Have any of you ever called...

[Rich]

Originally Posted by bainsey

...a five-second throw-in violation, when you weren't administering?

It's been a busy couple of days as far as Christmas preparations and the like go, so I've mostly been following this thread on the phone while out and about. My single post thus far was while sitting at the Wisconsin / Mississippi Valley State game yesterday afternoon. I'll try to summarize my thoughts with some quick bulletpoints:

-- Yes, I was the "new trail."

-- Yes, I had a bus driven over me then had it stop, reverse, and back over me again.

-- garef314: My count in neither throw-in was *slow*. I timed the first throw-in (the one after the timeout) with a stopwatch and it's 3.5 seconds from handing her the ball until she released the throw-in. If you watch the video again, I'm between 3 and 4 on my count when the ball was released. Exactly how is that slow?

-- I was hyper-aware of the situation and remained so during the entire play until I got hit by the bus. The ball went through the basket with 8 seconds remaining in the game. But as we all know the five second count doesn't begin until the ball is at the disposal of the thrower-in. I was aware that the new offense might try to delay here, but I'm not going to change how I administer the count just because the home team had used up all their timeouts and because there were only 8 seconds left in the game. I started counting at the exact same place I would've at any other point in the game.

-- I started the count when the clock was between 5 and 6 seconds left in the game. Yes, I had an eye on the ball and thrower-in and another on the clock. I would've had a violation, likely, with less than a second left in the game had it gotten that far. The bus arrived before that.

-- tomegun: I was angry, angrier than I've ever been on a court before or since. And yet, watching the video, I feel I'm about as composed as I could've possibly been, given the circumstances. I used to gesture with my hands and arms when talking, but I've really worked on not doing that and I'm happy that my hands, for the most part, stay by my sides.

-- I moved to a new town in 2008 and this game was in December of 2009 -- I drove separately. After the game, I went in the locker room, changed clothes quickly without showering, and left without saying a word. I was as close to the edge as I've ever been before or since.

-- My partner was not the senior official. Yes, he's older by about 8-10 years, but I was 40 at the time in my 23rd season of working high school basketball and at least 18 years since I started regularly working varsity games. Who the R was is irrelevant, really -- we always take turns with the duties and we decide at the school who the R will be on a given night.

I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how I could've handled that situation better. I've spent a lot of time thinking about that situation when I'm the senior guy working with a relatively new person. Even though I didn't fit that description, I never want to be someone who steps on a partner like this for *any* reason.

The aftermath is that the winning coach (the home team did not hit their last shot) was more appalled at our disagreement than the call (which, knowing the typical rural girls' coach -- he had no clue that the new lead couldn't make this call). He contacted the commissioner himself and the commissioner called me a few days later. I explained to the commissioner exactly what had happened and he, too, was more concerned about the appearance of us disagreeing on the court than with what that official did, although he knew enough that he couldn't believe that the lead would make such a call. I still work for that assignor -- but only 1-2 dates a year (my choice -- he only has one school less than an hour from my house).

I deleted the original thread because one poster decided to come onto the thread and use it as an excuse to blast me, for whatever reason. BTW, I never said this was a terribly well-officiated game. It was a sloppy, foul-ridden game with the score in the low 30s. I think it's hard for any crew to look good in a game like this.

I really don't want to relive this over and over every couple of seasons, but if anyone has any questions, go ahead. Or PM me. I refuse to deal with personalities. On the other hand, film don't lie.