I'm Deeply Sorry If I've Offended Any Pacific Northwesterners ...
 

Then I apologize three times over. Isn't Washington's birthday tomorrow?

Nope...11-11-1889.

And apology accepted...unless the group says I can't accept it.

If that's how you took it, you obviously don't understand what they were saying.

Never use ultimatums... "Not one more word, coach..." or "Next time is a T". There's no need to threaten, and the ultimatum puts you in the position of backing up your word when something happens that you MIGHT have let slide had you not dropped the threat.

Or, "Coach, he forfeited your right to bring that up right now when he pulled that stunt."

Me too, although I am questioning whether two cents is enough for a good reading education.

Well, I already changed mine.

what is this.... some sort of political discussion where liberal and conservative commentators are ridiculously parsing words to extract an obfuscated meaning that belies the original intent of the message?....

what's the difference between: "Next time is a T" or "Next time I will take care of it myself"?

the answer: nothing.

btw, what you've described as an "ultimatum", is simply an official telling a coach/player that the behavior in question is unacceptable and then explaining the consequence that will occur if/when the behavior is repeated.

that is EXACTLY the same formula used in the rulebook (i.e. if you travel...the other team gets the ball....).

You just described every member of the Oregon legislature. :rolleyes:

I don't use some of the verbiage that has been mentioned, but every official is different and I think our normal personalities should come out. I always use the Patrick Swayze approach: Be nice, until its time not be nice.

I will use: "Coach, can you please ask number...", "Coach, please don't yell across the floor at my partner", "Coach, please put your arms down"

After that, they are about to deal with the "T" in Tomegun. Ironically, I probably gave less Ts this year than in several past years. My crew, on the other hand, was giving them out like candy on Halloween.

Yes, that is a Roadhouse reference. :D

Funny, same thing that happened to me. In past years, I'd assess about 80% of the TFs in my games and wonder if it was just me. This year, I'm guessing it's about 20% and I'm wondering, again, if it's me.

Eh, the season's winding down. Only 8 more games to go.

But a huge difference between those and, "Coach, you might want to speak to number 23. He is getting a bit too demonstrative."

The message is the same without saying that a T will be the next call.

*awaits the return of Costello's partner*

In this case, when I say crew I'm talking about the twenty something officials that are part of my crew. We have 10 crews for basketball that handle from freshmen up to varsity.

I'll take the blame for not being clear.

Frankly, you're right, there's no real difference between these two.

I don't recommend either, for the same reason I don't recommend telling coaches in the pregame meeting that you're going to be watching for hand checks, or that you'll try to talk the kids out of the lane.

You tell a coach "next time it's a T," and then the next time is something really miniature and you decide to ignore it, for whatever reason, then your credibility is gone. Alternatively, you end up ringing up a kid when he turns around wrong, or when he yells something to his coach.

Just ask him to deal with it, no need to even insinuate that next time you'll have anything; it should be implied. The coach gets it, and if he doesn't, he will when you ring Johnny up. I tend to simply tell the coach that there's a problem brewing and let them deal with it as they see fit.

As I said when I started down this path, this is just my recommendation. If threatening a T works for you, good. Some can successfully use a stop sign, due to regional and personality differences. I haven't been able to.

Blue Line All The Way Around ...
 

Do you not do this before, or after, you don't ask for speaking captains?

P.S. I worked with my best, by far, partner of the year last night. Great calls. Great game management. Great communication. The whole enchilada. He's one of our top officials, and he will work girls state tournament games starting next week. He was the referee, of course, and during his pregame meeting he asked for speaking captains, asked their numbers, and asked if they would be starting. If I had my hardest game of the season tomorrow, I would work with him again it in a heartbeat. Some veteran officials have some real quirky habits. Quirky habits don't mean that they're not great officials, they're just great, and quirky, officials.