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.

What Would You Do Without Me?
 

There we go with the "plumbing" slam again. :mad:
Look, where would you be without plumbers like me? Why not say, "The rest of that is, well, environmental chemistry." Now that would make some sense. :p

(Remember, everytime you flush, you put food on my family's table!) :D

Okay, let me attempt at being more constructive.

You can send a player to the bench for failure to wear required equipment properly.
You send a player to the bench for wearing illegal equipment.

That's it.

You cannot send a player to the bench because he decided he doesn't want to wear something that's not required. Whether it's glasses, socks, a t-shirt, jock strap, or cup, you can't stop him or send him out of the game.

The coach was 100% correct, he now has no respect for you as an official and he's telling every coach and official he talks to what you did.

Tell you what, if you don't believe us, call your assignor and tell him what you did. (Of course, he may already have heard.) Then, get back to us.

Until then....Merry Christmas! http://www.runemasterstudios.com/gra...ges/santa2.gif

Allow me to apologize for all of us. Nothing wrong with being a plumber unless you decide to do it on the basketball court.

On behave of officials everywhere, thank you for your service to our pipes! http://www.runemasterstudios.com/gra.../notworthy.gif

Double BS!!! The only legit safety concern is the one you neglected: The crumpled up pieces of contact lens on the floor...
I'm sure you'll have a hard time living down this episode

Are you taking a player out who wears goggles for his vision but decides to take them off? What about a player who's wearing a brace but decides to take it off. What about a player who began the game with a wrap but decides to take off the tape?

The opinion has been unanimous...this was completely over officious.

Apology Accepted
 

P.S. I was, after all, the one of our three-man crew to pick up what appeared to be that portion of a Baby Ruth or large Tootsie Roll off the court two or three years ago, only to find out it wasn't of an edible substance. Cf. Referee magazine, July 2008, p.82. Varsity coach at that site reminded me of it just last night.

Actually you only need one good eye to drive legally (may not be true everywhere). No one needs two eyes to read nor to go to school.

How bad do one's eyes have to be before they can play with only one contact lens?

I hate it when that happens! http://www.runemasterstudios.com/gra...mbarrassed.gif

Have Test Tube, Will Travel ...
 

That's my line. Also, every time you flush, an angel gets her plumber's license.

They're not opinions. They're correct interpretations of the rule.

As you said above, learn from it as you go along. Part of that learning is admitting to yourself that you indeed did made a mistake. Once you do that, it should be a mistake that you'll never make again.

So, since you couldn't see your opponent, you had to grope around for him? :eek:

You indicated that the player was removed from the game by you when he was at the free throw line. There was no "player closing one eye while trying to shoot or catch a pass or run". Are you an optometrist? Do you have a pocket eye chart? What you did has made you "That Guy". And arguing with us about it makes me wonder if your partner's name was Costello. Because you appear to be Yabut.

Admit your mistake and hope that you can move on and not make another one like that. It will take a lot of games to get to the point where you can look back and laugh at what you did and to have others around you in your association and in the coaching fraternity not think of you in that manner. It will take a lot more if you think what you did was right.

If he comes in with a white cane and a dog and you let him play, that doesn't make you liable for his injuries.

"Dammit, Jim, you're not a doctor!"

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=...t:429,r:11,s:0

When I was in middle school (actually, Jr. High), we wore monocles or spectacles. Ben Franklin had just invented them.

Now He Does ...
 

http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:tM4HUTqCYfbp6M:

Print. Laminate. Keep it in your warmup jacket pocket with your needle.

Don't we have an option to stop play for issues with "lenses" or glasses during a game and not charging a time out or requiring a sub. ?

yes, but the intent is to prevent damage to the glasses or lenses. Not applicable here.

We certainly do in my neck of the woods. If a players glasses come off whistle gets full of air and hand goes up. Player picks up glasses and if not broke puts em on an we resume play with a POI throw in. If there broke coach can sub or player can continue without glasses. Check your local listings.

Not just in your neck of the woods...it's the rule.

Player Is No Longer Legally Equipped ???
 

What? Isn't that dangerous? Do you want to be sued? If you're sued, I suggest the law firm that I use; Hungadunga, Hungadunga, Hungadunga, Hungadunga & McCormick.

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Where?

The only reference to glasses in the NFHS rules is an exception under rule 5-11 that says a timeout shall not be charged if a players request results from displaced eyeglasses or lenses. Nothing in either the rules or casebook that says we immediately stop play if glasses become dislodged.

Of course if the glasses are on the floor and could cause a hazard we could stop it then.

I have never thought of this rule's intent as "to prevent damage to the glasses or lenses." Although, in the 60's and 70's my parents would have been have been very much in favor of this. In the 80's and forward, we were all rich and could afford to replace them. :p

I thought this was to avoid having a player participating at a disadvantage due to his/her visual disability. You know the kinder, gentler nation. Along with the ADA and other issues. I am not poking fun at this. I really thought this was the reason for the rule. Is it not?

I am not excusing the OOO of the OP!

The local Honig's shop has an eye chart: it's a LARGE piece of white paper with a huge E smack in the middle. And that's it. :eek: