Around The Block A Few Times ...
 

Freddy: Good list. How about, regarding speaking captains, "What's your number?" if they have a warmup on?

Threats
 

My partner's pregame coaches/captains meeting the other night:

"Ok guys, we're gonna let you play as hard as you want, but if it gets out of control, we're gonna go to Plan B? You know what I mean? <clap> Ok, lets go!"

For your reference, no, we did not discuss any Plan B in our pregame meeting.

:eek:

Yikes! I think I might ask that guy why he said that. Was a new or a veteran?

Girls game the other night. I was the U2. In the pregame the R told us that we weren't going to do several of the mechanics by the book, but instead were going to do certain things in such and such a way. When I asked him why, he said because that's what he wanted to do.

So at the captains meeting after listening to an insanely long-winded and pointless speech by the R, he asked if I had anything to add and I replied, "Yes, girls please remember that I have absolutely no responsibility here tonight whatsoever. Have a nice game." :p

The U1 almost split his pants. :D

WTF???:rolleyes:

I might just leave them to a 2 man mechanic game. That would never fly here in Ohio

I've heard this from veterans in the captains' meeting as well as our pregame. The first time I heard it, I cringed. I couldn't believe that would even be an option. Of course the same official also told me to never "fish in his pond, even if you see something that doesn't match my call. I see it all and I'm calling or not calling for a reason."

Safe to say, I don't/won't work with him again.

Vet by Age
 

More of a veteran by age than by knowledge, mechanics or experience.

That part is awesome! Haha. I wonder why you were even on the court...That official is ready to move up to 1-person mechnics!

Yeah, we aren't able to block partners, but I have seen worse and I just hopefully won't have to work with him again.

Thought of this thread as I was talking to a friend official this morning who had a game Friday night and R literally took almost 3 minutes. He said coaches were visibly annoyed and boys' eyes were glazed over.

Friend was tempted to add a few comments when asked by R , "anything?":rolleyes:

The captains stopped listening about 180 seconds before R ended.

I have worked with a couple guys over the years who like to add things like "Hand-checking is a pet peeve of mine as is palming the ball." When they start the speech that way, I typically "add" that while my partner will be calling those two pages of the Rules Book, I will be attempting to enforce the rules covered in the other 94 pages along with those two. :rolleyes:

College Captains meeting from a long time Veteran of many conferences...

To Visiting Team: "Yall got any any freshman"
Visiting Team Captain: "uh, yeah".

To Home Team: "Do ya'll have any freshman"
Home Team Captain: " yes sir"

Referee: "Don't let' em "F" up the game".

(meeting adjourned)

I know you want to get back to preparing for the game so I’ll move right through this.

Coaches, are your players properly equipped and ready for the game?

Of course, we all understand the importance of good sportsmanship. If you have questions during the game, please inquire in a respectful manner and we will try to answer them as game conditions permit.

Coaches, on timeouts, please indicate 30 or full right away so we don’t have to interrupt your huddle.

--Anything specific about the gym--
--Ask coaches and captains if they have any questions--

That’s all. Have a good game and thank you.

One thing we did in my former association was to remind coaches to stay in the coach's box. This was not done for their sake, but for ours. A football official in the state had been sued for running over a coach who was on the field of play. We figured that this reminder to the coaches may be relevant in any future litigation if a coach is on the court and you run him over during a quick transition. Other than that, I agree with the-quicker-the-better, no one ever seems to be listening anyway.

Whatever happened with that lawsuit? Seriously? I'd press my association to stop working his games.

I just read that the law suit was dismissed because the officials did nothing wrong.

Thanks Rock Chalk. I didn't know the outcome and, actually, never asked. Just thought it was easy to tell coaches to stay in their boxes. Then I knew I said it in case.

We mention it because we're told to, and it makes enforcement just a bit easier.

After a quick chat with coaches about uniforms and players, in the captains meeting I ask if there are any questions.

If none, I remind them that if they have questions to ask and then I give my motto:

Coaches coach, players play, officials officiate. If everybody does their assignment, we'll all learn something and have fun while doing it. Good luck, see you in xyz minutes.

Welmer or Hightower??? Had to be one of 'em :D

Here's the best captain's speech of all time:

"I'll get you for this, Pan, if it's the last thing I do!" :eek:

http://s.buzzfeed.com/raw/pirates-of...ptain-hook.jpg