Contact lens issue with a T
 

Another first.

2 minutes into the game, #12 Red inbounding ball on the endline. As I'm about to bounce the ball to him I notice him pulling his eye lid / rubbing his eye, not looking at me. I step in and ask if there is a problem. "Yea, my contact just rolled in back of my eye and it won't come down". I give him 10-15 seconds with no luck....tweet, "coach I need a sub for #12" Sub comes in, life goes on, all is good.

5 minutes later #12 Red back in the game with his contact lens issue taken care of. #12 Red drives the lane is hammered, I got the foul, and report to the table. As my partner is about to bounce the ball to #12, we have the shooter again playing with his eye. Again I ask if there is a problem, this time he pulls the contact out, shows me that it is wrinkled up. he proceeds to tear the contact in half and throw it on the court.

I tell my partner to hold up for a second as I motion for #12 to follow me to the bench. I ask the coach for a sub......and here it comes from the coach "Why!!!". Coach he is not properly equiped with only one lens. Coach proceeds to tell me I can't do that and to show him in the rule book where I can remove his player. I tell him again #12 is no longer properly equipped, he started the game with two contact lenses.

The coach then proceeded to tell me that I was the one that needed the contact lenses, so I won't miss the calls I've been missing....tweet....T.

5 days into the high school season........off to a good start.

The contact lens is not your issue. The player decides if he can play with one lens, not the official. The "properly equipped" rule has nothing to do with eyewear.

Bull$hit like this is what give officials a bad name.

I hope the coach marks you off. I know I sure would.

Coach was correct to be angry. You improperly applied the rule. There is no issue here with being legally equipped.

If the player was wearing goggles and decided to take them off, are you pulling him out of the game as well?

You didn't have him pick it up off the court? That is probably the only thing I would have done. The rest of that is, well, plumbing.

+1

I would as a partner, too. OOO

Unless this guy is pulling our chains.

Still a plumber.
 

Love those toilets. Classic.

Not pulling anyones chain here......just learning as I go along in this great game of life. It's always nice to see the different opinions out there.

Even though 3-7 Safety Concerns, allows me to use my judgement for any item that constitutes a safety concern.

So I have a child here that needs two eyes to drive, read, go to school, etc.etc., I now have this player closing one eye while trying to shoot or catch a pass or run, in my opinion this was a safety concern.

In you opinion, I might have been a little OOO, or Bull$hit. I'm sorry that we don't agree. But this was a first for me, I did not have time to think this over. I reacted to what I felt was a safety concern.

I could just see it now: The Judge "So, Mr. Referee you saw #12 remove his contact, close his eye and try to play, just before a pass, that he did not see crushed him in the face breaking his nose....and you felt this was not a safety concern? I'm sorry but you are still liable for his his injuries."

This is not a safety issue, period. As one who wears contact lenses, I can tell you it's possible to play with one. Hell, I might or might not know that it's possible to drive with one.

My suggestion: learn from this one and don't do it next time.

You have no idea what the strength of his prescription is, so you have no idea whether he can play with one lens or not.

JerzeeRef:

ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING???

If I were your IAABO Assigner in North Jersey because I would be ripping you a new !@#$%^&. What possessed you to do such a thing??

Under normal conditions the coach's comments deserve a TF, but, as my umpiring brethen would say: "You really screwed the pooch on this one."

MTD, Sr.

How long have you been officiating? This sounds like a power hungry rookie call. It is not my place to determine if the player is capable of playing without a lens or not. Improperly equipped does not mean missing a contact lens!! For all you know there were some kids out there that were suppose to have contacts but didn't so are they improperly equipped as well? If a player starts the game with a knee support and takes it off later in the game, are you going to make him leave because obviously he needs that brace to continue ? :confused:

Me thinks having stripes on your shirt has gone to your head. :rolleyes:

If you see that you don't get a lot of game assignments, don't be surprised.

Robby

I Am A Half Blind Official (IAAHBO) ...
 

I once had a partner who worked a game with only one contact lens. He got half his calls right.

He could have been wearing them for aesthetic reasons (changing eye color).

Agreed. I also wear contacts with a pretty strong prescription and I can function for a short while with just one. Certainly long enough to shoot a couple of free throws.

I actually lost both lenses during a wrestling match in middle school and managed to finish the match.