I had what is probably the most embarassing situation I've been involved in happen yesterday. During the third qtr of a tight game, A1 is bumped in front of my partner and the ball is knocked out of bounds by B1. The contact was not enough for my partner to call a foul but A has the ball back anyway. I hear A1 yell, "You have got to call a foul!" My partner doesn't react so I immediately assess a "T" for the reaction. A1 looks at me in astonishment and says, "What did I get that for?" Of course, I reply, "For unsportsmanlike conduct in saying You have got to call a foul." A1 says, "I said, You have got to pop out, I was yelling at my teammates."........Ooops! I recognize that I misunderstood him but I have already assessed the "T" and now I have to explain to the coach what happened. Without giving away what I did, what would you have done and/or said to straighten this out with players and coaches? I obviously made a huge mistake in what turned out to be a three point game. Also, any suggestions on preventing this from happening again?

My partner doesn't react so I immediately assess a "T" for the reaction


Be careful!!

First of all, I agree with RefDaddy that you were a little quick on the trigger with the T. However, I wasn't there and you were, so maybe taken in context, that remark warranted the call.

If after making the call, you get a statement from a player like that, you should check with your partner to see if he (OK, he or she, Juulie) heard it also. If your partner says the kid was correct, just wave it off and explain to the scorer that you misheard the kid and your partner verified it.

If your partner either didn't hear anything, or heard what you heard and you are positive you heard it that way, stick with your call.

Then tell the kid you'll give him another T for lying. ;)

I agree
 

Mark,

I like the idea but if I was the coach I would say that would be like calling a charge and then on the way to the scorer's table deciding to change it to a block. You shouldn't do either, says Coach A. Just a tough situation caused by my mis-hearing. I wasn't quick with the trigger actually. I waited for a couple of seconds and could have sworn on a stack of Bibles that the kid said what I thought he did.

I actually did what you suggested, I waved it off and put the ball back in play as if the T had never been assessed. Coach B didn't like it and complained bitterly but I told my partner that I was givng Coach B a free pass on this one and not to "T" him up no matter what. He was more upset that I would not go to the alternating possession than he was that I put the "T" back in my pocket. I told him that we were resuming the game at the point of the call which gave team A the ball back.

After further review, I think I did the right thing from the standpoint of treating the players fairly but I don't think what I did can be justified in any way by the rule book!

Re: I agree
 

Sure it can. Call it an "inadvertant whistle" and move on.

Chayce, I understand the intent to "make things right", but I also caution you about making a "blanket statement" like this, especially the underlined part. I suggest you to tell your partner, "Coach B has been told about my decision and the reasoning for it. Let's play ball." (Move on)




It is Coach B's decision where it goes from here.

I agree with most of what has already been said, just wanted to add my .02. First of all, try to not let it happen to you again, make sure before you give that T. In this case, I believe the best way to handle your situation would have been to go ask your partner what he heard. If the kid was telling the truth, you rule an inadvertent whisltle, explain to the coaches and go on. There is no good way to get out of a situation such as this without losing credibility, so you might as well fess up to your error and do what you can to get it right from that point on. Somebody, perhaps everybody, is either going to be mad or think you are incompetent, that is why you don't want it happening again.

Re: I agree
 

"Coach, I screwed up. I'm gonna give you 30 seconds to bust my chops about it, then we're gonna play ball, okay?"

Re: Re: I agree
 

I like it.

Good suggestions folks, thanks. This is definitely a situation that was a no-win.

Re: Re: I agree
 

I used wording similar to this last year. Coach thanked me, after he "bent my ear" for about 20 seconds. Wasn't ugly or vulgar, just PO'd. Nothing for the rest of the game and I think he coached better and I officiated better without my head.....well, you know.

I was doing a MS game and team A was ahead by 40 points. 15 seconds left to go in the game and coach A wants to be a hot shot and pops off to me with, "if anyone of my kids get hurt, I am holding you personally responsible; just blow your whistle." I say OK and keep playing. After the game my partner, second basketball game ever, says that he should have come over and T'd the coach. I told him that was my responsibility and he did the right thing.

I say this because if I have a player say something in front of me, I want to handle it. The only time I don't is if I turn my back to report a foul, then my partner can take it from there.

Be sure of your actions
 

Chayce, there have been some great suggestions on how to handle this situation....

Maybe I'm a little bull headed but I'm surprised that you felt there was a need for a T ...yet immediately backed off when a kid tells you "that's not what I said..."

That's almost an automatic come-back. If you make the (mistaken) effort to justify your call, the player will also make the effort to say you are wrong. Rarely does a player suck it up and say "Yep, I desesrved that."

In my experience "T's" don't come out of the blue. They are like a relief valve where the pressure has built up and built up until someone (hopefully not you or your partner) blows their cool.

Perhaps the player was aggravated with his teammates... this is a correct response for a player and no T should be assessed. If however, he was looking at your partner and screaming, your initial reaction was probably correct... T em up.

How did he question your call; was he angry or surprised?

In closure, some things done on the court are difficult to recover from. You got some great input on how to move forward... I particularly like Tony's suggestion about admit your mistake, allow the coach to chew on me for 30 (thats quite a while - I think a coach would likely run out of gas and that's a good thing too), then were gonna play on.

Had a good one with my partner yesterday.A girls Var. tourn. and he calls a shooting foul and the girl pops off with something about no way I fouled her so he gives her a "T".Well she walks right up to him and yells you gave me one "T" so you might as well give me another one so he said okay you got it!I never had that happen but like I told him its pretty funny.Is there anyone who wouldn't have given her a "T"? By the way out of six free throws and possession they got two points on free throws!

refjef40,
Make a guy wonder what they're thinking, ...or not.
:)
mick

Oh, I've had that happen and I definately give them the second T. (Hey - they were asking for it :p)

In my situation, the player was mouthing off and said "give me a T, you jack&!@." I did, and he started using more profanity and said "give me one for something serious." (If only all of my technical foul calls were this easy . . .) The player is now ejected, but on his way out the door he decides to let the jack*@& comments fly again - third T. He's now suspended for at least one week (during the tournament), the opposing team has 6 points and the ball.

Bottom line - if the players/coaches want to be idiots, let them.