Late technical foul

[Nevadaref]

Originally Posted by RichMSN

Why is it that I feel a bit sad, then, about how it ended?

Perhaps because of these two things.

Originally Posted by RichMSN

Without even giving it much thought, I called a technical foul.

Originally Posted by RichMSN

First, I simply reacted to what happened...

Completely aside from the point of the validity of the T, you probably would have liked to have collected your thoughts for a second and considered whether you wanted to make this call, then if you decided, "Yep, got to give it to him," you do so without any afterthoughts.

As it was your postgame unhappiness may be coming from your reaction to the situation and the admitted lack of thought which you put into the decision. We expect ourselves to be calm in the tense, high-pressure moments and hold ourselves to a very high standard.

Of course, this is not to say that a call made from an initial reaction in such circumstances isn't the fairest one possible. There is much that can be said in favor of making the determination in that manner.

[just another ref]

Originally Posted by Nevadaref

Completely aside from the point of the validity of the T, you probably would have liked to have collected your thoughts for a second and considered whether you wanted to make this call, then if you decided, "Yep, got to give it to him," you do so without any afterthoughts.

This brings up an interesting point. I personally have NEVER given a technical quickly, spontaneously, as apparently happened here, then later said to myself that I should not have made the call. On the other hand, there are countless times when I have said later, "I should have T'd him up,"
when I had not made the call at all. And of course, there are situations in between: He better calm down.......that's enough.......Whack!

My conclusion is that maybe I should call more of the quick spontaneous variety, but there is no definitive answer to this question.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by just another ref

On the other hand, there are countless times when I have said later, "I should have T'd him up,".

A few years ago we had a very obnoxious coach who, after a serious injury to one of his players, who had been fouled, which was called, complained to me, and my partner, that some additional foul calls, previous to the injury, could have prevented the injury. He did this while both he, and his trainer, were attending to the injured player. We just moved further away from the "injury pow wow" to encourage the coach to just tend to his player. This was just a few minutes before halftime. During halftime my partner and I discussed the situation, and we both agreed that neither of us had charged a technical foul because both of us, independently, decided that a technical foul charged, in this particular situation, would have called attention away from the serious injury to the player. We both agreed that in the second half that the coach would have absolutely no leeway in terms of unsporting behavior. We left the locker room intent on charging a technical foul. First, and only time, in twenty-nine years, that I was "targeting" a coach. Wouldn't you know it, the coach didn't make a single complaint in the entire second half.

A missed chance. If something like this happens again, the technical will be charged, in a quiet manner, after the injured player is attended to. Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice, double shame on me.