Thirsty???
 

I know jv and middle school games can be rather casual when it comes to decorum. But at the varsity level, especially now that we're into the tournament roads for many, I'm wondering if you are standing out on the floor during timeouts and in between quarters wishing someone would bring you a cup of water. Some schools attend to this and some don't. Wondering your thoughts.

It never happens here. We drink water before the game, at half time, and after the game. Never on the floor.

I can't say that I see it ever around here where the officials get a drink during the game. I don't think it would look necessarily bad but I don't see it.

-Josh

One school that I worked at last year had water/towel girls. Every timeout they would bring us a cup of water and a towel to wipe our brow on. I thought it was a touch. It was a varsity girls game and the water/towel girls were elementary age....kind of like being a ball boy I guess.

I super hydrate before a game...and hydrate well at half time. I use a handerchief if I really get sweaty...and I often do...

Does The Trick ...
 

I usually have a few beers at halftime. Never on the court. That would be unprofessional.

I have a firm rule that I never drink until I am out of the school parking lot when Iam driving home!!:D

I learned this lesson this year in particular. I hydrate all day long on game days. Then again, most of my games are between 6500 and 7500 feet altitude.

Before, half-time, and after. Never during.

I usually go with water, but go with one of the "ade" type drinks if I have more than two or three games.....

I haven't felt a need to hydrate during the game. I guess it would just feel weird. But, if I felt I was getting into trouble for some reason I would probably go to the side during a timeout.....it's never come up yet and I really have never seen it.

What about eating a Snickers bar on the court during the warm-ups? :eek:

Inside joke or just saw it somewhere?

Two-fold.

1. Reference to the Superbowl commercial. ;)
2. An official in our association did just that this season. :(

You know Betty White? :p

Got it!

I would say that if the official is a diabetic and felt the need to regulate his blood sugar before a game, better a Snickers than the result without one.

I have a regular partner who has an administration license and will probably be an AD/assistant principal before long. He swears he will have people assigned to take care of the officials and will have water brought out on quarter breaks and during 60-second timeouts (like they do during breaks in NCAA D-1 games).

I do an occasional underclass game, Saturday morning stuff and have no problem grabbing a cup of water at the quarter or timeout on occasion.

Kids games, I might have a water bottle around table.

if you need a drink....go get one from either bench.....

do we really think that people are paying attention to us during timeouts? does it really matter if we get a drink from one bench or the other?

while everyone has an ego, it shouldn't be large enough to think that people care wether you drink during the game or where it comes from....we don't matter THAT MUCH to people....

While I would certainly take a drink if offered by game management, I would never approach the bench and ask for one. It's not about ego, and it's not about what grandma thinks sitting in the stands. Frankly, it's not professional to request a favor (a drink) from one team. And I sure wouldn't want to be the guy to pull that stunt when an evaluator, assigner, board president, etc., happens to be sitting in the stands watching his or her nephew play.

In baseball, we do it *all the time*.

Different sports, different areas, different protocols. I grew up with HS baseball in the summer, though, where a league game in 100 degree whether wasn't unheard of.

Frankly, if I'm working one game I can't imagine working up such a severe thirst in a half of work. Unlike baseball, where we're on the field in heat for hours at a time, the longest halves in basketball don't even approach an hour (in a HS game).

It would be nice to be handed a cup of water, though. I got that once all season. OTOH we've had schools that didn't give us water at halftime and to me that's just not acceptable. How hard is it to provide a bottle of water and a towel for the officials?

+1

We get water at half time about 90% of the time, I would guess. Towels? I haven't seen it in CO, so I've learned to bring my own.

I just go right to Gatorade thermos at end of bench with all the cups.

Having said this, I probably do it 2, 3 times a season. Much ado about nothing. If I'm really parched, I grab a gulp.

you really don't need to ask. just simply walk over and grab a cup.

just curious, has anyone ever heard a coach, player, or fan say: "you haven't given us a call all game and I know why....you had a drink from the other team!"....

c'mon people...if you're thirsty (which doesn't happen all that often during a game), just grab a drink.

if you still don't feel comfortable taking a drink during a game, that's your prerogative. i just don't understand why people feel that this is a big "no - no".

