Foul in the last second
 

My last game had a 20-point margin. I had a clear foul in the last second.

After the game, my partner and I were about to hit the showers. In came a 70-something member of our board, who gave me a hard time about the last call. (I had a reply for him that referenced a recently departed official, but that's another story.)

Yes, the game's outcome was clear. But when you decide you're going to stop calling fouls for that reason, aren't you making yourself more important than the kids, particularly a kid getting hacked and entitled to a trip to the line?

You can't let the game turn into a rugby match.

BTW If the clock has 0:00.0, the kid doesnt get the shots.

"sir, I'm glad you enjoyed the game. since you're a long time member of our officiating board, you should know better than to come in here and criticize our officiating. you need to get out of my locker room immediately!...(as I turn to head to the shower)..."

I have gotten compliments in camps and in games for officiating down to 0:00 no matter what the score. Am I going to let some 50/50 calls go? Sure. But clear fouls are going to continue to get called until the final horn.

Wonder what he had to say about the Gardiner game?

JeffPea... That was a great comeback....

I had something similar a week or two ago, didn't want to call an obvious foul but when the result of the foul the young lady loses control and balance and ends on the floor... Tweet... Foul

Why wouldn't you want to call any obvious foul? How obvious does it have to be? Are you really saying that you'd ignore an obvious foul if the player that was obviously fouled didn't fall down or lose the ball?

We get hired to officiate the game, from opening toss to final horn. A few years ago, I was in the same situation. I held the whistle. The coach, who is a 100% class guy, stops me on my way out of the building. He says "I know you guys don't like to blow the whistle in the last few minutes of a game that has been decided, but the kid that got fouled only gets to play in those games. He hasn't scored yet this year, and now he may not get the chance again." Gave me a whole new perspective. The kids on the bench work hard all year, and they get very few chances to shine. They deserve the same effort we give the rest of the game.

Indeed so. Unfortunately, one of my friends, a varsity official waiting for the next game, tried tossing him (albeit humorously -- sorta), to no avail.

The comeback I used referenced a well-respected official who passed away last week. This gentleman, Red St. Louis, often told a story about a time he called a last-second foul in a girls' game, and he took a heap of crap for it.

Ten years later, Red was assisted by an attractive nurse. That nurse turned out to be the heavy-set girl he sent to the line in that game. She hit one of two free throws, and that single point meant so much to her, it gave her a boost of confidence, that eventually led to weight loss and a career in nursing. This is a well-known story in our little corner.

So, my comeback was, and will always be, "Do I really have to play the Red St. Louis card here?"

Last few seconds of OT, tie game. Team A gets it in and as A1 attempts the mid-court hail-mary to win B1 nails him. I call the foul and B-Coach almost has an aneurysm. A1 goes to the line for 3 free-throws with .2 seconds on the clock. B-coach ices him with timeouts in between each shot but he still sinks 2 of 3. On the inbound B gets it in and time expires. A wins.

B-Coach says to me "HOW DO YOU CALL THAT FOUL???"

(Not how could you call that a foul?, not how is that a shooting foul?)

He wasn't questioning the foul itself, just why I would call it!!! I guess he felt officials should allow a game to go into another OT rather than call em as we see em. I gave him the "Foul in the 1st minute is a foul in the last minute" speech and when he groaned I followed up with "You said it yourself. How could I call that "FOUL".

(meanwhile I am wondering what B1 was doing anywhere NEAR A1 in that sitch!) :D

Well Coach:

First, I sound my whistle while simultaneously making a fist with my right hand and raising my right fist over my head. Then, i take a step or two toward the offending player before coming to a complete stop aferwhich I signal that three freethrows will be shot; I will then give a preliminary foul signal. Then, I announce to the players in the vicinity of the foul the color and number of the player who committed the foul followed by color and number of the player who will shoot the foul.

MTD, Sr.

Yepperdoodle
 

Called a foul yesterday with .02 secs left on the clock. Not letting it go!

I was evaluated negatively coming through the ranks for letting it go at the end - lesson learned.

:d
 

Good game to watch actually, coach flipped out on the call. I just so happened to be sitting next to the coach and the scorers table, saw EXACTLY what he did.. It was one HARDCORE bad foul. lol. easy call. gj ref, (think the score was an even 29-29 tho, dont really matter, not like we pay attention to the board neways, lol)