Pink Headbands...Penalize or not?
 

Some of you have read the recent post about the pink uniforms. I just had a discussion with a fellow official that walked into a gym and the home team was recognizing cancer awareness and was wearing pink headbands. They were not wearing pink uniforms so they are not legal. The crew walked over and talked with both coaches to make sure they were both OK with the headbands before the game started. Both coaches were OK with this.

1. Would you leave it as this, or ask to have them removed?

THEN.....the head coach handed the crew a pink basketball and asked if they could play with it. Same situation....they talked with the coaches and both were OK with it.

2. Would you leave it as this, or not play with the pink basketball.

Also, would you handle this situation differently?

I'm not messing with this.

I'm 110% certain that pink is a school color (at least for that day). So, the headbands are okay.

I wouldn't use the basketball, though.

Sounds fine to me.

I'm not penalizing. Out of curiosity, did the pink ball have a Fed stamp on it?

Either allow it or don't, but there's no penalty here. Nothing to penalize.

Agree, same question I had. And if it didn't have a stamp then I would still allow it as long as both coaches agreed. Sometimes as refs we get so mired down in the ticky tack uniform rules that the fun spirit of the actual game is tarnished. Hey, its a basketball game, let's have some fun and see some cool plays! I like the way the color reminds everyone in the game and stands that we are all on the same team. (supporting HS sports)

In these parts, the state association has instructed us to never allow any color other than the authorized color ball.

Same in Ohio.

Is Anybody Here Old Enough To Remember Doctor J ???
 

Try telling that to Doctor Julius Erving.

Well, he wasn't a "real" doctor ... he just played one on TV.

I thought...
 

you said Pink Hair Restraints ;)

No pink balls in Va.

As long as they don't bring out the blue balls, I'm not going to get in the way.

I am not sure if the basketball had the NFHS stamp on it. I was just curious as to what others thought of this. I would agree that as long as communication happened before the ball was tossed then everything would be OK. I would also agree that sometimes we need to interpret the rules as advantage/disadvantage when it comes to fashion. LOL...no advantage/disadvantage here. Thanks all for their response. I really appreciate this forum and everything that all of you are contributing.

As bob alluded to, the bands don't have to match their jerseys. Only one of their school colors, and I'm more than willing to consider pink a school color on these cancer awareness nights.

Not that I like being the fashion police (in fact, it's one of the things I hate doing the most), but there's almost always no advantage gained from any uniform violation save for having all of one team wearing the same color jersey, and having a number visible on the front and back (for the officials/scorer).

Agreed here.

Reminded me of last weekends BV game. I'm ready to administer the throwin along the side line, a couple of my friends happen to be sitting right where I am. Kids come out of time out and I yell and point blue ball. But I actually say blue balls but only loud enough for my friends to hear. I keep a straight face, player arrives and we get going. Friends laughing as I head on down the court, sometimes life is really good.

Love it
 

If you can't/don't have fun on the court then it really wouldn't be worth it. Some officials act as though they are attending a funeral and don't or won't even smile. There are a few guys that I really enjoy working with because we have fun while doing something we love. :D

Everybody has fun in a different way. I tend to get pretty focused on the court or field and when I am dialed in folks often tend to think I'm not having fun because I don't smile much. I enjoy doing it but you're not likely to see me smile. I was the same way when I played.