Heck, sometimes there's not even a school official there to meet and walk us to the appropriate official's room before game time, much less being given access to a bottle of water. :rolleyes:

Let's not get silly here, I just said it doesn't look good. Personally, I don't care what you do there, but I'm not going to be the first guy in my association to do it.

As Rich alluded to, if I can't go a half without water, I didn't hydrate enough before the game.

Now, in AAU-type games with no locker room, I see no problem with having a bottle of water at the table. If I'm going to break protocol and drink during the game, on the court, I'd rather provide my own water than take some from one team.

Again, it's obviously going to be different with locale. It may be perfectly accepted in your area, so have a cup.

LOL. Frankly, this is one reason I refuse to head to the locker room without talking to someone first. I will always find someone to let me in, even if I know where I'm going (2nd season in this city, so I don't always know where the room is). The one time I showed up at the same time as a partner who knew the school and we didn't find a school official to let us in, it turned out we were an hour early and didn't know until we walked onto the empty court.

I get water 100% of the time. I ask the game manager who will be bringing us water at halftime. If they don't, I have no problem going to the concession stand and getting two bottles. It's important and I'm not bringing a cooler to my games.

In football season, we bring a cooler and we bring healthy snacks for halftime. I don't normally eat before a game and sometimes a cereal bar is a nice energy refresher at halftime.

We've got one school who provides a cooler of water in our room, but no cups. :rolleyes:

If I am that thirsty, I go wherever I am closest to and get a drink. In football teams come to us and offer drinks and it is usually who is there. I do not care which team does it. I will not refuse drinks unless I am really not thirsty. I do not think it is that big of a deal. The only consideration is maybe I will not go over to a bench when I have had a problem, but I am not that insecure where I cannot handle myself so it is not a problem.

Peace

I honestly hadn't even thought of whether there are issues. I've not seen a single official do it (go to the bench for water) in basketball here, and I'm not interested in being "that guy."

I am pretty sure that most places have a porcelan water bowl!!:p

Pssst, did you see that snaqs guy? He was near a Gatorade thermos at the end of the bench and actually sipped some water. I'm tellin' ya, I saw him do it. Ohh, I saw it!:D

LOL, I'd rather the "that guy" who called a T for flopping.

Eat Your Hearts Out Guys ...
 

What I'm about to tell you is 100% true. We have a private prep school in our area that offers a cooler filled with ice, a few cans of soda, and a few cans of beer, in the locker room, after every game. Nothing like a frosty, cold one right after a game. Heaven.

Billy,

You must be talking about the Chicago Catholic League. They used to do that all the time around here. :)

Peace

I can't wait for the posts to come, which I will summarize in advance:

"Gasp!"

As long as you don't have a game in the morning, right? ;)

I remember back in the day (the late 80s/early 90s) where the driver would have a cooler in the trunk and we'd have a beer cracked before the car was out of the parking lot. Even in the 2-man days, a six pack was considered a "short trip."

Probably best that those days are gone forever.

+1

HaHaha! I was talking to a Catholic league AD a few weeks ago about the good ol' days! Sadly, I missed 'em.

I remember those days, they weren't that long ago for me. I agree with your final assessment, though.

What is the big deal about getting a drink (cup of water from end of the bench) during a time-out? We are running up and down the floor just like the players and they get water during time-outs...If I am thristy I will walk over and grab a cup of water. I don't think it is unprofessional at all and I haven't ever had anyone question why I am drinking water during the game. I also say "purple" and "orange" when teams have uniforms that color so maybe I am just strange. :)

*gasp*

That's a fine in our games. Saying "purple", that is. I cannot call bright orange "red" no matter what -- it just doesn't compute for me for some reason.

Glad to hear of others. Teams are proud of their colors. Is it really that hard to say a color that is not a single syllable? I feel using inaccurate color identification can be perceived as a lack of respect for the team.

It can be perceived as such, but it's not around here. I'd be the only guy saying "purple" and even the teams would likely look sideways.

Ok, here we go, we got mexicali rose going this way and sea foam green going this way.

+++++1:)

...and the ebony line is OOB all the way around...

