Stupid whistle!!!!
 

Had a stupid whistle the other night in a game. Almost had a "Blarge" all by myself! Went to wave off the shot and go offensive when I realized the defender was late in establishing LGP....contact was minimal but was preset and I anticipated more than there was and blew!

Somehow I saved myself and made it look semi respectable (I watched the film as soon as I got home, and I was excepting it to look much worse) and even seemed to satisfy the coach with my explanation, but what I want to know is if any of you would ever or have ever had an inadvertent whistle in a similar situation?

Looking back on it I feel that it would have been the more "noble" route to just say "oops my bad I shouldn't have blown and I did. No foul on the play. Let's move on with the game because I botched it!!!!"

Just wanted to read your thoughts and opinions on this idea.....thanks

So are you saying that you penalized a kid when he didn't really foul or that he fouled, but you would have passed on it if you had not anticipated the action?

There is nothing wrong with admitting that you jumped the gun and had an inadvertent whistle. The coaches and players generally appreciate an effort to get the plays right for them, and accept an official not being perfect.

In those situations, I try to figure out why I did what I did. For example, I had a similar situation where I jumped the gun as Lead on a Block/Charge call. I totally anticipated the charge when I saw the dribbler "barrelling" to the hoop with defenders standing there. At the last moment, the defender slightly stepped out of the way, causing less than enough contact to be a charge. Probably a no-call would have been best. But I banged out a charge.

Needless-to-say, I was wrong, but I kept with it anyway.

Looking back, I realised I was not wide enough as lead. I just rotated from the other side and didn't get wide enough, so players were right on top of me. Had I been wider, I would have been able to see the play from start to finish and probably not have reacted so quickly.

I think the moral of the story is to have a patient whistle (buzz word)! See the beginning, middle, and end of the play before you put air in the whistle.

-Josh

Imperfect Tense ...
 

In that case they must be very accepting of me.

Anticipation (Carly Simon)
 

Anticipate the play, not the call.

Yahoo! Video Detail for 1980 Heinz Ketchup Anticipation commercial