3 seconds....THREE SECONDS!!!

[representing]

Originally Posted by RichMSN

I'm always amused at the fans who don't understand the nuance of the rule. Like last night when the ball was being shot, rebounded, shot, rebounded....some joker is SCREAMING at the top of his lungs how we apparently can't count to 3. Girls assistant coach thinks the semicircle above the 3 point line is part of the lane. Another fan wants 3 seconds cause "she was in the lane six seconds" even though the ball was never even in the frontcourt for 3.

And in the game before ours (another varsity game in a holiday tournament), when I was sitting back and hearing the stuff from the crowd -- wow, I've never heard such stupidity. And not only are they wrong and stupid, they feel it's necessary, their right, and their duty to scream at the officials the entire game. I swear it wasn't this way just 10 years ago.

Back to 3 second violations -- And yet, I called another one last night. This, folks is FOUR for the season in a dozen games. Don't tell me I don't pay attention to the POEs.

four this season? I don't know if I've called any more than four in my high school career. It's rarely called around here, we just tell the players to get the hell out of there. If they don't after one or two warnings, or they receive the ball while we are warning them, then we call 3 seconds.

But I agree with you on the fans situation. A good one that a buddy of mine told me was that an old guy was complaining about 3 seconds (a fan). During a dead ball or time out, he went over and said "hey, we don't call that no more". haha I thought that was funny, and the guy didn't say a word after that.

[bas2456]

Today in one of my games I could hear a fan, throughout the entire game, screaming for three seconds.

Problem was, 95% of the time, there was nobody in the lane. The other 5%, it was a defensive player. I hope he wasn't looking for defensive three seconds

[Adam]

We're expected to tell them to get out; but not to be afraid to call it if they don't. I don't remember if I called it last year, but I had one in my first game this year.

[muxbule]

This was a game stopper that I was told early on to avoid so you tell them to clear the lane or get out. Only one coach ever told me to quit coaching his kids when I attempted to have his player move out of the lane. OK coach....next time down and a few more times in the game...3 seconds and we're going the other way.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by Mark Padgett

"Coach, that wasn't three seconds even in dog years." All of you have my permission to use it. I own the copyright.

Not enough. We need your expressed written permission. A lawsuit waiting to happen.

[Rich]

Originally Posted by muxbule

This was a game stopper that I was told early on to avoid so you tell them to clear the lane or get out. Only one coach ever told me to quit coaching his kids when I attempted to have his player move out of the lane. OK coach....next time down and a few more times in the game...3 seconds and we're going the other way.

Guys, I hate to take someone else's role here, but this is exactly why it's a POE this year. I talk early. I don't talk the whole game.

Of course, my four this year plus my maybe 2 last year plus zero in the previous three years means I've averaged about 1 a year. Not exactly a role model am I?

None today in my girls' game, but the home coach wanted one right after I called a 5 second (holding) violation. He said, "if you're going to call violations, you need to call ALL of them."

[26 Year Gap]

I had a game with some lady constantly screaming about calls made or not made. I figured she wasn't a very good official, though, as she never hollered '3 seconds' a single time.

[26 Year Gap]

A fan at the tournament yesterday got escorted out of the gym when he stepped onto the court and held out his glasses for the official. He had been a PITA on Monday, too. Today, he had laryngitis.

[mbyron]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

Not enough. We need your expressed written permission. A lawsuit waiting to happen.

Sorry, the word you're looking for in this context is the (somewhat archaic) adjective 'express'.

[Chess Ref]

Originally Posted by Back In The Saddle

The ultimate combination: ignorance + bias + no self control + an entitlement complex.

I believe Rob Zombie has referred to that as "ugly American."

[Chess Ref]

Originally Posted by Cobra

The big question is why does society allow this type of behavior? If those people were to yell and act like that at any other location in our society it would be thought of as completely improper. All of a sudden they go to a youth sporting event and society no longer looks down on that type of behavior.

Some people who don't act like idiots the entire game sit right next to people who do, yet they do not think anything of it when the idiot screams for an hour straight. Why does society not look down upon this type of behavior?

My wife went to an all girls boarding school in the Northeast. Very minimal exposure to sports and particularily High School sports.

So her first exposure were people threatening her husband, calling me names, etc. To this day she is appalled at the behavior of "adults" in these venues. She also would like to know when did it become acceptable for adults to act like this in public ?

[mj]

Originally Posted by Chess Ref

She also would like to know when did it become acceptable for adults to act like this in public ?

Once in a great while when I'm on my soapbox about officiating and this topic is brought up, I compare it to me going to someone's place of work and screaming over their shoulder about the mistakes they are allegedly making.

Does this quiet them down at future games? I highly doubt it but maybe it makes them think even just a little bit.

[stosh]

I am often tempted to go to the dollar store and buy a bunch of cheap party whistles (in ten packs for a birthday party), and then at an 11 year olds rec game hand them out to the parents as they come in and tell them that if they don't like a call, instead of complaining just blow the whistle!

I think they would quickly see why there are only 2 or 3 officials.

It's nice to dream...

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally Posted by muxbule

This was a game stopper that I was told early on to avoid so you tell them to clear the lane or get out.

Every time we blow our whistle, it's a "game stopper". Are you suggesting that we should never call anything?

[Rich]

Originally Posted by Jurassic Referee

Every time we blow our whistle, it's a "game stopper". Are you suggesting that we should never call anything?

More diplomatic than me, I see.

The phrase "game interrupter" or "game stopper" has morphed from its original intention (passing on contact that doesn't cause an advantage/disadvantage) to "don't call anything." I've even heard people say not to call traveling cause it's a game interrupter.

Of course it interrupts the game!

The higher the level you work, the fewer times you'll have 3-second violations. I went almost 3 years without one and I wasn't not calling them on purpose.

And we can work on preventing them, but at the varsity level, I gotta admit I don't spend much time talking people in and out of the lane -- if you don't get it by then, there's not much helping you. I will talk at post play early -- "Straight up!" -- that kind of thing, mainly to let them know I'm watching them off ball -- but 3-seconds? If it gets to the point I've called the violation, they should've known better.