I still don't understand the reluctance to call a team by their color, especially if their team identity is based on the specific color. There is a HS team nearby that is the Purple Raiders; I know their uniforms aren't blue, so why do we use that color? UTenn is also known as Big Orange, so why would we call them red?

I like Bob's suggestion of using the colors from that original 10 or 12-box of Crayons. We can still have basic colors without arbitrarily limiting them to single-syllables.

+++++++1 :d

+++++++1 :)

Put me down a single syllable guy.

Just curious as to why? Is it a rule? Is it specifically mentioned in the mechanics manual?

Do the old-timers still do it that way? (Are these the same old-timers that still use the shirts with byron collars, and wear belts? Maybe something to consider...)

"Everyone" used to think the world was flat, too. Just sayin'. :)

I have always been told to do this because it is harder to say "fuchsia" in with a whistle in your mouth instead of saying "Blue."

And honestly if I called a team by what I think the color is, they honestly would not know what the heck I am talking about anyway. White, Black, Blue, Green are easy to identify by all involved. This is not about being enlightened; this is about making things simple for a simple game.

BTW, good to see you the other day. Thanks for coming out. :)

Peace

Just my preference. The less I speak the better (at least that's what my ex-wife says :) ). Could also be that I am color-blind and it's easier for me to group all colors into 6 basic colors: Green, Gold, Black, White, Blue, Red.

I'm definitely not an old-timer as I've only been officiating a little over 8 years.

I do it single syllable simply because it's how everyone does it. The same reason I carried a duffle bag instead of a roller suitcase in my last association.

It's just easier for me, I had a bad mojo with my throat and Blue, Black, Red, white roll off easier. Old habit I guess, selling "ORANGE" and pointing just doesn't do it for me.

it's easier at lunch the day of a game too. "Gimme a Leinie Red" "How about another Blue Moon".

Good to see I'm not the only one stirring pots around here. :D

I know one old-timer that really doesn't give a shiznit either way. It's about #4355 on what has to be done to ensure that a game is officiated properly.

And if I ever see anybody marked down on an evaluation for saying "purple" instead of "blue", that evaluation will immediately go in the dumper too.

Paralysis through analysis.

Hey, that's not nice to talk about Mrs. JR that way. I personally know she's still young enough to hunt you down if you try to get away.

Yep, good point.

Potato, Potahto, Tomato, Tomahto. Let's call the whole thing off ...
 

Ore-ange or Are-ange?

Ornj

I was going to say, I thought orange was one syllable.

When I started assocation said, keep it 1 syllable. Moved to a different part of the country, one night calling a purple team blue all game just as I always did. Halftime home team AD came in the locker room and ask, "Your eyes okay?" I was taken back, we really hadn't had any close calls, "What do you mean?" Well the visiting team's jerseys are purple not blue, some people are thinking your eyes might be bothering you.

Now I just call it like I see it.

Reminds me of the one syllable word that the New Jersey Transit people used to utter when we got to the state capital.

tag in back
 

check your shirt Billy ,I think it's on backwards !

We had this discussion at a D1 camp last year with the clinicians and they all said say orange and purple...don't disrepect the teams colors.

I didn't realize this was such a hot button issue.

I was just asking if people would want to be offered a cup of water during a timeout. Not sure how we got to this point, but it's been interesting.

Perceptions of professionalism.

Well, I guess my color-blindness may have been the cause of much acrimony and I didn't even know it.

It's seriously a "when in Rome" issue; both are really. And if you want to stand out in your area with one of these items, go for it.

Consistency
 

The most important thing regarding colors is consistency between you and your partners.

If you want to say purple, make sure the other two officials are also going to say purple. One official reporting fouls on purple and two officials reporting fouls on blue does not look good.

Guess what, even in Rome I am not saying "purple" or "orange." I do not care what D1 officials say. Let them do what they do at that level. When I get there I will then worry about it. ;)

Peace

I'm so used to saying "blue" and "red" that it would be hard to change if I had to.

As many D1 camps I have been to, I am surprised that anyone would suggest to use specific names. I guess I should say "raspberry red" instead of "red?"

Sorry, I am not saying that or trying to say that.

Peace