Technical or no Technical?

[Texas Aggie]

That is not the partner's business.

Huh? This isn't YOUR game; it is a game worked by all of you. You better make it your business.

For one that slows down the process of administration

We aren't talking about an investigative report with witnesses and a cross examination; this can be done very quickly. "The T was issued because he kicked the table after I called the foul. We're going to back everyone up, shoot the original foul shots and then the T. I'll go opposite and handle the throw-in. Anything else? Can you deal with the coach over here?"

I timed myself and that took all of about 12 second. I'd probably do it faster with the adrenaline going.

Even if it did take a bit longer, what's the harm? Rushing or looking rushed is much worse than being or acting deliberate. Again, we aren't talking about 10 minutes; maybe 30 seconds more at the most. You can't tell me that that will hurt anything.

it is unnecessary to my job.

Couldn't disagree more. You need to know what is going down in your game as far as what was said IF the calling official feels its important to let you know -- for example, if you are the R. You can always pregame and say, "hey, we aren't getting into a big discussion here -- just the brief highlights of what we need to know and let's move on." This is an area where we trust our partners to tell us what we need to know or ignore what we don't.

Can you give me an example of a call I make against a coach (T) that you don't need to know the particulars of?

Again, part of what I'm trying to do is to slow things down. When you are dealing with more than one foul on a play, especially with guys that worked a college game last night, it may take a few seconds to clarify how to proceed. Don't be afraid to take the time and the attitude of "I don't really need to know all that" makes me think you're more concerned about getting things done in a timely fashion than slowing the pace down to get everything right. My point is that this is a very dangerous way of thinking. I've seen and been in games that got royally screwed up because guys got in a big hurry. If my explanation slows all that down, it was indeed worth it.

Guys, I've done this sort of thing about 7-9 times over the last 3 years or so in hoops and probably a lot more in football (after a flag). In none of these situations did the game "stall." The risk of rushing and doing or saying something you will regret later far outweighs taking another 30-45 seconds.