I REALLY hope nobody has a game like this
 

Southern Indiana player Jeron Lewis dies of apparent head injury - ESPN

I have seen a player hit the floor and have a concussion. I got one while playing in HS. This is truly a sad event and I hope none of us ever have to witness anything like it.

Sad. Last season I had a player take an elbow to the temple while trying to take a charge. He fell backward and slammed his head on the floor and went into convulsions immediately. It was really scary.

Praying for his son and family.

I had a GV game last night where a girl hit her head on the floor. The level of play was pretty poor, but pretty evenly matched. The home team managed in the final quarter to pull away a little. HC puts in some JV player to eat up the last couple of min. V team gets ball into front court and is immediately pressured. Reverses dribble so her body is between the ball and the defender coming to me as trail table side. Defender reaches across offensive players body in an attempt to bat the ball. She blocks offensive players body, feet get tangled, they fall to floor. She lands on her butt falls back and smacks head hard. I blow whistle signal block. She rolls over and is hurt pretty bad. I signal for the coach to come to his player. She was on the ground for quite awhile. When she came to her feet she could barely walk. Finish game an on the way out I see one of my partners chating with the AD. I am pretty sure he through me under the bus. Why I don't know? It was a horrible crash, but not one I could have prevented. I had never worked with either guy and we were mechcanically out of sync at times. Nothing that anyone else would have noticed but us. One guy rarely rotated under the basket as lead, and when someone else did he was out of position a lot of times. I beat myself up over this all the way home. This kind of situation make me hate officiating girls basketball. On my way out of the parking lot the ambulance was arriving at the school. Question: is it appropiate to call the AD who I meet last night and ask how the player is doing? Or should I just leave it alone. Thoughts

Sounds like you want to call the AD to find out what your partner said, more than finding out how the player is. Dont call.

I would call to check up on the player, to show your concern. But don't let your partner become a topic. If the AD says something like "hey, your partner was talking to me last night" just interrupt him and say "I don't want to know what was said between you and him". Find out how the player is, maybe talk a little about the game, then just say "have a good day" and hang up.

I think it shows class, caring, and compassion. Good for you.

But I also agree, not to discuss the other issue.

I would simply drop an email -- show concern for the player and ask how she's doing. End of message. If the AD replies, great. If not, let it go.

Sent the email wishing her and her family my best. Thanks for the response.

In today's world of litigation, I would advise not making any sort of contact as it might give the appearance that you believe there is some sort of culpability by the crew.

Let it go unless asked to do something by your assignor.

SOunds like you have an issue with your partner that has no bearing on finding out if the player is alright.

Paranoid about partner? Deal with them directly.

Proper Channels ...
 

Agree. First send your email (to the athletic director) to your assigner, who can then forward it to the athletic director.

I once had a site director, after a game one night, a few years ago, ask my partner and me about the sportsmanship shown by his kids during the game. Both my partner and I told the site director that we were very impressed by their behavior. The site director told us that good sportsmanship was one of the goals of both the athletic director and the new head coach, and would we kindly send an email to the athletic director stating what we had just talked about. I decided, what's the harm, and did so, also sending a copy to my assigner. My assigner was livid. He wants all communication between schools and officials to go through him. He said that I should have sent the email to him first, and he would have then forwarded it to the athletic director.

Other than confirming my games with athletic directors in advance of my games, I'll never communicate with schools, without going through my assigner first, again.

I disagree with Mark Padgett about what the first rule of basketball is. As far as I'm concerned, the first rule of basketball is, "Don't piss off your assigner". Newbies, please don't ask Mark Padgett what his first rule is. If you value all that is good in the world, please don't ask.

If you are worried about what your partner may have been saying, call him.

"Hey I saw you got to talk to the AD on the way out, any word on how his player was doing?" :)

Not worried about either of these guys. Like I said email sent, girl is ok and I dont know either one. Its a dead issue for me now. Not concerned about any legal angle.

We deal directly with ADs frequently where I live. Again, all officiating is local.

Matter of fact, I confirm every assignment with the ADs directly every Sunday for the upcoming week by email. The only frustration are the schools with oppressive SPAM filters -- those ADs I call by phone.

Maybe they are afraid THIS guy will show up...