Potential litigation?
 

Can't you just hear the officials are partly to blame for this. You know some lawyer has latched on this this. Hopefully, the young man will fully recover.

Leader Telegram: News - Injured Fall Creek player having surgery

But what we dont know is
where the camera man was set up?
Distances on the baseline?
Did the oficials take reasonable steps?

Whole lot of factors we dont know that could be legitimate reasons for law suit

Was there a line on the floor that the photographers were supposed to sit behind?

If so, and the photographer was over the line, is it really the officials' job to police that? Wouldn't that fall under game management?

Both Officials And Game Management Have Some Responsibility ...
 

2-4-1: The referee shall inspect and approve all equipment, including court, baskets, ball, backboards, and timer’s and scorer’s signals.

Also, from the purpose and intent of the rules: The restrictions which the rules place upon the players are intended to provide reasonable safety and protection.

I think we need to keep those guys out of the lane for that specific reason. If game management refuses to tell them to move (on our command), we are left with deciding whether we want to halt the game or not. When it gets down to it, I don't think a coach is going to back a camera man all the way to a suspended, and possibly forfeited, game. At least not in my area.

After seeing this video, I think we have sufficient evidence to show the camera people are in a place that puts players at risk.

Thanks for the video link

Looking at the vidoe posted above, there was no set line for media to be behind. The videographer was right behind the basket instead of being off to the side. He was OOB by about 3-4 feet.

Concerning the position of media at games, ultimately it is up to game management. However, if it concerns participant safety, don't officials have some responsibility?

Anybody who wants to blame the officials for this, will just as likely blame them if the bus has a wreck on the way home.

I was not putting blame on the officials, as evidenced by what I put in red.

I was asking a question that if it relates to player safety, how would it be handled by officials. What would the responsibility be, if any.

Looking at the video, I don't see how any ref could be held responsible for this. The photog ought to be sued, though!

Juulie,

I've watched & re-watched the video a couple of times, in this situation there was nothing that the officals could do. So game management failed in their duties of maintaining a safe environment for the players.

Looking at comments concerning the initial article posted, apparently the videographers for that news station are continuously reckless concerning their surroundings, just so that they can get the best coverage possible for the story.

As I see it, the videographer should not only be sued, but he should lose his credentials as well.

Yup, but the lawyer's rule of thumb is to name everybody in the gym, everybody associated with the school in any way and everybody living within a 3-block radius of the gym as a defendant. He'll sort 'em out later.

Sort 'em out? Why? A jury might find them liable for damages! Hey, you never know with juries.

First of all let's keep the injured player and his family in our thoughts and prayers.

With technology being what it is these days, you can get that same shot with a remote camera. There's no need for a camera man to be on the floor in that position.

As for litigation, the school district, game management and most definitely the TV Station will be named in a suit. I don't really see how the officials bake into the blame pie. They might be named, but my guess is they would be dropped from the suit.

Notice in the video before the collision there is play at that basket and the cameraman can be seen in the background all the way over at the baseline/sideline corner. Play goes the other way and cameraman decides to move under the basket. The officials are at the other end. I don't see how it's their responsibility to catch him moving.

I took it to full screen and ran it in slow motion. It doesn't appear the initial landing was the problem.......more likely when as he slid he undercut the videographer who then landed on his head/neck area with his right knee/lower leg. If litigation does happen, you can bet this video will be a major piece of evidence in the complainant's case.

Agree our thoughts and prayers need to be with this kid and his family.