A Tale of Two Ugly Games

[Welpe]

Disclaimer: This post is primarily me venting.

I had a couple of freshman boys games yesterday that were...interesting. Lots of ugly play, lots of fouls, lots of chirping going on.

In the first game, the home team is up by 20 after the first quarter. My partner ended up warning the visiting team head coach for chirping about calls in the second quarter. Evidently the coach didn't appreciate that much because my wife (who came to observe the fun) told me he mentioned something about wanting to punch both of us refs in the mouth. He didn't complain very much the rest of the game though.

I T'd up a visiting player in the fourth quarter for voicing his disapproval after I passed on incidental contact against him while he was shooting. His mom in the stands had quite a mouth, too. We passed on T'ing up another visiting player for slapping the floor in disgust after I called a foul against him. My partner did have a word with him though.

The second game started off with the promise that it might be a cleaner game. That was fairly short lived.

There was a play where a home team player went up for an outside shot and leaned into the defender a bit. The defender was completely vertical, playing good defense. The shot missed and went out of bounds. The home team coach screams at me "Why wasn't that a foul?!" I calmly told him "The defender was straight up coach. Your shooter initiated contact with..."

The coach doesn't let me finish, and gives me a disgusted, dismissive wave similar to what I would've expected from one of his teenagers. I paused for a second, thought about it and whacked him. My partner informs him he must sit, we administer the free throws and the chirping drops way down from both benches and the home team actually started playing a better game after that. Go figure.

At half-time, I was second guessing myself a bit for having whacked him but after reflecting back on the way the chirping and complaining went down after the fact, I think it was the right move.

What a way to come back from vacation. Gotta love district play.

[grunewar]

Originally Posted by Welpe

I had a couple of freshman boys games yesterday that were...interesting. Lots of ugly play, lots of fouls, lots of chirping going on.

Seems pretty standard to me!

[AKOFL]

Jogged my memory. My wife attended a game with me one time and sat right behind the home team bench. This coach had never seen me before so naturaly i was his go to guy when his team couldn't get things done. I finaly told him that was enough and he stoped chirping at me. After the game my wife informes me of all the things he was saying to the crowd behing the bench about me. So the next time i was at his gym he was sitting in the stands durring the jv boys game. before the game i went over and talked with him. He started smiling and shook my hand, playing buddy buddy. I told him my wife had been sitting behind him at the last game and related to me all of his choice words about me. His face went white. I continued being smiley and friendly and told him he might want to think about that durring his varsity game that I would be running next. It was priceless. we are on the same page now and I have not had a problem with him scince.

[ref3808]

Hell she'll probably agree with the coach.

[biggravy]

Had similar interesting, ugly games last night and I set a new record.

GV whacked a coach w/ 6:45 on the clock, 1st quarter. Not chirping but yelling from the tip. Called my 2nd foul (crew's 3rd) at 7:15 and went to report. He was 6' on the court and said 'it's about time you call a foul'. Lol. I passed. "That's enough coach". 30 seconds and two fouls later he is 6' on the court and yells 'there not gonna call any fouls tonight girls just run over them'. WHACK. A new record.

It didn't get any better. In at 6, out at 9:30. GV and BV.

[Adam]

Originally Posted by biggravy

It didn't get any better. In at 6, out at 9:30. GV and BV.

That didn't quiet down the coach? Or the fouls continued?

[BillyMac]

This happened over twenty-five year ago. I was a junior varsity official back then.

Team A has a home game and I'm working the junior varsity game. Team A assistant coach, also the junior varsity coach, is ill, and the varsity head coach is coaching in my junior varsity game. The Team A varsity head coach had a reputation of being very hard on officials. He was "old school" in terms of "working the officials" (also the head soccer, and baseball coach). I had observed him several times in varsity games and he always lived up to his reputation, yelling at the officials, taking off his jacket and throwing it at the bench in disgust (his trademark stunt), gesturing at the officials, coaching while standing (seatbelt rule, no coaching box then), earning technical fouls, etc. Of course he thought that he would be able to pull off the same stuff coaching the junior varsity game. I may have been an inexperienced high school official, but I was already a seasoned veteran of the men's recreation league "wars", and I wasn't going to put up with any of his shenanigans. I was polite, yet firm. "Please sit down coach." "Please quiet down coach." "Coach, I can't have you officiating this game." “I’ve heard enough and that’s your warning.” By the second period he was sitting down, coaching his kids, and only spoke up when my partner, or I, made a really tough call that could have gone either way. No technical fouls, but I do remember being mentally exhausted, in terms of game management, by the end of that game.

Fast forward to the next week. Saturday night game. Team A is now at Team C. I've got the junior varsity game, and the Team A assistant coach, also the junior varsity coach, is healthy and is back coaching the junior varsity kids. Thank God. My wife, now ex, often came with me to Saturday night games, as we would go out to dinner after the varsity game. Midway through the second period I made eye contact with my wife to make sure she's all set, and I notice that she's sitting right next to the Team A varsity head coach, having an animated discussion with him, pointing at me. For the rest of the game I was thinking all kinds of crazy thoughts. Is she telling him that I had a tough game last week with a "crazy" varsity coach in my junior varsity game? Is he telling her how the young "whippersnapper" in the junior varsity game had the nerve to sit him down in a game last week?

It actually turned out quite well. Team A varsity head coach told my wife that I had done an excellent job in his junior varsity game the previous week, and that he wished that some varsity officials would not only quiet him down, but also quiet down his coaching opponents, but that they didn't "have the guts" like me.

He's still coaching. Switched from the town he taught in, and retired from, to the town where he lives, and switched from boys to girls basketball. He's mellowed. Maybe because he's older. Maybe it has something to do with coaching girls. But he's still tough on officials, and although I'm sure that he doesn't remember me from way back then, he knows that I'm, now a varsity official, not going to let him make a fool out of me, or my partner.