I guess I'm in the minority, but I think a T for staring is kind of a weak call. The kid hasn't done anything. He's just trying to project an image. To me, the obvious response is to simply turn your back.

Yes, the image is "I will kick your @$$, ref."

One or two steps is one thing. TEN steps? Whack.

I wouldn't say it's a weak call, but I do agree that the option of turning away and ignoring would be preferred for me.

I'll agree so far as to say I have never looked at a player so long after a call. Once I know there's no extra curricular activity going on, I turn to report. But if he does it in a way that's obviously intimidating and purposefully gets into my vision (IOW, he takes away the "turn away" option), I've got no problem with sticking a player. Especially in a summer game. Especially a player who's already been stuck once and should have learned his lesson.

I'm guessing the player was walking back and was between Toren and the table, where Toren needed to report the foul. I'm not cowering in this case by turning away when I've got business to do in the player's direction.

Had this same situation in a soccer game the other day. My Assistant Ref flagged a kid for an offside call. The kid drops to one knee staring at my AR all the time while shaking his head. Gets up after about 5 seconds and then stares at me. Result? Instant yellow card for dissent. Got the " but, I didn't SAY anything ref" excuse. He found out the hard way that dissent is either by "word or action".

Toren, sounds like you handled business. As Sean Connery said in "The Untouchables".. " Well, then you did your job.. go home and sleep well tonight".

Did he actually kick the ref's @ss? Did he make any move whatsoever toward the ref? Did he say anything threatening to the ref? Did he DO anything whatsoever unsportsmanlike?

No. He looked at the ref because he was unhappy with a call. Don't look back at him and move on. JMO.

__________________________________________________ ____

I did a quick search on the forum for the word "staring" and came up with this very old thread:

http://forum.officiating.com/basketb...ld-you-do.html

It gets a little silly toward the end, but it's an interesting debate, with some vintage contributors.

So if a player dunks on an opponent and is staring at them in close range, that would be OK actions to ignore?

I am not saying that I necessarily agree that staring is a clear unsportsmanlike act, but let us not act like the only actions that get you in trouble are ones that are verbal and demonstrative. If we stare at a player, I know it is not seen as just something to walk away from, people make interpretations based on that action too, even if we are talking to someone.

Peace

Of course. The player had the option to question the call civilly, but instead chose to attempt intimidation ... for ten steps.

Staring in and of itself is one thing, but when the intent is threatening, you have to deal with that.

Good link, though.

"Dont you eyeball me young man!"

IMHO, in addition to intimidation, this action can also be considered disrespect to the official, which merits a T.

"Ref, that was a horrible call" is acceptable in most cases, but, "Ref, you suck" or "Ref, are you blind?" probably are not.

My favorite is a team up by 30+ points and a player *****es at me about a steal, says "common you gotta call something!" Loud enough for my partner to hear.

Ok hows this "T"!

ikr!

Had that last weekend, score was 34-4 when A1 started to whine a bit. A4 snaps at him, "Look at the score. We're good."

Gotta love when players identify themselves as being smart & take care of their knuckleheads for you!!

Let me take a wild guess, A4 was a much better player than A1?

Good call, ref.