How to ask for help

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally posted by just another ref
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Home coach jumps up. "No, if you're not sure, that's gotta be a jump ball." I told him that I was sure enough. We talked about it later and he restated his position that if I wasn't 100% sure it should be a jump ball. I told him that if one waited to be 100% sure, nobody would ever call anything. We took this discussion one step farther. There are surely a lot more fouls that are committed and not called than fouls called that were not fouls, right? He agreed. That, I told him, is why I don't mind calling a foul when a player "reaches in" (ouch)
or whatever, even if I can't be absolutely certain of the contact. He disagreed here. Nope, can't do that. What does everybody think about this? [/B][/QUOTE]Sorry,JAR,but I agree with the coach.
1)If you aren't 100% sure,it's a jump ball.
2)If you're not certain of the contact,it's not a foul.
3)If you're not sure of ANY call,don't make the call.

As officials,we're supposed to be doing a fair and equitable job for both teams.In all of the cases that you cited,you have injected yourself into being a factor in the game,by awarding one team and thus penalizing the other team for something that may not have happened.The "fairer" option is always to call the jump ball if you're not sure which team should get it OOB,or let the play continue if you're not sure if there's really contact involved that is outside the rules.