Worked with "That Guy"

[Welpe]

Guess it was my turn in the "That Guy" lottery tonight. I worked a couple of Jr High games with a partner that just loved calling all over the floor. A couple of long distance calls on plays right in front of me that would have made Ma Bell blush.

He was a nice guy but he made me feel like handing him my whistle and taking off early. One play during rebounding action right in front of me while I was at trail. Defender comes across, lightly brushes opponent in the back and doesn't displace him. I pass on the foul as my partner is hammering his whistle. I think I heard the bus warming up to run me over after I overheard a fan yell out "That was right in front of you, how'd you miss that one?"

Ah well, I've been away from the court for a couple of weeks so it was nice to be back at least.

[JRutledge]

Isn't that the case in most games at that level? You usually work with someone really, really new or someone that is not that good to begin with.

Peace

[Welpe]

True enough...got to keep paying dues I suppose.

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by Welpe

True enough...got to keep paying dues I suppose.

Part of the maturation process is to work with people that are not as good as you or as experienced and learning to work around it.

Peace

[Multiple Sports]

Originally Posted by Welpe

Guess it was my turn in the "That Guy" lottery tonight. I worked a couple of Jr High games with a partner that just loved calling all over the floor. A couple of long distance calls on plays right in front of me that would have made Ma Bell blush.

He was a nice guy but he made me feel like handing him my whistle and taking off early. One play during rebounding action right in front of me while I was at trail. Defender comes across, lightly brushes opponent in the back and doesn't displace him. I pass on the foul as my partner is hammering his whistle. I think I heard the bus warming up to run me over after I overheard a fan yell out "That was right in front of you, how'd you miss that one?"

Ah well, I've been away from the court for a couple of weeks so it was nice to be back at least.

What I was usually ask my partner is the following (if he is approachable)

1 - if you are watching that action then who is watching your primary???

2 - I thought that play was marginal contact, do you think you could have

passed on that play????

3 - And of course, if you blow your whistle again I am going to leave !!!!!

[Back In The Saddle]

Originally Posted by Multiple Sports

What I was usually ask my partner is the following (if he is approachable)

1 - if you are watching that action then who is watching your primary???

2 - I thought that play was marginal contact, do you think you could have

passed on that play????

3 - And of course, if you blow your whistle again I am going to leave !!!!!

I usually begin with, "What did you see on that play?" More than once I've been surprised to learn that "that guy" picked up something I didn't see and would have called if I had.

But normally it transitions to a discussion about letting me call my own plays.

[Adam]

Originally Posted by Multiple Sports

What I was usually ask my partner is the following (if he is approachable)

1 - if you are watching that action then who is watching your primary???

2 - I thought that play was marginal contact, do you think you could have

passed on that play????

3 - And of course, if you blow your whistle again I am going to leave !!!!!

Instead of #2, I'll just comment on how there was no affect on the play.

[zm1283]

I don't usually have problems with this kind of stuff with the guys I work with, but I was with a guy once last year in a 3-whistle game and again this year in a 2-whistle game who has a tendency to call other people's line on OOB calls. As C in 3-whistle he would call the Lead's endline, then in the 2-whistle game this year he kept calling my line all over the court no matter where he was. I talked to him the first chance I got and told him that I could handle my lines, and if I need help I'll let him know. That straightened things out.

[Welpe]

Thank you for the advice, folks. I certainly need to get better about initiating these types of discussions, even if it is after a game.

[Adam]

I had a game last year that I wasn't mentally ready for (a traffic accident had me showing up just in time to walk out onto the court.) I kept hitting the whistle on my partners' OOB lines; and knew I was doing it. It was just strange.