"If it were in a HS game. . ."

[Rich]

I'm sure my recent comments about middle school helped get this thread going. Or maybe not. Well, I'll get in anyway....

I don't think a technical would've done anything but infuriate the coach in my game. We aren't there to be hard-line punishers, in my opinion, and my verbally stopping him and getting him off the floor served the purpose (he didn't come back on the floor again during the game) of letting him know that behavior was unacceptable. A teaching point.

I view MS as training ground for everybody -- the players, the coaches, and sometimes, my partner. But I do agree with the person that freshman and JV games make better training games.

I do think I'll be limiting my activity at this level in the future. I've noticed that a lot of the middle school officials are either newbies or people that don't have high aspirations in officiating, but like the extra cash. I don't mind letting them have this work.

Rich