NBA Official Keeps Spare Whistle in Pocket!
 

As long as he's not switching it from one pocket to the other every time there's a change in the arrow.

What if he switches whistles every arrow, and alternates which pocket keeps the spare? :p

I still don't understand the antipathy towards this practice.

I'd Rather Fight And Switch ...
 

Hey? You talkin' to me? You gotta a problem with that? And what's wrong with wearing a black belt? And we point to the floor when a shooter is stepping on the three point line. You gotta a problem with that, too?

Some people just have a constant desire to criticize other people for things that have zero effect on anything that really makes a difference.

And other people just have a constant desire to criticize those people for doing that.

Pot, meet kettle.

Swallowing the whistle?
 

One vote for the lanyard.

The same as the antipathy for those who go without a lanyard, I suppose. Honestly, I think the whole thing is funny. I won't use the pocket trick, but I see a few JV officials in my area who do. Since I haven't inquired, I don't know if it's a bad thing or not here.

I would add facial hair to this category; things that don't really matter but can affect the image you present. Some areas don't care. Other areas, once you've established yourself it won't matter.

Well, if nothing else, he's proven he doesn't ball watch from C.

The alternating pocket trick comes into effect during Rec league season here. For HS games, its not needed as usually the table knows what they are doing or learn quickly after being corrected.

I would hope he proved that a long time ago to get to where he is.

As for the facial hair, I always officiate clean shaven, but that's because I don't grow a good beard. I worked with a guy this past season who always has a beard, and he keeps it very neat. I know for a fact that he's well established in the community, so it may not matter for him. As others have alluded to, his officiating speaks for itself.

A guy around here has the affectionate nickname of "Mr T", both for his bearded appearance... and his whack-a-thons:D

Actually, around here, it would help if it's kept well trimmed rather than just looking like you forgot to shave.

Well you do live in the mountains...

if you go no lanyard...you better have a spare in your pocket!

Models, Baseball Players, Movie Stars ...
 

I hate that look. But it's very popular among young men today.

Because it is used as a crux for many officials to assume what the arrow direction should be pointed. And I have seen personally many officials that use this trick forget to move the whistle at all or at the right time. But they cannot make sure the arrow is being switched properly or remember when the last time we actually switched the arrow and why. If I had not seen it used in epic failure so many times, I probably would not be as adamant about the practice being silly. We are not football officials, there are not multiple things in our pocket as a normal practice to do our job. If I did not have to replace a whistle or lanyard, I would not even go into my pocket for anything during the course of a game. An AP situation can theoretically happen 10 times in a game and then you have a guy digging in their pocket and constantly have to adjust themselves and their pants just to fix their pocket properly.

Peace

It's in the CCA Manual.....
 

CCAA Men's Basketball Officiating Manual (Mens)

Page 35, Section 4 Article 4.

Equipment And Uniform:

A. Never go into a game without a spare whistle in your pocket. Leave your rulebook in the dressing room. A black whsitle shall be worn on a black lanyard.


I hope this ends the discussion. :D

Thanks for your response Jeff, that makes sense.

Missed it by, that much
 

Probably wouldn't have hurt as much if Nick caught the whistle.

At least he (Nick Buchert) had a reason to drop it. Zach Zarba dropped his last year in a playoff game...and he even managed to somehow make that look smooth. First time I had ever seen someone in the NBA or D-League drop one...till a friend of mine did it a week later in a tournament...after swearing he'd never do it. :D

Forgot my lanyard at home last week for a 3 game mens set & only dropped it once. Thought that was alright for someone who doesn't practice it :D

And other people just have a constant desire to criticize people who criticize people who criticize.

This is a fun game.

How do you do that?
 

Don't you have a HUGE bag with all your STUFF in it, plus extra STUFF!? :p

Getting back to the video, I'm not entirely sure the official was out of bounds (hard to tell with the score graphic in the way), so I probably would have had no whistle. Or is the NBA rule different?

Speaking of the NBA, ain't no arrow there anyway, so the whole whistle-in-the-pocket is moot.

The rule is the same.

He might use it to keep track of which team is to receive the throw-in to begin subsequent quarters. :D

I just assumed he was out of bounds, since he blew the whistle and the video doesn't show that he wasn't OOB.

I don't watch a lot of NBA, sorry. I wasn't aware that they used a jump ball to start each quarter.

Yeah & I dont use that bag for wreck stuff. I usually add extras to my wreck bag after payola -errr- camp season.

In the NBA, the winner of the jump ball gets the ball first for the 1st quarter (duh as they won the jump ball) and 4th quarter. The loser gets the ball first for the 2nd and 3rd quarters. Play is resumed by an unrestricted throw-in on the baseline (yeah I said it).

There would be no need for him to use a whistle to keep track on anything because if for some reason, he and his partners forgot who won the jump, they could just go look at the play-by-play at the table (which is kept for every game) and find out that way.

Wow I think it is pretty good for him to remember that he has a whistle in his pocket and can think that fast for him to grab it out and use it since he lost his other one.

Happy To See Me ...
 

Insert obligatory Mae West quote here. With bob jenkins out on sabbatical, it's no longer a challenge to post an image, or video, and to try to get it past him. Just use your imagination.